Christofias: 50th anniversary a time to reflect

2010-10-01

 

CYPRIOTS have a duty toward their country and to themselves to reunite their country and live in peace, President Demetris Christofias has said in his speech marking the 50-year anniversary of the Republic.

“Out of the 50 years of life of the Republic of Cyprus, if we deducted the years of occupation and the years of intercommunal strife, we would be left with only a decade of more or less peaceful and creative co-existence of all citizens of our Republic, irrespective of their community or ethnic background,” Christofias said.

“Both foreign intervention and our own mistakes did not allow us to fulfil this moral duty to the full. As the Republic of Cyprus, we have unfulfilled responsibilities, first and foremost to ourselves.”

Our View: Our pride in the Republic comes 50 years too late

2010-10-01

THE REPUBLIC of Cyprus officially celebrates its 50th anniversary today, even though it reached this milestone a month and a half ago, on August 16. With most people being away on holiday in August it was decided that it would be better to celebrate Independence Day on October 1. Not that there were any celebrations to start with – it was only in 1979 that the legislature declared October 1 a public holiday while the military parade was introduced, to mark the occasion, three years later.

A decade after Milosevic, Serbia only inching towards EU

2010-10-01

AN AUSTRIAN bank advertisement longer than a soccer pitch wraps tightly around the former interior ministry in Belgrade, giving it a flashy facade masking a darker past still haunting Serbia.

A decade after strongman President Slobodan Milosevic fell in a popular uprising on October 5, 2000, the old ministry remains a ruin of the 1999 NATO bombing, evoking both the promise of a better European future and the wounded core of Serbia itself.  Since the overthrow of Milosevic, who supported warring Serbs in Croatia and Bosnia as communist federal Yugoslavia tore apart, the formerly pariah Balkan country of 7.3 million people has been at peace and embraced a market-style democracy.

Furore over president’s comments a case of ‘malicious distortion’

2010-10-01

THE Government yesterday described as “malicious distortion” the fierce reaction to comments by President Demetris Christofias that appeared to equate the Greek-inspired coup in July 1974 with the Turkish invasion, five days later.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said Christofias’ comments, at the Washington DC-based Brookings Institution, had been taken out of context and used to bash the president and the government.

“When some, using this isolated reference, say that the president absolves Turkey, equates (invasion with coup) etc, yes this is malicious distortion,” Stefanou told state broadcaster CyBC.

Looking back at independence through former presidential eyes

2010-10-01

 

AS THE Union Jack was lowered at Government House in Nicosia just before midnight, and 82 years of British administration came quietly to an end, former President Glafcos Clerides was on hand to witness the birth of the new republic.

“On the day of Independence I was sitting in my office at the House of Representatives, I remember that the President Archbishop Makarios and the Governor were both getting ready to sign all the documents.”

A few minutes later, at a ceremony in the Parliament building, a fanfare of trumpets heralded the birth of the new republic. A brief formal statement which announced the transfer of power was read by Sir Hugh Foot – his last official act as Governor and a 20-gun salute followed.

Manneken-Pis gets a vraka to honour Cyprus’ indpendence

2010-10-01

CELEBRATIONS for  Cyprus’ 50 years of Independence have taken many different forms. However Mannekin-Pis as ‘Vrakaman’ is likely to be among the most original.

Manneken-Pis, which is Dutch for ‘little man urinating’ is a famous Brussels landmark. It is a small bronze fountain sculpture depicting a naked little boy urinating into the fountain’s basin. It was designed by Jerome Duquesnoy and put in place in 1618 or 1619.

As a tribute to Cyprus Mannekin-Pis will today be clad in traditional Cypriot costume from 12pm to 4pm. .

The small, bronze statue, which is regularly dressed up to mark various world events, will rack up its 853rd costume with the donning of the vraka.

Main celebration events underway

2010-10-01

THE CELEBRATIONS to mark the 50th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus continued yesterday at the Presidential Palace and will end today with the traditional October 1 military parade and the “Flagship event” at Tassos Papadopoulos- Eleftheria Stadium in Nicosia tonight.

Yesterday Demetris Christofias and the First Lady Elsie Christofias hosted a reception at the Presidential Palace to mark the anniversary. The reception was held between the hours of 6:30pm and 8:30pm and was open to the public.

Boost for urban renewal

2010-10-01

CYPRUS received a €180 million urban development boost from The European Investment Bank (EIB) yesterday as the island’s prepared to celebrate 50 years of the Republic.

The EIB said it too was celebrating – 30 years of activity on the island.

“It is a great pleasure for me to hold this celebrating and commemorating signature ceremony. The two loan agreements I am signing here today are in support of urban environment, which is of particular importance due to the current crisis,” EIB Vice-President, Plutarchos Sakellaris said.

Sakellaris said he had earlier yesterday also signed an agreement with the Bank of Cyprus for a total of €20 million for the benefit of small and even micro companies.

O’Dwyer launches one-man protest at presidential palace

2010-10-01

A BRITISH man has started a 4-day peaceful protest camped outside the Presidential Palace in Nicosia to highlight his ongoing case over a disputed property.

The action saw Conor O’Dwyer spend the night sleeping just yards from the main entrance of the palace and is part of a high-profile campaign to publicise his lengthy legal battle with a Paralimni based developer.

Taking time out of his protest, he told the Cyprus Mail: “If I saw the President pass me here I would tell him that I and other foreign nationals have suffered dearly with the incompetence and delays in the judicial system. There has to be a priority for people who have lost everything,” he said.

Pervert’s lawyer ‘put pressure on the young victims’

2010-10-01

A 51-YEAR-OLD Lanrnaca lawyer has been charged with inciting a witness to commit perjury and intervening with justice during the trial of man who sexually abused his two daughters.

The lawyer was defending a 47-year-old man who was ultimately found guilty and jailed for 20 years on charges including rape, incest, indecent assault and sexual exploitation.

The lawyer was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit a misdemeanour, forging evidence, inciting witnesses to commit perjury, conspiracy to overturn the course of justice, intervening in a judicial process and concealing profits from illegal acts.

Reports said he had tried to convince the two daughters not to testify against their father by signing affidavits that they had no complaint.

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.