Front Page Headlines
Let us rid this island of hatred, only peace can save us
Andreas Kolombos and Alper Bekir speak to Yenidüzen and Haravgi. The two who lost their closest family members in the (intercommunal) fighting call on younger generations to rid themselves of the feelings of animosity between the two communities. Bekir whose father was killed in 1964: “I grew up without a father. I shall continue to struggle for peace so that others do not have to grow up as I did.” Kolombos whose brother was killed in 1974: “Before my father passed away, he told us not to be enemies with Turkish Cypriots. We need to erase our hatred against each other and trust each other.”
- All eyes for crossing without tests for vaccinated individuals focused on September 28.
The importance of education must be more than the talk
As the first week of the 2021-2022 education year is completed under the shadow of the pandemic. Parents, teachers and the students are concerned about the positive cases identified at schools. According to education unions, the solution to this problem lies in allocating more funds for education.
- Leaders on their way to New York – President Ersin Tatar and the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades departed from the island yesterday for a trilateral meeting to be held with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Who is going to warn the UN and EU
Crossing over to the south has become torture because Greek Cypriot border officials at the Metehan (Agios Dhometios) crossing point are deliberately slowing down procedures. Greek Cypriot custom officials to discourage Greek Cypriots from shopping in the north are creating petty excuses to slow down the process. The result, long queues at the Metehan (Agios Dhometios) crossing point. Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots talking to Diyalog complained that the UN and EU should not remain a bystander. Civil Society Organisations should warn the EU and UN, they said.
- A step forward – The bicommunal Technical Committee for Health is preparing to decide to lift the requirement for rapid/PCR tests for vaccinated individuals.
- We are far behind Greek Cypriots – Health Minister Ünal Üstel said that 57 per cent of the population had received the first dose and 55 per cent had received the second dose.
- Unacceptable –Leaders of nine EU countries adopted a decision against a two-state solution and Maraş (Varosha) at the Athens summit.
Police brutality taken to court
Those who suffered police violence during the protest staged for Asya, will take the matter to the court. Volunteers from Left Movement and Platform for Health Rights for Asya first announced their decision to the media and then went to the Nicosia police station to file their complaints. Lawyer Öncel Polili, who also went to the police station with the protestors said two women who were battered by the police during the protest filed complaints.
- Will the test requirement at crossings be revoked? – Bicommunal technical committee on health is working on allowing people who are fully vaccinated to use the crossings without the requirement of PCR or rapid antigen tests.
Main News
No official talks before recognition of TCs’ sovereignty
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Saturday remained adamant on his position regarding a two-state solution before his departure to New York. Speaking to reporters at Ercan (Tymbou) airport, Tatar said that the Turkish Cypriot side’s position was clear and final, that there will be no official talks unless the Turkish Cypriots’ sovereign equality and equal international status is recognized.
He said he and the Turkish Cypriot delegation will raise the Turkish Cypriot side’s position based on the six-point proposal tabled during the informal five-plus-one meeting in Geneva during his meetings with the UN Secretary-General and other heads of states.
“The only feasible solution on the island is a two-state solution model in which the two separate and sovereign states will co-exist side by side and collaborate,” Tatar said. He also argued that all the relevant sides have seen so far that it is not possible to find a federal settlement on the island.
“The idea of a federal settlement is a matter of the past now,” he said, pointing out that the Greek Cypriot side has rejected all the solution plans to date. Tatar, reiterating his arguments against a federal solution, added that he will not allow a process in which the majority of Greek Cypriots will rule over the Turkish Cypriots, whose ties with Turkey will be cut off in time.
Asked about the possibility of a joint meeting with the Secretary-General and the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, Tatar said he will respond positively if an official invitation is extended. “We will not refrain from entering into dialogue,” Tatar said, adding that there is nothing planned so far. He also noted he is travelling to NY upon an invitation from the Secretary-General.
“The bilateral meeting to be held with the Secretary-General is what matters to us. We will evaluate the possibility of a trilateral meeting if an invitation is made but there is no need to exaggerate it either,” Tatar said.
Tatar said he will also meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in New York. The Turkish Cypriot leader is being accompanied by Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, Special Representative Ergün Olgun, and member of the negotiation team Osman Ertuğ.
Meanwhile, the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman criticised both Tatar and Anastasiades on Twitter. “There is no need to flog a dead horse and travel to New York,” Erhürman tweeted, adding that both Tatar and Anastasiades have already wasted enough time both in the northern and the southern parts of the island.
KEY ACTORS
Tatar
>> TC side’s position in favour of a two-state solution, its demand for recognition of sovereign equality & equal international status will not change.
>> No official talks can start before the TC side’s demands are met.
>> Will attend a trilateral meeting with UNSG & Anastasiades if an official invitation is extended.
Ankara slams EU Med9 declaration, saying it’s biased
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Regional/ International Relations
OVERVIEW
Ankara slammed the declaration issued at the end of the Summit of Southern European members of the EU known as MED9, arguing it is “one-sided, and detached from reality.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said the declaration on the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus and on the refugee issues like the previous one is ‘biased and short-sighted.”
Bilgiç urged the EU countries that signed the declaration to abandon their one-sided attitude, in which they blindly followed Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration under the guise of solidarity.
The Med9 summit on Friday brought together the EU countries bordering the Mediterranean, namely the leaders from Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and the Greek Cypriot administration as well as the Portuguese foreign minister and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The participants also adopted a joint declaration on issues of political and humanitarian significance, referring to peace, security and stability in the Mediterranean as a strategic priority for the EU.
KEY ACTORS
Çavuşoğlu (Turkey)
>> MED9 declaration is biased & short-sighted.
>> EU should abandon one-sided attitude in favour of GC side.
TCs & GCs unhappy with slow procedures at Metehan (Agios Dhometios) crossing point
Diyalog
CBMs
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots using the Metehan (Agios Dhometios) crossing point daily are complaining of a deliberate slowing down of procedures by Greek Cypriot authorities, Diyalog newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to the daily, Greek Cypriot authorities at the southern checkpoint are deliberately slowing down procedures to discourage Greek Cypriots from crossing north to carry out shopping and buying fuel for much lower prices. The paper says that Greek Cypriot police are creating petty excuses to delay the process resulting in long queues at the crossing point, the busiest among the eight crossing points across the divide.
Customs officers are carrying out detailed searches on Greek Cypriot plate numbered cars, according to the newspaper. People from both communities using the crossing point who spoke to Diyalog called on the UN and EU to take affirmative action.
The paper reported that a similar situation was being experienced at the Beyarmudu (Pergamos) crossing point. Beyarmudu Mayor İlker Edip said that an initiative had been launched with the SBA (Sovereign Base Areas) police to open a new crossing point in the area.
Gülden Plümer Küçük congratulates the GC side for protecting their culture
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Human Rights
OVERVIEW
Gülden Plümer Küçük, the former Turkish Cypriot member of the Committee of Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus, congratulated the Greek Cypriot side for adamantly working to protect their Cypriot culture.
Küçük commented on a social media post on the repatriation of the Royal iconostasis Doors of Agios Anastasios and while congratulating the Greek Cypriot side waging a legal battle to protect their culture, she also criticized the Turkish Cypriot side for not being ashamed of the claims by the Greek Cypriot Orthodox Church that the antiquities were stolen from a church in the north immediately after the Turkish military operation in 1974.
The Antiquities department on Friday handed over to Archbishop Chrysostomos the Royal iconostasis Doors of Agios Anastasios in the Alaniçi (Peristeronopigi) village in the north.
The Royal iconostasis doors were returned to Cyprus last month after extensive efforts that intensified in the last two years, thus concluding one of the most renowned and at the same time complex cases of repatriation. The Royal iconostasis doors were in Japan at the Kanazawa College of Art.