Front Page Headlines
Government fails to achieve quorum, fears holding elections!
The National Unity Party (UBP), Democratic Party (DP)-Rebirth Party (YDP) minority government failed to achieve quorum on the last day of parliament before the summer recess. Parliament convened three hours late but still, the problem of quorum could not be overcome. The session was postponed to today. As a result, the government could not bring to the parliament’s agenda the decision it has taken to hold elections on April 3, 2022.
Scorching heat suffocates
The temperatures have exceeded seasonal norms, rising to 43 centigrade degrees. The weather department warned that the heatwave will continue for four more days. Urgent measures must be implemented for those who have to work under the sun.
Investments in housing drops due to Covid
Covid-19 also affected the investments in housings. According to data obtained from the Cyprus Turkish Building Contractors’ Association (KTIMB), most of the investments in 2020 were directed at health and education. According to KTIMB statistics, investments in housing dropped by 39 per cent in 2020 compared to 2019 and investments in commercial buildings dropped by 168 per cent. Investments in tourism and/or entertainment buildings dropped by 55 per cent, whereas industrial investments dropped by three per cent. Public investments also decreased by 118 per cent.
Really sad
While vital laws are pending in parliament, the assembly is preparing to enter a three-month summer recess as of today. There is anger among the public against MPs who will be taking such a long holiday at a time when the economy is in ruin.
- Maraş (Varosha) protest – Greek Cypriots will be staging a protest in Derinya (Deryneia) on the night of July 19.
Annul the elections to hold a new one
One of Turkey’s leading political observers Erol Mütercimler, who supported Ersin Tatar during the last elections, has changed his mind, outraging supporters of the National Unity Party (UBP). Mütercimler on Halk TV said: “Mr Tatar is a friend of mine. I call on him. He should annul the last presidential elections to hold a new one.”
- Maraş (Varosha) duty – Greek Cypriots will stage an-all night protest at Derinya (Deryneia) on July 19 against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit.
- The first imam marriage held at the prison in the south – The first Muslim marriage was carried out at the Greek Cypriot prison, where others belonging to other religions had gotten married before. The relatives of the bride and the groom also attended the wedding ceremony.
- Murat: “None of the police officers faced trial” – Lawyer Aslı Murat said the allegations of torture in the northern part of Cyprus are not even in the parliament’s agenda, adding that despite torture is prohibited by the constitution, it is not included in the penal code, therefore, is not a punishable act.
Main News
Ertuğruloğlu says ‘Self-governing areas’ term is nothing but a deception
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu on Monday said that the UN Secretary-General’s (UNSG) plans to appoint a new special advisor was nothing more than a delaying tactic.
Expressing his disapproval of what he claimed was a deceptive proposal, Ertuğruloğlu criticized the term ‘self-governing areas’ which the UN chief maybe including in his upcoming report expected to be presented to the UN Security Council (UNSC) next month.
Speaking to the TAK news agency, Ertuğruloğlu said the UNSG’s idea of appointing a new special adviser was nothing new and was aimed to buy time to be able to dissuade the Turkish Cypriot side from its position in favour of a two-state solution.
“The Secretary-General’s attempt to please the five permanent members of the UNSC at the expense of the Turkish Cypriot people is not right,” Ertuğruloğlu argued, noting that the Turkish Cypriot side’s expectation was for Guterres to convene the second five-plus-one meeting without further delay.
Ertuğruloğlu also said the Turkish Cypriot side will not accept any proposals that will drag the process into uncertainty. “In the event, there is no common ground between the two sides, the Secretary-General needs to clearly state in his report and to hand back the mandate of the UN Good Offices in Cyprus to the Security Council,” he said.
Touching on the term ‘self-governing areas’, Ertuğruloğlu described it as deception and said the UN would be mistaken to think that it could appease the Turkish Cypriot side with such play of words.
He added that the Turkish Cypriot side will not give up on its demands of sovereign equality and equal international status. “Which of the areas which will be self-governing are states? Did you mean (areas within) the ‘Republic of Cyprus’ (RoC)?” he asked, claiming that ultimately the self-administered areas would still fall under the roof of RoC.
“The Turkish Cypriot side will never accept such proposals unless the Turkish Cypriot state is respected. Our sovereign equality and equal international status are our red lines and we will not be deceived with such trickery or games,” Ertuğruloğlu concluded.
Greek Cypriot daily Phileleftheros reported on Sunday that the UNSG might include the term “self-governing regions” in his upcoming report. According to the Greek Cypriot daily, UN Special Envoy Jane Holl Lute tested waters last week to see if the Greek Cypriots would give consent to the use of such a term in the report, but the latter strongly opposed it.
Lute had aimed to encourage the Turkish Cypriot side by using the words “two self-governing regions” in an upcoming SG report, she told Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades. Lute also claimed to add that such a statement would take a load off the Turkish Cypriots’ minds.
The Greek Cypriot administration, however, strongly opposed the use of “self-governing regions,” claiming that it would mean conceding sovereignty to the Turkish Cypriot side.
KEY ACTORS
Ertuğruloğlu (UBP)
>> UNSG’s plans to appoint a new special advisor a deceptive delaying tactic aimed at dissuading the TC side from the two-state solution model.
>> ‘Self-governing areas’ will refer to areas within the RoC & is therefore unacceptable.
>> TC side will not be appeased by such play of words.
>> UNSG needs to hand back Good Offices mandate to UNSC if two sides fail to find common ground.
French Ambassador reaffirms France’s position on Cyprob
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday received the French Ambassador to Cyprus Salina Grenet-Catalano. Following her meeting with Tatar, Grenet-Catalano tweeted that she had met with the Turkish Cypriot leader and had “listened to his positions”.
“Turkish Cypriot aspirations are important to us but the solution to the Cyprus problem can only be found through a federation within the UN parameters,” Grenet-Catalano tweeted. The Ambassador stressed, “the unilateral actions need to be avoided in particular in Maraş (Varosha).”
Following the French Ambassador’s tweet, Tatar’s spokeswoman Berna Çelik Doğruyol issued a brief statement noting that Tatar and Grenet-Catalano exchanged views on the informal five-plus-one in Geneva as well as Tatar’s recent meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Brussels.
“Tatar has informed the French Ambassador a fair, lasting and sustainable settlement in Cyprus can only be achieved when the two sides’ absolute equality is respected,” Doğruyol stressed, adding that the solution, therefore, can only be based on the collaboration of the two sides which have sovereign equality and have equal international status.
Site visit to Famagusta by TCCH & UNDP
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
UNDP and the members of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage (TCCH) conducted its first visit to the conservation sites in the Famagusta area within the framework of the “Support to cultural heritage monuments of great importance for Cyprus” project funded by the EU and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Monday.
Joined by Jakhongir Khaydarov, the new Head of Office for UNDP in Cyprus, the Cultural Heritage Committee and UNDP toured the Kampanopetra and the Agios Epiphanios basilicas in Salamis as well as the opus sectile floor of the Saint Barnabas basilica in the area, a statement issued from the UNDP read.
The group then visited improvement works at the Martinengo bastion courtyard, where a team of experts composed of archaeologists and conservators, made up of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, are beginning Phase III of conservation works to structurally support, and physically protect the monument.
Khaydarov said the beginning of conservation works at the Salamis archaeological site and the courtyard of the Martinengo Bastion are the fruits of a very successful partnership between the TCCH, UNDP and the EU. “Monuments and sites preserved and restored through this partnership can play a powerful role in building bridges between people,” Khaydarov said.
In his remarks, Takis Hadjidemetriou, Greek Cypriot chair of the cultural heritage committee said that with the completion of the works in the surrounding area, the Martinengo Bastion, which is the most important examples of military architecture in the world, will be accessible to visitors. Martinengo Bastion is the most important part of the walls of Famagusta.
On his part, Turkish Cypriot chair of the same committee Ali Tuncay said Salamis archaeological site and the historic walled city of Famagusta are both pearls of the Mediterranean.
“Protection of cultural heritage is a fundamental basis on which intercultural dialogue and cooperation can be established,” Tuncay stressed, adding that the committee is dedicated to preserving the rich cultural heritage for future generations and as well as humanity.
In an unfortunate incident coinciding with the committee’s visit, a fire broke out on the historical walls of Famagusta old town.
It is reported that the fire, which burnt dry shrubbery in a three dönüm (dunam) of land on and around the walls, started when a contractor did not take the necessary precautions while carrying out metalwork at the football pitch located in the old town.
The contractor is arrested and charged with negligence.