Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-04-28

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Tuesday, April 28, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Recognition not a precondition for talks

[02] Holbrooke's three proposals

[03] Cassoulides hints at missile compromise

[04] Woman jailed for spreading Aids

[05] Market powers to new 1998 high

[06] Cyprus taken off 'high-risk' money laundering list

[07] Building sector to freeze out foreigners

[08] Markides steps in to protect Kurdish activist

[09] Suicides rocket in the north

[10] Injured Guardsman dies in hospital

[11] Brothers injured in accident

[12] Woman killed in riding fall

[13] Nicosia to host big fight

[14] Strugglers become invincible?

[01] Recognition not a precondition for talks

RECOGNITION of the breakaway regime in the occupied north is not necessary for the resumption of intercommunal talks, Turkey said yesterday.

The surprise announcement comes four days before the visit of US Presidential Envoy Richard Holbrooke, who is expected to receive a response to three proposals he is understood to have put forward to both sides.

The talks have been stalled since last year, when Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash refused to return to the table unless future talks were held on the basis of "two states".

Yesterday, however, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said international recognition of the breakaway state was not essential for a dialogue between the two leaders.

"I do not believe (recognition) should be considered as a precondition, but it is an important element," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sermet Atacanli told a press conference in Ankara.

Atacanli nevertheless added that Turkey had not dropped demands that the regime be granted international recognition.

"The existence of two separate sovereign entities on the island must be accepted if there is to be a solution. There is no change in our position," Atacanli said.

But foreign diplomats in Ankara told the Reuters news agency that Atacanli's comment seemed to indicate a new stance by Turkey.

"This is a different line," one said.

The diplomats said Western allies were discussing the wording of possible ways to persuade the Greek Cypriot side to accept the Turkish Cypriot regime as a separate entity. "This is something we have been working on for months. Should it be recognition or acknowledgment and what do those words really mean," another diplomat said.

Cyprus government spokesman Christos Stylianides said earlier yesterday that neither the US nor Britain has pressed the Greek Cypriot side into any recognition of the regime in the north.

"No concrete proposal has been made either by the Americans or the British on the recognition of the illegal state or any other form of acknowledgement..." Stylianides said.

The spokesman said there were indications that the Turkish side had backed down from the demand for recognition, but the government was expecting specific clarifications.

"This is something we will see in a concrete and precise way when Richard Holbrooke comes to Cyprus," Stylianides said. He added that the government expected "specific indications that the Turkish side is ready to participate in the UN-led intercommunal talks."

[02] Holbrooke's three proposals

Quoting high-level diplomatic sources, the Turkish Daily News (TDN) said the two sides would give their official responses to Holbrooke when he comes back later this week.

According to TDN, the three proposals centred on Holbrooke's suggestions for resuming the UN-led intercommunal talks and outlined the framework for an ultimate settlement.

"But none were accepted by the parties," the sources said.

The first proposal put forward by Holbrooke envisaged the convention of a Dayton-style peace conference under the chairmanship of the US and including Turkey and Greece.

Holbrooke reportedly proposed that "the existence of two distinct Cypriot administrations" be acknowledged, but the Turkish Cypriot side decided the term was too ill-defined and obscure.

Rauf Denktash has said over recent months that there would be no return to negotiations table unless the talks take place between two recognised states.

The Turkish Cypriots also opposed the high-pressure 'Dayton option' because they felt it might be a way of forcing the parties to accept agreements that would not be acceptable under normal circumstances.

Holbrooke's second proposal envisaged the inclusion of the Turkish Cypriots into the European Union accession process as a separate and equal team alongside the Greek Cypriot delegation. The Turkish Cypriot side knocked this proposal as being too vague.

In his third proposal, Holbrooke suggested the issue of Cyprus' EU membership be set aside and that the parties start direct talks aimed at the establishment of a federation. Again vagueness was cited as an excuse to reject the idea.

Despite the rejection of the three proposals, the Turkish sources said the Dayton idea was the one the Turkish side was most likely to discuss.

Ankara has also expressed veiled support for convening such a conference, TDN reported.

[03] Cassoulides hints at missile compromise

Speaking on CyBC radio, Cassoulides echoed statements given to the Athens daily Kathimerini, in which he said Cyprus might cancel the order if a "real dialogue" was developed, as this would mean "we do not really need weapons systems and can take final and permanent decisions".

Cassoulides' statements come on the eve of the arrival in Cyprus on Friday of top US envoy Richard Holbrooke.

Playing down talk of a breakthrough stemming from the visit, Cassoulides said there were nevertheless "certain factors" allowing for hope.

But he cautioned that though the government expected to be come under US pressure to compromise, it would "not accept anything worse than the current situation".

[04] Woman jailed for spreading Aids

A BRITISH woman was yesterday sentenced to seven months in prison by a Nicosia district court for having unprotected sex with two Cypriot men knowing that she was HIV-positive.

Manchester-born Cypriot Chrysavgi Zarzour, aged 26, had pleaded guilty to having unprotected sex with a married taxi driver and a 22-year-old single man and hiding the fact she had full blown Aids.

Tests have shown that neither of the men contracted the disease, but the judge said a prison term was unavoidable.

"Although the accused admitted to the offences and said she was drunk at the time, this is no excuse.

"The accused's state of mind and health are only slight factors in determining sentencing," said judge Haris Solomonides.

The prosecution had argued that the woman went to various bars looking to "pick men up".

But the defence argued that Zarzour's actions were related to bouts of heavy drinking to escape severe depression.

Solomonides did take into account that Zarzour only had a short time to live, but said protecting society from the spread of Aids was paramount.

"Taking everything into account, the facts weigh heavily against the accused. She knew about her disease and how it was transmitted, but she still went with other men without telling them of her condition or using a condom," said the judge.

When the sentence was read out, Zarzour sat motionless in the dock and left the court with a shawl over her head as she nudged past the waiting press pack.

She will now spend the duration of her sentence at the women's wing of Nicosia's Central Prison.

Zarzour's lawyer, Andreas Eftichiou, was afterwards philosophical about the court's decision.

"I think the judge was lenient in this case. These kind of offences carry a much longer sentence abroad."

As he delivered his decision, Judge Solomonides called for the law to be amended to provide much stiffer prison sentences than the current two-year maximum.

Zarzour was tried under a 45-year-old law imposed to stop the spread of contagious diseases, such as cholera and tuberculosis.

Eftichiou said his client accepted the verdict.

"She understands the nature of the sentence and is satisfied. She didn't expect to be released."

This is only the second case of its kind to come to court in Cyprus. The first was that of Aids fisherman Pavlos Georgiou last summer.

He was sentenced to 15 months in prison for knowingly infecting his British ex-girlfriend Janette Pink with the HIV virus during a holiday romance.

He was released on a presidential pardon on New Year's Eve, after serving a third of his sentence.

Zarzour was born in Manchester and moved to Islington, London, where she worked as a hairdresser and later married her Lebanese husband Mohammed.

The couple came to live in Cyprus in 1987.

After her marriage broke up, Zarzour contracted the disease in 1993 from another British Cypriot living on the island.

Her husband, who worked as a bodyguard in London, now lives in Beirut with their seven-year-old twin boys.

[05] Market powers to new 1998 high

SHARES powered their way to a new 1998 high yesterday as the official all- share index closed 0.11 per cent up on Friday's close to end the day at 94.21 points with a near-record volume of £3.24 million.

The new high was the latest in a series that has seen the market's capitalisation jump by nearly 20 per cent this year on the back of high tourism expectations and continuously good results by banks.

The bourse's latest feat coincided with the announcement by a Limassol- based information technology company that it had made an initial issue of 700,000 shares and the publication of the 1997 results by Interamerican, a major insurance company which is a member of the Shacolas conglomerate.

Nearly a third of yesterday's £3.24-million volume was in the usually active bank stocks, where shares of the Bank of Cyprus added 8 cents to close at £3.86. Shares of traditional rival Popular Bank rose by 3 cents to come one cent shy of the psychologically significant £4 threshold.

The banks' sub-index, which closed 1.28 per cent up at 108.82, was the only one of the market's seven indices to end the day's trade up. Commercial companies were the biggest losers, shedding 5.15 per cent on more than £800, 000 worth of volume, followed by tourism and insurance stocks whose indices fell by 2.85 per cent and 1.67 per cent respectively.

The 700,000 shares issued by the information technology company Avacom Computer Services Ltd. will start trading at the Cyprus Stock Exchange next month, a company statement said yesterday, without giving a precise date.

The shares have a nominal value of £0.50 but will be sold at £1.00 apiece, a price arrived at following a company valuation made by Severis &amp; Athientis Securities Ltd. -- one of the island's top brokerages -- which underwrote the issue.

Avacom was established in January 1994. It had a turnover last year of £1.24 million compared to £880,000 in 1996. It had an after-tax profit of £119,440 last year, nearly twice that of the previous year.

Members of the public can buy the shares up until April 30 and will be given a free warrant for every five shares they buy.

The company statement said its approved capital stock was £1.5 million divided into three million shares of the nominal value of £0.50.

"The issued and fully paid capital comes to 1.56 million shares of nominal value 50 cent each, offered at a price of 100 cent each, thus bringing the total to 2.26 million shares of nominal value 50 cent each," it added.

Interamerican, meanwhile, said its pre-tax profits were down in 1997 to £1.63 million from £2.2 million in the previous year when it made an extraordinary profit of more than £600,000 through selling its general business to fellow Shacolas Group insurance company Philiki.

A statement said Interamerican expected better prospects in 1998 through better organisation, improved products and more favourable economic climate.

The Interamerican announcement on 1997 results was sent to brokers and the media in the late afternoon, and had nothing to do with the company's shares shedding 6.5 cents in yesterday's trade to close at £1.22.

Interamerican is the ninth biggest company in the bourse in terms of capitalisation -- £27.17 million by the end of last month. The only other insurance company in the top 10 is Universal Life, capitalised at £37.55 million, nearly three per cent of the market's total capitalisation.

[06] Cyprus taken off 'high-risk' money laundering list

Speaking after a meeting with a committee of representatives of the Council of Europe (CoE), Christodoulou said a CoE Financial Action Taskforce had evaluated the island's efforts on the problem and had decided to remove it from the list of high-risk countries.

This had come about, he added, "as a result of important measures we have taken."

Cyprus has ratified two international conventions on money laundering and set up a special team to combat the crime.

Over the past few years, there has been persistent media speculation that Cyprus had become a centre for money laundering, with Russian crime bosses working their illicit funds through the offshore banking sector.

Cyprus has strongly denied the rumours, saying it has taken adequate measures against the crime. Some officials have even accused rival offshore centres of spreading the allegations to damage Cyprus' image.

[07] Building sector to freeze out foreigners

The decision had been taken, he added, because of the increase in the number of unemployed local workers in this sector.

It was, he said, the government's firm policy to stop issuing permits for foreign workers in any sector where there was local unemployment.

There are currently 1,000 foreigners employed in construction.

The move comes after around 70,000 workers in the building industry threatened to strike following deadlock in the discussions for the renewal of their collective agreements.

Union concern over high unemployment in the sector is one of the main issues in the dispute, along with disagreements over employers' insistence on a wage freeze.

The unions were yesterday still deciding on their next move.

[08] Markides steps in to protect Kurdish activist

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Alecos Markides has suspended legal proceedings against a Kurdish activist charged with hostile street-selling of a Kurdish magazine.

Moves to bring Ramazan Celik before the courts, thought to be prompted by complaints from foreign embassies, have caused a political uproar.

But Markides sent a letter to the House Human Rights Committee yesterday saying there was no hard evidence to put Celik in the dock.

Local politicians and Kurdish activists have criticised the authorities for charging Celik on a misdemeanour just because foreign embassy officials had complained about him.

Diko deputy Marios Matsakis alleged that the complaints had come from the US embassy in Nicosia and called on the government to hold an inquiry into the affair.

But assistant police chief Andreas Christofides said that Kurds who sold the magazine Voice of Kurdistan were not being singled out.

He said that out of a hundred people charged with offensive street selling, only two had been Kurds.

Committee chairman Yiannakis Agapiou said Kurds should -- like anyone else - - be allowed freely to express their political opinions.

And he described complaints by foreign embassies against Celik as "unorthodox".

The committee voted unanimously in condemning the government for its behaviour towards the Kurdish activist.

[09] Suicides rocket in the north

Dailies in the north said that 'police' had logged an amazing 57 suicide attempts between January 1997 and April this year.

Of the attempts, 16 were successful. Five deaths occurred this month alone.

The majority of the successful attempts were made by men, but women lead in attempted suicides.

Causes were varied, including economic difficulties, marital problems and terminal illness.

[10] Injured Guardsman dies in hospital

Gregoris Tzongkouros, from Strovolos, was rushed to hospital and underwent five hours of emergency surgery after the fall. He was placed on a respirator, but died at around 8pm yesterday.

The guardpost was surrounded by a 1.5-metre high guard rail. No foul play is suspected.

Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou has ordered an investigation.

[11] Brothers injured in accident

Dimitris and Spyros Andreou were rescued thanks to the combined efforts of local police, firemen and a British Bases helicopter after the accident which occurred at around 4.45 on the Ayios Nicolaos-Mandria road. They were taken to Limassol General Hospital.

Dimitris, 27, was reported to be in critical condition, while his 24-year old brother was only slightly injured.

Unconfirmed reports said there was another vehicle involved in the accident, but the driver failed to stop.

[12] Woman killed in riding fall

Kalliron Pattaka died in Nicosia General Hospital at around 5am. She had been found unconscious next to her horse just outside the entrance to Holou village at around midday.

Police do not suspect foul play.

Meanwhile, Aphrodite Stephanou, 63, from Ayios Nicolaos, was being kept in for observation by Limassol General Hospital after being attacked by a german shepherd dog near her home on Sunday afternoon.

The dog's owner, Andreas Vassiliou, asked police to destroy the animal.

[13] Nicosia to host big fight

Andrew "The Snake" Michael will fight Steve "Bomber" Bishop for the WPBA Lightwelterweight championship of the world at the Eleftheria Indoor Stadium on June 4.

Tickets will be available from mid-May, priced at £5 and £10. Corporate boxes are at £660 for 12 seats.

Michael, 18, from Ayia Napa has had eight fights and eight wins.

The June 4 programme will feature eight bouts prior to the big fight, each with one Cypriot fighter.

There will also be a laser show and a Power Aerobic Solo by expert Krista Rosenberg.

[14] Strugglers become invincible?

IT IS THAT time of the season when the relegation-threatened sides consistently win matches.

By some freak coincidence, the poor form that was displayed for four fifths of the championship is overcome by all the strugglers simultaneously. On Saturday, four of the six relegation-threatened sides won comfortably. The other two lost because they were playing struggling sides.

The other freak coincidence, this time of year, is that relegation- threatened sides become so strong that they do not even draw - they always win. So second from bottom Anagennisis, a small village club, did not just defeat Apoel but crushed them away 6-3!

This is not to suggest the game was fixed, only that Apoel's players did not even make a modicum of effort to win the game. That Anagennisis' striker Lisvelland, did not even celebrate his first-ever hat-trick was indicative of the non-competitive nature of the game.

It was perhaps easier to accept third from bottom Alki's 7-2 victory over Ethnikos Ashia, who have already been relegated. Ashia simply did not bother putting up a fight.

In Limassol, Ael fans booed and jeered their players, accusing them of having been "bought", by 11th-placed Salamina who won 3-1. You could not but feel sympathy for the fans as Ael capitulated to Salamina.

Speaking after his side's 3-0 defeat of Evagoras, Apop coach Nicos Argyroulis said Saturday's results involving relegation strugglers, "disgusted" him. Of the all the strugglers only Apop had toiled to earn three points, he claimed, and probably had a point.

What value could winning the championship have under the circumstances? Perhaps for Anorthosis and Omonia who clash on Saturday in Nicosia in a title-decider of a match, there is some value in the championship.

They both won their games on Saturday night. Anorthosis crushed third- placed Apollonas 4-2 while Omonia struggled to defeat Paralimni 3-1. Anorthosis were never really troubled by Apollonas whom they completely outplayed.

Engomitis put them in front seven minutes into the game. Early in the second half Apollonas were level through Spoliaric, but not for long.

A minute later, Tomic restored the home side's win while Krismarevic and Michailovic (penalty) added two more. Papavassiliou pulled a goal back for the visitors from the penalty spot, three minutes from time.

Omonia on the other hand struggled against Paralimni, who took the lead through Kyzas in the 29th minute, but the league's top scorer Rauffman came to the rescue with yet another hat-trick.

Omonia were greatly helped by the sending off of Paralimni's Bizic, who had hit the Omonia woodwork twice, 10 minutes after the restart, for a second bookable offence.

Rauffman scored in the 43rd, 75th and 89th minutes to take his goal tally for the season to 42, only two short of Sotiris Kaiaphas' record, set in the 1976/77 season.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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