Greek press

ALITHIA: “The people should not pay for political weaknesses”. DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades is expected to analyse all that happened in Burgenstock at the party’s national conference tomorrow. According to the paper, Anastassiades is expected to also brief party members on the details of what followed after.

HARAVGHI: “A creative position”. Communist party AKEL’s central committee has called on the United Nations and the international community to postpone the referenda for a few months in order to allow an objective presentation of the Annan plan, and to allow the possibility of negotiations to take place in order to improve it, especially on matters of security and implementation.

SIMERINI: “Kazamias to resign”. Communications and Works Minister Kikis Kazamias was yesterday set to resign after disagreeing with President Tassos Papadopoulos on his position on the Annan plan. Kazamias was yesterday expected to meet with the President to discuss the issue. Reports said the reason behind Kazamias’ decision was President Tassos Papadopoulos’ speech to the nation in which he urged the people to vote ‘no’.

MACHI: “Federal mafia”. Greek and Turkish Cypriot mafiosi have joined forces in trafficking drugs to and from the north, the paper claims. According to the paper, the police are on high alert and have increased the number of checks at the checkpoints. According to official police records, 14 people, five Greek and nine Turkish Cypriots were arrested on drugs offences from the beginning of the year until March.

POLITIS: “Bush warns of consequences”. Washington has urged Athens to side with the Annan plan, with US President George W. Bush warning of the consequences of a ‘no’. According to a State Department announcement, “there would be serious, historic and irreversible consequences in rejecting the Annan plan”. Washington has also promised it would contribute generously to the island’s future.

PHILELEFTHEROS: “Gul and Talat say no to referenda delay”. Both the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides have rejected AKEL’s proposal to postpone the referenda for a few more months, and made it clear that a divided Cyprus’ accession to the EU “would create barriers for everything”. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey had been loyal to its obligations.

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.