PRESIDENT Papadopoulos, as had been widely expected, expressed his complete opposition to the proposed Cyprus settlement, in an ultra-emotional address to the Greek Cypriot people last night. He ended his 50-minute speech with tears in his eyes, passionately urging people to reject the Annan plan and vote ‘no’ in the April 24 referendum to ‘preserve the Cyprus Republic’.
PHILELEFTHEROS “Message of no” AKEL seem set to accept the plan, but President Tassos Papadopoulos will today lay his cards down on the table, urging people to vote no in the referendum. The two separate paths taken by the main political party will not lead to problems. AKEL Ministers will stick by their decisions and they will discuss their views on April 14.
CYPRUS will play host to the world’s football governing bodies this April at the meeting of UEFA’s 28th Ordinary Congress. Europe’s football governing body will celebrate its Jubilee in Limassol on April 20-23. Cyprus Football Association (CFA) President Costakis Koutsokoumnis said his association was “extremely honoured” that the decision was taken to stage the big event in Cyprus.
THE CYPRUS News Agency website ground to a halt yesterday as the site was flooded by people trying to download the Greek translation of the final Annan plan. A spokeswoman from the semi-government organisation said the increase in traffic was due to huge numbers of people logging on to see the Greek version of the plan for the first time.
FINANCE Minister Marcos Kyprianou launched the new on-line tax declaration service yesterday. The Inland Revenue now gives registered taxpayers the option of submitting their tax forms via the internet using the TAXISnet service. Kyprianou noted that Cyprus was breaking relatively new ground in Europe by providing this service.
A RISE in prostitution on the island has prompted police Chief Tassos Panayiotou to order the setting up of a Human Trafficking Prevention Bureau. Speaking at a news conference yesterday, police spokesman Demetris Demetriou said Panayiotou was concerned over the rise in prostitution on the island and that the issue was top in the police’s list of priorities.
GREEK Cypriots believe drugs are the biggest problem on the island, with crime and road accidents close behind, police said yesterday.
POLICE spokesman Demetris Demetriou yesterday said four out of six serious drug trafficking cases were from the north. Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Demetriou said 10 Turkish Cypriots had been arrested this year in four serious drug-related cases. “There were six serious drug-trafficking cases this year, and four of those had to do with drug-trafficking from the north,” he said.
POLICE Chief Tassos Panayiotou said yesterday that in case of a settlement, there would be two police forces and a federal investigation agency that would be made up of officers from both constituent states.
ECONOMIC prospects for Cyprus over the next 12 months are cautiously positive, according to the EU Commission’s Spring Forecast, but the projections are subject to the uncertainty of the effects of a Cyprus solution, which would cause fundamental changes. The report issued yesterday said GDP growth for 2004 was projected to climb to 3.4 per cent, strengthening further to 4.1 per cent in 2005.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
