Leaders discuss property proposals

2011-09-08

 

THE TWO leaders yesterday exchanged proposals on the complex issue of property, passing them on to their respective negotiating teams to examine further until omorrow’s meeting.

UN Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer said yesterday’s meeting was an “example of both sides continuing to work hard to try to build convergences”.

Both teams will discuss among themselves the “reasonably complex proposals” after which the UN’s team of property experts will then consult with both sides separately today ahead of tomorrow’s meeting between the two leaders.

Regarding the series of proposals tabled yesterday, Downer sounded cautiously optimistic, saying: “There is quite a lot to think about here and to work through.

Our View: The bullies of Ankara have become accustomed to calling the shots

2011-09-08

THE EXERCISE of soft power, which had become the main principle of Turkey’s foreign policy, has not lasted very long. The objective of zero problems with her neighbours, advocated by foreign minister Ahmed Davutoglu, appears to have fallen by the wayside as the Erdogan government started engaging in gunboat diplomacy in its dealings with Cyprus and Israel.

A week ago, EU Affairs Minister Egemen Bagis, was quoted as saying that Cyprus should not to start drilling for hydrocarbons because it would have to face the Turkish navy. He also pointed out that the last time a boat went on an exploratory mission, Turkish ships “were quick to make their way to the area”. This was a pretty direct threat by the usually moderate Bagis.

‘Papacostas knew the risks but Kyprianou was buying time’

2011-09-08

THE TESTIMONY by a Defence Ministry official at yesterday’s Mari hearing revealed some of the shoddy and lackadaisical manner in which the army and state approached the deadly Monchegorsk cargo.

The inquiry heard that former Defence Minister Costas Papacostas had been “terrified” when he was told one of the 98 containers had bulged in the heat but he was told by a senior officer that the army knew what was happening and would “deal with it”

Papacostas had also allegedly berated Foreign Minster Marcos Kyprianou for “dumping” the munitions on him.

It was also revealed at yesterday’s hearing that Papacostas had decided the munitions should be destroyed, beginning on July 11, the day they exploded, killing 13 men and knocking out the island’s main power station.

Erdogan: no one is allowed to walk all over our honour

2011-09-08

TURKISH PRIME Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan turned up the heat a notch yesterday, repeating his vow to increase Turkish navy surveillance in the eastern Mediterranean, particularly in the country’s own “exclusive economic zones”.

Commenting on possible new sanctions against Israel, following the latter’s refusal to apologise for killing nine people in a raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla last year, Erdogan told reporters: “We don’t care if it costs $15 million or $150 million. We will not allow anyone to walk all over our honour.”

Turkey has already announced the suspension of all military cooperation and defence trade with Israel while downgrading diplomatic relations with the former regional ally.

Defence lawyer demands two new judges in murder trial

2011-09-08

ONE OF the defence lawyers in the Andis Hadjicostis murder trial yesterday demanded that two of judges be recused because they were personally acquainted with one of the witnesses.

The implication of such a move would be to begin the trial from scratch.

The president of the court, Haris Solomonides and one of the other two judges, Nikos Santis, informed the defence and prosecution lawyers after the last hearing on August 5 that they personally knew witness Rea Andronikou, who testified earlier that day.

Solomonides knows Andronikou through his wife, and Santis because he is a friend of Andronikou’s.

“We thought it right to bring this information to your knowledge,” said Solomonides.

Poll: We support Palace protests but don’t ask us to go

2011-09-08

SEVEN out of ten Cypriots are in favour of the demonstrations outside the presidential palace in the wake of the Mari naval base blast, even though only one in ten has taken part in one.

An Antenna TV poll of peoples attitudes to the demonstrations, released yesterday, also shows a strong correlation between party affiliation and attitudes towards the marches, with voters of all parties except AKEL strongly in favour of the march.

DISY voters were 94 per cent in favour, DIKO 88 per cent, EDEK 95 per cent and EVROKO 96 per cent. AKEL voters were 79 per cent against the demonstrations and 11 per cent in favour.

Kazamias mulls asking ECB to buy back bonds

2011-09-08

THE GOVERNMENT together with the Central Bank of Cyprus are considering the possibility of asking the European Central Bank (ECB) to buy back government bonds, in a bid to lower yields on government paper which have spiked on the secondary market in recent months, Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias said yesterday.

“We have agreed it is an issue which is to be considered,” Kazamias told reporters.

Cyprus has seen its borrowing costs on secondary markets surge on the back of repeated downgrades by ratings agencies because of fiscal slippage and exposure of its banking sector to Greek debt.

Proposal to modernise appointment of investigating committees

2011-09-08

MAIN opposition DISY and the Green party have table proposals to modernise the appointment of investigating committees, currently appointed exclusively by the cabinet based on antiquated legislation.

The move came after parties had disputed the objectivity of an investigator appointed by the cabinet to look into the deadly July 11 blast and assign responsibility wherever it may lie, including the president.

The cabinet’s power stems from legislation drafted in the 1940s, which apparently no one had thought should be changed until now.

DISY’s proposal, presented by its leader Nicos Anastassiades, gives the authority to the attorney-general to appoint investigators when the case concerns the president, the cabinet or independent state officials.

Thousands of trees felled for new airport road

2011-09-08

GREENS are up in arms over the felling of 5,000 trees, which commenced in Paphos last week, to make way for the new road which will eventually connect the tourist area of the town with the airport.

“People have been complaining to me over the last few days but it’s too little too late,” Andreas Evlavis, the Paphos district secretary of the Green party told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

It’s estimated that around 5,000 trees will be felled in order to make way for the new road.

The road in question will connect Paphos airport with the main tourist road in Kato Paphos, joining the town at the area known locally as ‘Kaligulas roundabout.’

Asgata residents win the battle for now

2011-09-08

THE ARMY will stop the transfer of munitions from Palodhia camp to another near Asgata for the time being, Defence Minister Demetris Eliades said yesterday.

Eliades was speaking after a meeting with Asgata’s community council.

The meeting was called after residents of Asgata strongly protested on Tuesday against the transfer of ammunitions from Palodhia through their village to a camp in the area.

Xenophon Christoforou, Asgata’s community leader, said the community refused to see their village turned into a dumping site for explosives.

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.