Front Page Headlines
This is not traffic, it’s an ordeal
Traffic in Kyrenia paralyzes life. It takes hours to drive to the west or east of Kyrenia. Traffic in the city has turned into chaos with the opening of the schools. Traffic jams and congestion make it impossible to get around. Those who use the Alsancak (Karavas) ring road with has yet to be completed complain that they lose hours in traffic. Those living in Çatalköy (Agios Epiktitos) complain that traffic is busy almost all hours of the day.
- “No negotiations, no support to policies” – Prof Dr Ahmet Sözen says TC side’s “sovereign equality” position causes deadlock in talks. He says the Turkish Cypriot side’s new policy is preventing negotiations from starting. “You remove all chances of starting talks when you insist on the condition of recognition before sitting at the table. Unfortunately, the two-state model is not receiving any support and Turkey knows this.
- South orders Asya’s medication.
The Hellim (Halloumi) producers in the north were not given guidelines
Kemal Öztürk, the representative of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry, said Bureau Veritas, which has been authorized to control Hellim (Halloumi) production in accordance with the product designated origin (PDO) registration, is not impartial.
- Renewed our demand for sovereignty and international equality” – President Ersin Tatar met with UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres. Tatar following the 45-minutes long meeting said the Turkish Cypriot side expressed its positions on the Cyprus problem again.
- Victims of domestic violence are waiting for this law – The Societal Gender Equality department could not be established even though the establishment law had been passed. Labour and Social Security Minister Koral Çağman said the efforts will be intensified.
Faces in the real-estate sector smile
The empty flats which are being rented out to returning university students in pounds sterling are going like hotcakes. Hundreds of flats that had been empty for the last year and a half due to the pandemic are being rented out. There are many searching for flats to rent. More importantly, these flats are being rented in foreign currency. The good old lucrative days are returning.
- Full support from the EU – While politicians in the TRNC are squabbling over the Teknecik power plant which is poisoning the public, South Cyprus, Greece, Israel and Egypt are connecting their grids.
- Approval for €150m investment – US firm will be building 280 apartment flats near Pile (Pyla).
The medicine for Asya has been ordered
Greek Cypriot Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said the gene therapy medicine for Asya’s treatment has been ordered. The company that produces the medicine said they are ready to deliver it. Asya will immediately be transferred to the Makarios (Children’s) Hospital for treatment upon her return from Turkey.
- Tatar: We reiterated our views – Ersin Tatar met with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Main News
Tatar reiterates the TC side’s demands for sovereignty & equal int’l status
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Saturday reiterated the Turkish Cypriot is ready to launch official negotiations when the Turkish Cypriot side’s demands for sovereign equality and equal international status are met.
Evaluating his 45-minute-long meeting with the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres on Bayrak, Tatar said that the Turkish Cypriot side’s position is based on the realities in Cyprus contrary to the Greek Cypriot side’s insistence on the continuation of the status quo.
“In my opinion, Guterres understands and sympathises with the Turkish Cypriot side however he is bound by the parameters that call for a federal settlement,” Tatar said, noting that he had also told the UNSG it was time to revise those parameters.
Tatar said he has told Guterres that the Greek Cypriot side’s position to continue with talks from where they left off in Crans Montana will only ensure the continuation of the status quo on the island. “On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriot side is asking for its sovereign equality and the recognition of its inherent rights,” Tatar said.
He noted an environment of trust on the island must be created for an agreement, adding that he has told the Secretary-General that the technical committees could work more.
“It is possible to create an environment of confidence with collaboration between the states with a bottom-up approach,” Tatar said, adding that he will renew his proposals during the trilateral meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades on Monday as well.
Tatar said he has told the UNSG that the conflict in Cyprus started in 1963 and not in 1974 as Anastasiades claims. The Turkish Cypriot leader was accompanied by Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, his special representative Ergün Olgun, negotiations team member Osman Ertuğ and Mehmet Dana, who is New York representative for the Turkish Cypriot state.
Meanwhile, speaking to Bayrak ahead of meeting with the UNSG, Olgun said Tatar had “a very comprehensive proposal in his bag.” “We will present the plan to the Secretary-General today (on Saturday) and Mr Anastasiades on Monday. Our goal is to achieve a new opening based on equality and establish meaningful conditions for collaboration,” Olgun said, adding that the two sides share one island, and the sides need to respect each other.
“The very principle of respect is equality,” Olgun stressed, adding that the Turkish Cypriot side’s goal is to create a conducive political environment for collaboration between the two sides and ask the Secretary-General and the international community’s support to help create these conditions.
“This collaboration must be at the institutional level and must be meaningful,” Olgun said. Explaining the Turkish Cypriot side’s position further, Olgun underscored that one of the two sides on the island claims to be sovereign and is recognized internationally leaving the other side with no status.
He added that the international community had not tried much to change the status quo either which is why he does not believe that a compromise could be made based on equality in sovereignty or international status.
“The Turkish Cypriot side’s position is therefore based on the equal sovereignty of the two sides as well as bringing the two sides’ international status at equal levels. This is our position and we are in a position that requires an endorsement,” Olgun said, reiterating that the official negotiations could resume once the Turkish Cypriot side’s demands are met.
He explained that a top-down quest for a solution through a political process alone would not be enough to ensure that equality between the two sides and that bottom-up processes would be needed as well. “We will have some proposals to create a more effective and active cooperation between the sides on matters that concern the daily lives of the two communities”, Olgun said.
KEY ACTORS
Tatar
>> TC side ready to launch talks when TC side’s demands for sovereign equality & equal international status is accepted.
>> UNSG understands & sympathises with the TC side but it is bound by UN parameters for BBF.
>> The time has come to revise parameters in Cyprus.
>> Resuming talks from where they left off in Crans Montana will only serve the continuation of the status quo.
>> Environment of trust must be created in Cyprus which is why technical committees need to do more work.
>> Collaboration must be at the institutional level.
>> Bottom-up approach, not top-down approach needed to ensure equality.
Leading academic Sözen says TC side’s two-state position blocking the start of new talks
Yenidüzen
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
International Relations expert Prof. Dr Ahmet Sözen has said that the Turkish Cypriot leadership’s insistence on a two-state solution based on sovereign equality was blocking the start of a new round of talks on the Cyprus Issue.
In an interview with Yenidüzen published on Sunday, Sözen talked of the need for a new diplomatic initiative with different and creative ideas that could end the current deadlock between the two sides.
He said that the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades had won the moral and ethical high ground by referring to a bizonal, bicommunal federal (BBF) settlement in his address at the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
“He succeeded in removing the image of the leader who had abandoned the negotiating table in Crans Montana. In other words, he wiped his slate clean throwing the ball onto the Turkish Cypriot side’s and Turkey’s court. Sözen also drew attention to how few contacts Tatar held in New York compared to his predecessors Mehmet Ali Talat and Mustafa Akıncı.
“His only meeting with the Azerbaijan foreign minister and being unable to even meet with officials of ten of the 190 countries represented at the UNGA is extremely disappointing,” he said. Prof. Sözen also pointed out that the two-state solution model did not receive the support of the international community, something which Turkey was very well aware of.
“I believe that there could be a return to a BBF should Turkey succeed in normalising its relations with the US and EU. Asked what was behind the Turkish Cypriot side’s policies, Sözen said that the two-state model had been tabled in response to the Greek Cypriot side’s policies which led to the rejection of the Annan Plan, the abandoning of the talks in Crans Montana and its unilateral hydrocarbon activities based on sovereignty.
“Other regional and global developments triggered by former US President’s Donald Trump’s foreign policies as well as a shift in balances contributed to a more aggressive Turkey trying to assert itself in the power shifts,” he said.
Sözen also said that the timing of the change in Turkey’s position concerning the Cyprus Problem was wrong as its image in the eyes of the international community has declined in the past ten years. Asked to comment on Erdoğan’s speech, Prof. Sözen said the speech only served to strengthen the perception that Turkish Cypriots are not actors but subjects.
TC Hellim (Halloumi) producers complain about not being given production guidelines
Kıbrıs
Economy, EU Matters
OVERVIEW
Kemal Öztürk, the representative of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Industry, said Bureau Veritas, which has been authorized to control Hellim (Halloumi) production in accordance with the product designated origin (PDO) registration, is biased in favour of the Greek Cypriot side.
In an interview with Turkish Cypriot daily Kıbrıs, Öztürk said Bureau Veritas has already supplied the Greek Cypriot producers with the production guidelines whilst the company has yet to appoint a person to inspect the Turkish Cypriot producers.
Explaining the legislative process, Öztürk noted that following the PDO registration of Hellim (Halloumi), two more regulations were adopted by the EC. The first regulation is on the compliance controls of the production of the Cypriot cheese and the second one is on animal health and residues in raw milk.
“It is necessary to see what’s going on in the field to accept the cheese as Hellim (Halloumi),” he said, adding that the Greek Cypriot side has signed a contract with French company Bureau Veritas on production standards. Nothing has been done on the residue regulation yet, he added.
“In this respect, the company must have informed the producers on the areas it will inspect and distribute a guideline on what the companies need to pay attention to,” Öztürk said, noting that Bureau Veritas has not gotten in touch with any one of the Turkish Cypriot producers to date.
Noting that the biased approach by the Bureau Veritas has put the Hellim (Halloumi) producers in the north in difficulty, Öztürk said there are 11 companies capable of exporting their produce once the PDO registration enters into force on October 1.
“The Bureau Veritas may have signed a contract with the Greek Cypriot side, but the company should have outreached to the Turkish Cypriot producers as well,” Öztürk said, adding that the EC has not appointed someone to check on the animal diseases or residues either.
Öztürk also noted that the 11 Turkish Cypriot companies are not afraid of any inspections or compliance controls as they all use top of the technology production standards and have international quality and health certifications. He also expressed the belief that the Turkish Cypriot producers will be able to meet the 50 per cent sheep and 50 per cent goat milk requirement set by the PDO registration.
Also touching on the economic benefits of the PDO registration, Öztürk said the Turkish Cypriot producers will be able to export their produce for €8 per kilo instead of $4 now. He said 44 per cent of the total exports from the north constitute dairy produce and 85 per cent of the dairy exports are Hellim (Halloumi).