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The strong winds and fires wrecked and scorched the land
Strong winds that were effective in Cyprus yesterday reached speeds up to 117km. Flights were disrupted and trees were uprooted in many areas. The head of the met office Raif İlker Buran said that winds had reached 100km in Boğaz (Bogazi), Kalkanlı (Kalo Chorio Kapoutii), Kaleburnu (Galinoporni) and Serdarlı (Tziaos). The strong winds are expected to continue until this afternoon. A dust storm will be effective until midnight Saturday. Fires also broke out in three different areas. The fires in Esentepe (Agios Amvrosios), Kozanköy (Larnakas tis Lapithou) and Göçeri (Pileri) which broke out at noon spread quickly as a result of the winds making it difficult to bring them under control. Cooling efforts continued well into the night.
The storm caused havoc, the fires scorched
The heavy storm affected life negatively throughout the country yesterday. As a result of the storm, power lines hit each other, creating sparks that caused fires in seven different places. The several metre-high waves in our seas created beautiful but frightening sights.
Both destroyed and burnt
The storm in Cyprus caused damage both in the north and in the south. Trees and street lighting poles could not withstand the strength of the winds. The sparks caused by the power lines caused fires in some areas too.
- They will be sent back to Lebanon where they escaped from – The boat carrying 67 irregular migrants, 29 of whom are children, docked at the Paphos port.
A big scare was experienced
Fires broke out in four different areas after powerlines caused sparks due to strong winds. Citizens supported firefighters and civil defence teams intervene in the fires at Esentepe (Agios Amvrosios), Kozanköy (Larnakas tis Lapithou) and Göçeri (Pileri). The mayor of Esentepe (Agios Amvrosios) asked for a fire helicopter from Turkey. In Nicosia, Famagusta and Kyrenia electricity polls and lines were downed or broken. KIBTEK (Turkish Cypriot Electricity Authority) workers worked round-the-clock to repair the downed lines. In the meantime, the strong winds disrupted air traffic. Two flights from Istanbul and Adana could not land at Ercan (Tymbou) because of the strong winds.
The most tragic death
Eight-year-old Meryem Ceren Kırma, who went to the state hospital with complaints of abdominal pain, was transferred to the pandemic hospital after her PCR test came back positive. She was intubated when her condition worsened only to pass away a day later. It was announced that Meryem passed away due to Covid-19 but the Health Ministry did not make any further statements.
- What kind of death is this? – Stomachache is not a symptom of coronavirus. We demand an explanation from the Health Ministry!
Main News
TC side’s consent was sought in Colin Stewart’s appointment
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Wednesday said the UN sought the Turkish Cypriot side’s consent in approving Colin Stewart as UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative (SRSG) for its peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
In a statement issued from his office, Tatar said the Turkish Cypriot side gave its approval on September 30 and it is expected that Stewart will assume his new post on December 1.
Tatar reiterated that both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side insisted on finding a common ground before the launch of official negotiations. He recalled that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had confirmed after the five-plus-one meeting in Geneva in April 2021 that there is no common ground between the two sides and the efforts will continue.
“The Turkish Cypriot side during the same informal meeting had submitted a proposal for the launch of negotiations process to build a relationship between the two sides based on collaboration following recognizing sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides,” Tatar said, adding that the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposal is still at the table.
Tatar added that the efforts to find a common ground between the two sides were carried out by UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute. However, following the expiry of her contract, the Turkish Cypriot side has accepted the appointment of a new personal envoy with a new task.
“The UN has sent the two sides a draft statement on the appointment of a personal envoy following the tripartite meeting in New York, during which the two leaders had accepted the said appointment,” Tatar said, adding that the Turkish Cypriot side following Colin Stewart’s appointment, now expects the UN to appoint a personal envoy to identify whether there is common ground between the sides or not.
TC MFA condemned racist graffiti on the walls of a school in the south
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis Diyalog, Avrupa
Negotiations Process, Internal Security
OVERVIEW
The Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned racist expressions written on the walls of the Nicosia Technical School in South Cyprus.
In a statement issued, the ministry brought to people’s attention that vandals spray-painted nationalist and racist slogans on the walls of a technical school in Nicosia.
The slogans on the walls of the Nicosia Technical School, which is across the road from the Apoel FC fan club, read: “Eoka again”, “Cyprus is Hellen”, “Turks out”, “illegals out”, and “Cyprus is Greek.”
“The increasing intolerance against the Turkish Cypriots – one of the two peoples of the island of Cyprus – is the product of the Greek Cypriot education system,” the statement read, arguing that the said ministry is teaching a “distorted history to the Greek Cypriot youth sowing seeds of hostility into their fresh minds.”
The ministry also argued that as long as the Greek Cypriot leadership does not bring the vandals to justice, similar acts will continue.
“One can observe the increasing intolerance in South Cyprus against the Turkish Cypriots,” the ministry argued, adding that the Greek Cypriot leadership’s repeated antagonistic statements against the Turkish Cypriot side will not only provide a basis for vandals but will also harm the relationship between the two peoples.
“We strongly condemn the incident and expect the expressions on the walls are immediately erased,” the ministry stressed, demanding that the perpetrators are found and punished as soon as possible.
More undocumented migrants caught trying to cross to the south
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis Diyalog, Avrupa
Human Rights, Internal Security
OVERVIEW
Five undocumented migrants were caught while trying to cross to the southern part of the island near Güvercinlik (Acheritou) village in the Famagusta district.
It emerged that the migrants had arrived by boat in the north 10 days ago in a group of 13. The police found five of them and are searching for the remaining eight now, the dailies reported.
The migrants informed the police they have each paid human traffickers $4,000 to be delivered to the northern part of the island.
The migrants were placed at a state quarantine facility following their medical examinations and after obtaining negative PCR test results.