Selling off the ‘TRNC’

2010-10-17

FEARS are growing in the north that Ankara plans to sell off all of most of the breakaway state’s ‘assets’, potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk and possibly muddying the waters in a potential Cyprus solution.

Ever since Cyprus Turkish Airlines (CTA) was disbanded and handed on a plate to Turkish air operator Atlas Jet last June, suspicion has been growing among Turkish Cypriot public sector workers that Ankara, aided and abetted by the ‘government’, plans to sell off all or most of the north’s ‘state’ enterprises, potentially putting thousands of jobs at risk.

Our View: Between galas, the president has tough a job to do

2010-10-17
THE LAST four or five weeks was a highly enjoyable period for President Christofias. It was a period during which he put aside all the woes and stress of running a country and focused on the lighter, ceremonial side of the job.
He travelled to New York where he addressed the UN General Assembly, met the UN Secretary-General, was a guest at President Obama’s reception for world leaders, gave a speech to a Washington think-tank and opened an exhibition of Cyprus antiquities at the Smithsonian.

Same problems, same politicians, different faces

2010-10-17

LAST WEEK the column dealt with President Christofias’ declaration that he had no intention of raising the issue of the withdrawal of the British Bases and would leave this task to “our children and grandchildren”.

The next day, Phileleftheros, in its daily column which features stories from old editions of the paper, published the following:

“1964. A big peace march, in which 100,000 people will take part, took place. Personalities from the Greek world and from other countries participated.

Bus stop, wet day. He’s there, I say

2010-10-17

Communications Minister, Mme d’Erato Kozakou-Marcoulli has her hands full what with air traffic controllers, road users, public transport and bus timetables, causing her the loss of yet more hair on her already sparsely covered crown.

Thorough, efficient and to the point, Mme d’Erato will need more than her indisputable largesse to explain why it is that a 14-year-old schoolboy (blond haired god that he is) is now obliged to run 5kms home carrying a heavy backpack ever since her govt. became masters of our bus services.

Caught up in the trafficking web

2010-10-17

AT THE end of this month the first ever graphic novel in Cyprus will be launched by INDEX: Research and Dialogue. It centres on the fate of one woman caught up in the trafficking web.  Arriving to Cyprus from her home country, the story follows her from the airport to her arrival at the cabaret and her eventual escape from conditions within which she was being exploited. The graphic novel finishes there – but what happened after she escaped?

Medvedev’s initiative for a European Security Treaty

2010-10-17

THE RECENT visit of President Medvedev to Cyprus generated a lot of discussion about his initiative for a European Security Treaty, the reason being that Cyprus was the first European country to show willingness to participate meaningfully and constructively in the negotiations for its consideration.

The example of Cyprus was followed by Portugal and France. It is of interest, therefore, to get to know what prompted the Russian President to propose, the treaty on June 5, 2008, and what it contains.

For twenty years, after the end of the Cold War a sustainable and effective system of indivisible security which would embrace states of the West and the East never came to fruition.

Rescue of Chilean miners an isolated act of humanitarianism

2010-10-17

The ordeal of the 33 Chilean miners is over. In a dramatic rescue operation they have all been brought back safely to the surface of the earth. The whole world was able to watch the last hours of this operation live on TV, and a sigh of relief went around the world after the successful completion. This last day was seen as a big victory for technology and humanity.

Was it really?

No doubt, technology has made a lot of progress. Years ago a similar operation had not been possible, or at least not in this timeframe. And there was no quibble about the cost of the operation – at least not visible to the public.

A great family day out

2010-10-17

The community of Phinikaria is to be congratulated for organising a very enjoyable afternoon’s family entertainment in support of the ‘Friends for Life’ Appeal. The magic show and juggling was very good: certainly my young daughters enjoyed it. Well done and Thank you

Trevor Elliston

Limassol

Nicosia’s old town should be treated with more respect

2010-10-17

With reference to the article ‘Onasagorou – The Poor Relation’(Sunday Mail, October 10), the news is encouraging.  The article is cheering.

However, aside from being pleased that the tide is slowly turning it is also urgent to encourage everyone to address the conditions and the manner in which people live downtown.

The conditions in which they live inform their attitude to their environment.  The poorer the environment the greater the propensity to treat it badly.

The worse it is treated the poorer it becomes and so on.  The graffiti besmirched building that Mr Orphanides is taking over, rubs shoulders with our building across the street.

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.