Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-05-21

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

Thursday, May 21, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Black list threat for gay vote

[02] US lauds Cyprus economic progress

[03] Cyprus praised for copyright law

[04] Washington says package-deal not on the cards

[05] Greek F-16s over Paphos as aerial manoeuvres get under way

[06] Cabinet slashes political bodyguards

[07] What are we to do about vice?

[08] English Staff back full strike threat

[09] The event of the year

[10] Israelis deny their waste is reaching Cyprus shores

[11] Dockers and music teachers protest to the president

[12] Popular Bank chief warns of lingering economic slowdown

[13] Cypriot student freed after manslaughter appeal

[14] Confusion over Spidernet line problems

[01] Black list threat for gay vote

DIE-HARD Orthodox traditionalists will compile a black list of all deputies voting to legalise gay sex between consenting adults today.

Provision is being made to ensure that deputies who do not want to vote in favour of decriminalising homosexuality at today's House plenum do not have to attend.

But it appears that enough lawmakers will nevertheless show up to adopt the controversial bill before the Council of Europe's May 29 deadline to change the island's antiquated gay laws.

Although no organised demonstration has been arranged for today, the Pancyprian Christian Orthodox Movement (PAHOK) said yesterday the deputies who turned out to vote in favour of the bill would pay a high price for their stance.

"We will keep track of them and when the time comes to vote again we will not vote for them," said PAHOK spokesman Christodoulos Vassiliades.

"Parliament has to represent the people who voted for them, and the people do not accept this."

Vassiliades said PAHOK had collected some 40,000 signatures from people opposed to the change in the law.

House Legal Affairs Committee Chairman Panayiotis Demetriou said yesterday arrangements were being made to facilitate deputies who did not want to vote today, but he said the necessary majority would be present at the House.

Demetriou said the official Disy position was to vote in favour of the bill, but admitted that four deputies were against the change.

Diko unanimously opposes the legalisation of homosexuality, while Akel, Edek and the United Democrats are all in favour.

"We are not against homosexuals, we are against what they do," Vassiliades said. "It does not sit with our Orthodox way of living and it's giving the wrong message to kids that homosexuality is normal."

He added that "many of these people" were going to priests asking for help to stop them being homosexuals.

"We want to help these people, not destroy them," Vassiliades said.

The Church of Cyprus recently launched a scathing attack on Europe over the gay issue, and has sent letters to all deputies calling on them to vote against the changes.

The Council of Europe (CoE) has given Cyprus one last chance to comply with a 1993 European Court of Human Rights ruling to decriminalise the island's gay laws.

Cyprus has until May 29 to comply or face serious repercussions, which could include expulsion from the CoE.

[02] US lauds Cyprus economic progress

THIS YEAR'S American pavilion is the country's largest ever at the State Fair, as befitting America's status as 1997's number one exporter to the island.

Speaking at the press launch of the 1998 pavilion yesterday, US Ambassador Kenneth Brill said the fair was both "an excellent opportunity to showcase" American products in Cyprus and to talk about trade ties between the two countries. Last year, he said, the American share of Cyprus' total imports rose to 19 per cent, from 17.8 in 1996, the third year in which the figure has risen.

The US pavilion itself has grown in size by 15 per cent this year, and the extra space is being filled by several exciting new exhibitors.

Among the new exhibits are Jeep and Ford Explorer luxury four-wheel-drive vehicles, LA-Z-BOY reclining chairs and Walt Disney Products, as well as voice recognition systems and hand-held air conditioners. Among those companies returning to the fair are Black and Decker, General Electric, Goodyear, Harley Davidson motorcycles, Timberland and Timex.

Also on show at the pavilion are the on-line facilities of CyABA, the Cyprus-American Business Association, dedicated to forging contacts between the two countries in the business world. Facilities, which are open to Cypriot business-owners, include a bulletin board and a commercial newsgroup.

On the subject of Cyprus' EU accession process, Brill said America's "sincere wish" was that accession would ultimately benefit all Cypriots, and added that the need to harmonise with EU legislation had put the island on the path to economic liberalisation.

However, he added that there was "broad agreement" in the business community that "still more changes are needed to give Cyprus the necessary tools to deal successfully with the challenges of the future."

In addition, Brill also mentioned Cyprus' efforts on money laundering, noting the recent State Department report which recognised the government's activity in combatting the crime. This, he said, bore testimony to Cyprus' "commitment in this area".

[03] Cyprus praised for copyright law

The PhRMA statement came as Cyprus was for the first time since 1990 absent from the US Trade Representative's 'Special 301' list of countries with inadequate copyright and patent protection.

Cyprus has been removed from the list after a law complying with the European Patent Convention and with World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements was passed on April 2. The law covers all areas of intellectual property copyright, including pharmaceuticals.

According to the PhRMA statement, Cyprus legislation is now superior to that in force in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey.

The Cyprus government has also been congratulated on the newly-passed law by the US government. In an official US embassy press release, the move was lauded as reconfirming "Cyprus' emerging role as an internationally- recognised business centre" and would "inevitably make it more competitive in attracting international investment."

[04] Washington says package-deal not on the cards

"The US is not proposing a new set of negotiations or any other approach that would link these issues in some sort of package deal," State Department spokesman James Rubin stated in Washington.

Cyprus, Greece and Britain all rushed to reject what was seen as a package- deal proposal from US President Bill Clinton who, speaking in London on Monday, said the Cyprus problem, Aegean dispute and Turkey's EU aspirations could not be dealt with in isolation. "We will have to proceed on many fronts at one," Clinton had said.

"There is no new policy," Rubin said yesterday, adding that Clinton had done nothing more than re-state long-standing US policy. "We want to help Greece and Turkey resolve their problems peacefully. We want to help solve the Cyprus problem and we strongly support Turkey's EU aspirations," the spokesman said.

Rubin said that while a package-deal was not on the cards, the US did "believe, as the President indicated, that progress in one area can improve the climate and the atmosphere for progress in another."

"But they are still separate issues being dealt with separately, through diplomatic channels," he said.

The State Department's Cyprus Co-ordinator, Thomas Miller, is expected on the island later this month for talks aimed at re-starting stalled settlement negotiations.

In Cartagena, Colombia, meanwhile, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides has condemned the Turkish side for making international recognition for the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' a pre-requisite for the talks to re- start.

Speaking before the ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on Tuesday, Cassoulides said these demands contravened international law.

[05] Greek F-16s over Paphos as aerial manoeuvres get under way

Low-flying jets twice passed over the Andreas Papandreou air base during brief sorties, which included mock attacks on inland and sea targets.

Afterwards the jets returned back to base in Crete.

The annual Greece-Cyprus air defence exercise will continue for two days, but the defence ministry is refusing to release details for security reasons.

It is also remaining tight-lipped over whether the air base was used as a launch pad for the exercise.

Toxotis usually incorporates the islands of Rhodes and Crete, as well as Cyprus.

The joint war games are part of the joint defence pact signed by the two countries in 1993.

Under the pact, Greece pledges to defend Cyprus in the event of any further attack by Turkey.

[06] Cabinet slashes political bodyguards

The 160 personal bodyguards for the various leaders will be reduced by 50 per cent, saving the state some £2 million a year, said government spokesman Christos Stylianides.

The cost-cutting moves also include those employed to protect the Presidential Palace and President Clerides.

Following complaints that bodyguards were being underemployed and used as personal shoppers and gardeners, the government has decided to redeploy many of them on the beat, principally to join the war on organised crime, drug smuggling and road deaths.

"We decided there were too many bodyguards, and all political leaders have had their protection drastically reduced," Stylianides said.

After the presidential guard - reduced from 147 to 99 policemen -- House president and Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou tops the government hit list.

He is reported to have around 30 guards, costing the tax payer £300,000 a year.

It was the previous justice minister Alecos Evangelou's public row with Kyprianou, then a government partner, over the number of his minders that saw him axed in a reshuffle.

Not far behind are Archbishop Chrysostomos and Edek leader Vassos Lyssarides, occupying nearly 20 officers each with a combined cost of £400, 000 out of a total protection budget of £4 million.

[07] What are we to do about vice?

A SPECIAL Interior Ministry vice committee has so far found no concrete evidence of foreign artistes being forced into prostitution in cabarets, pubs or other night-spots.

"No measures have yet been decided to combat vice in cabarets and pubs because we do not as yet know whether it goes on," the chairman of the vice committee, Interior Ministry director Thanos Michail, told the House ad-hoc crime committee yesterday.

Deputies, discussing one of the committee's pet topics, were again unanimous in condemning cabarets -- in particular -- and pubs and other night-spots as dens of iniquity.

Michail did not dispute this, adding that it was the aim of the vice committee to protect foreign artistes from abuse by unscrupulous club and pub owners. He pointed out that his committee had not yet completed its investigation (a final report would be ready by June 15) but added that the government was powerless to stop vice.

"If our committee recommended the closure of cabarets, what would happen? Would artistes not still come and get work in massage parlours or come as tourists and then sell themselves?" Michail asked.

Deputies agreed closing cabarets was not a solution. In fact, Disy deputy Rikos Erotokritou challenged deputy police chief Andreas Stephanou on the issue, saying he had seen him on television stating police would close down all cabarets soon.

"Tell us now, without television and radio, if you want to close them down, " Erotokritou said, apparently oblivious of the fact that three TV cameras and a dozen journalists were looking on.

"No, we don't," was the deputy police chief's brief reply.

Michail said possible ways to control vice in the island's 75 cabarets, 69 music/dance houses and 289 pubs were to post police look-out men in every single one or to ensure that no one with a criminal record was granted a licence to run a night-spot.

"Some say we should restrict the number of artistes at each cabaret, but wouldn't that just mean each artiste had to go with more customers?" Michail asked.

At the moment, each cabaret is entitled to hire 21 artistes and each pub one foreign barmaid. A total of 1,065 artistes are insured to work on the island, the committee heard.

Akel deputy Aristophanis Georgiou said the House had warned the government of the seedy goings-on in local night-spots years ago, but nothing appeared to have been done.

Deputies called for police and the ministry to turn their attention on night-spot owners, on the agents who brought artistes into the country, and on the corrupt officials and police officers turning a blind eye to it all.

"All of the 15 agents bringing in foreign artistes have criminal records," Georgiou claimed.

Akel deputy Takis Hadjigeorgiou challenged Stephanou to explain how "hundreds" of so-called tourists were allowed into the country "to work as prostitutes." Georgiou said tourists on the game were even invading pubs in Dhali village.

[08] English Staff back full strike threat

THE ENGLISH School Staff Association (ESSA) last night voted overwhelmingly in support of strike action if all else fails in their standoff with the school's headmaster.

In a meeting lasting almost four hours, teachers passed two motions, one approving ESSA's actions so far and giving it a mandate to proceed further on their behalf, and the other backing strike action if other measures adopted by the union failed.

ESSA president Antonis Antoniou told the Cyprus Mail after the meeting that the vote in favour of strike action had been "almost unanimous", with 90 per cent of teachers backing the motion.

Earlier in the week, 18 teachers threatened to resign their posts unless the school board took decisive action towards resolving the current crisis.

Teachers at the English School are angry over what they see as favouritism shown by the headmaster Thomas Thomas in the promotion of a female member of staff to a Senior position, as well as his "autocratic" style of management.

ESSA has called on the school board to resolve the issue through the establishment of an ad-hoc committee to examine the background to the row.

Antoniou said yesterday an ad-hoc committee would enable the teachers and the board to "start from scratch" and be in a better position to resolve the matter.

The teachers are expecting to hear from the Labour Minister today. The Ministry earlier this week appeared to show support for the creation of an ad-hoc committee.

[09] The event of the year

THE 23RD Cyprus International Fair was hailed last night by President Glafcos Clerides as "the major trade and economic event of the year".

The President opened the annual fair in Nicosia last night in the presence of official guests from the participating countries.

In his opening speech, the President said that the international fair was "a fundamental factor in the development of the export and import trade of Cyprus and has contributed decisively to the strengthening of our trade, industrial and economic relations with other countries."

He added that "Cyprus' aspiration to join the European Union and the new competitive climate that is developing do not leave room for hesitation and delay."

He welcomed "a new era, where new ideas, new products and services and new technologies and know-how are developing and circulating with unprecedented speed."

The President went on to outline the government's policy ingredients, including "increasing our competitiveness, making more rational utilisation of our comparative advantages coupled with the improvement of the goods and services we offer, and taking advantage of the tremendous prospects opening up in the Middle East and in Central and Eastern Europe."

The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Nicos Rolandis expressed his ministry's support for the fair as an institution, "because as we all know exhibitions work as a tool for economic development."

"This institution," he added, "acquires special importance today with the globalisation of trade and national economies in the new environment of increasing international competition and trade liberalisation."

The fair opens to the general public today and displays the products and services of 1,528 companies from Cyprus and 33 countries in 387 pavilions and stands.

State Fairs Authority Chairman Demetris Ioannou said the objectives of the fair "are to develop local and international trade, to promote exports of Cypriot industrial products and services, to inform businessmen, and to promote healthy and fair competition."

On weekdays, the fair will be open from 6.30pm to 11.30pm, on Saturdays from 6pm to midnight and on Sundays from 6pm to 11.30pm. The fair runs until May 31.

[10] Israelis deny their waste is reaching Cyprus shores

ISRAEL YESTERDAY denied dumping chemical waste off the coast of Cyprus, saying the substances being tipped into the Mediterranean were 300 kilometres away from the island.

In an official response to allegations by the environmental group Greenpeace, the Israeli embassy in Nicosia said all international environmental obligations had been adhered to.

The embassy was referring to permits given to the Israeli Electricity Company (IEC) to dispose of coal ash in the Mediterranean, and to the disposal of Haifa Chemicals' treated remains of potash rock.

Greenpeace's Mediterranean director Mario Damato said last week the dumping was taking place three times a week off the coast of Cyprus.

He added that the waste contained heavy metals and other highly dangerous pollutants and posed a serious threat to marine life.

But an Israeli embassy spokesman said yesterday there was "no way" the waste was reaching Cyprus' shores.

The embassy announcement said the IEC had recently been given a special permit allowing it to dispose of 15,000 tons of coal ash in the Mediterranean for a limited period of six months.

The permit was granted, it said, on the condition the IEC present an acceptable land-based alternative within three months of issuing the permit.

The Israel Ministry of Environment has also instructed the IEC to reduce the amount of coal ash it produces in the meantime.

The permits granted to Haifa Chemicals allows the company to discharge 60, 000 tons of treated remains of potash rock into the sea, 40 kilometres off the shores of Israel at a depth of 1,500 metres until the end of 1998.

"The Israeli Ministry of the Environment... will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the protection of the marine environment," the statement said.

"To date, there was no indication of damage to fish and marine plantation."

The Cyprus Fisheries Department also said this week there was no indication that the waters around Cyprus had been polluted.

A Fisheries Department official said that systematic checks on the quality of the sea water around Cyprus had revealed no problems.

He said the direction of the currents around Cyprus made contamination of the sea around the island "impossible".

[11] Dockers and music teachers protest to the president

LARNACA port workers staged a protest outside the Presidential Palace yesterday in an attempt to influence the proceedings of the Council of Ministers that was meeting inside.

The port workers were there to stop the Council from going ahead with an expected decision to turn Larnaca port into a passenger terminal and to scrap its existing dock services thus putting them out of work.

They claimed the government would effectively be turning the port into a marina and called on President Glafcos Clerides to stand by his election promise of improvement and expansion of the port. They also demanded that the president meet them so they could present him with a petition signed by political parties Disy, Akel, Diko and Edek, and unions Peo and Deok.

The issue of the future of Larnaca port has come to the fore as business has fallen dramatically in the last two years, with a load of potatoes being the only cargo to go through the port in recent months.

The secretary of the Larnaca branch of Peo union, Costas Christodoulos, expressed his disappointment with the direction being taken over the issue of the port, saying "what we want is for the port to continue functioning as before".

He described the port as "the economic lung of the city that had offered plenty during hard times and had a future role to play." He went on to add that "the decision being taken by the government is turning this economic lung into a passenger port that will bring new economic problems to the city of Larnaca."

The protesting port workers were visited by Akel general secretary, Dimitris Christofias, who reminded them that President Clerides had gone back on election promises made to the people of Larnaca in 1993 and 1998 that "he would give them a port that would thrive."

A delegation of port workers was eventually received by Presidential advisor, Nicos Panayiotou, and they presented him with their petition. Following that, the protesters departed for Larnaca.

The Council of Ministers did not make any decisions on the matter and will meet again today. Larnaca Development Committee will meet tomorrow to examine the best way to develop the port.

Music contract teachers were also outside the Presidential Palace yesterday for the second day of their 48-hour strike demanding that they be employed on a permanent basis.

The music teachers plan to hold weekly 48-hour strikes -- and this is their second week. According to their spokeswoman, Stella Georgiou, they will only consider the matter closed when the Finance Ministry presents their changed job descriptions to the House of Representatives as promised.

[12] Popular Bank chief warns of lingering economic slowdown

ADDRESSING a packed Nicosia hotel ballroom, Cyprus Popular Bank Chief Executive Kikis Lazarides yesterday painted a positive picture of the future of his financial giant, but warned that the island's economic slowdown of the past two years would not entirely disappear in 1998.

Hundreds of bank employees, shareholders, investors, brokers and nearly half the cabinet thronged the Holiday Inn's main banquet hall yesterday afternoon for the bank's general annual meeting.

What they heard from Lazarides could have only pleased them.

"Without question 1997 was a very successful year for the Group," he declared." The prospects for 1998 would appear to be very good provided there are no unforeseen developments that may upset the current situation.

"We have placed great importance on expanding our activities overseas and this will continue on a steady and consistent basis," Lazarides promised.

The bank, the island's second largest after the Bank of Cyprus, planned to expand the number of branches it operates in Greece over the next year or two, he added. The Bank's Greek subsidiary, the European Popular Bank, already operates 11 branches.

The bank also operates through branches or representative offices in Europe, Africa, North America and Australia. It has six branches in Britain alone.

The vitality of the overseas operations is reflected in the fact that they generated 17.1 per cent of the bank's 1997 revenues and 15.7 per cent in the previous year.

In line with the bank's policy, Lazarides did not announce results for the January to March quarter, but traders quoted him as saying recently that 1998 results would be an improvement on last year's figures.

The bank has reported a rise by 18.2 per cent in 1997 pre-tax profits to £32.7 million and operating profits of £44.4 million, an increase by 20.8 per cent over 1996.

While the economic slowdown of 1996 somewhat eased last year, he said, a "climate of uncertainty" arising from the present impasse in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem could have an impact on the economy.

"The slowdown is not expected to go completely in 1998 in spite of the positive outlook which is mainly due to developments in tourism, where bookings are better than expected," the Popular Bank boss said.

The economy is expected to grow this year by 4.5 per cent and tourism, the economy's lifeline, is forecast to have a record year with a 10 per cent increase in arrivals over 1997, when 2.1 million tourists came to Cyprus.

But the effects of the current deadlock in efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, which Lazarides cited, have already begun to take their toll on the Cyprus stock market, whose direction often gauges the political temperature.

Share prices have shed about five per cent since May 4, the month's first trading day and the day when US presidential envoy for Cyprus Richard Holbrooke told a Nicosia news conference that his latest visit had made no progress in narrowing the gap between the government and the Turkish Cypriots.

"The market has become volatile with the United States now directly involved in the search for a Cyprus solution," said Yiannos Andronikou of Suphire Stockbrokers. "This new volatility began with Holbrooke's statements on May 4."

The all-share index yesterday closed up 1.26 per cent on a volume of £2.37 million. The rise followed two sharp falls on Monday and Tuesday, shaving a combined 3.25 per cent of the market's value.

Yesterday's trade was dominated by trade in the Bank of Cyprus shares, with nearly 310,000 shares changing hands, or 47 per cent of total volume. The shares closed up four cents at £3.62. Popular Bank shares rose by eight cents to close at £3.76 apiece.

"The rally today was basically a reaction to the ridiculously low prices which the shares of the Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank of Cyprus hit yesterday (Tuesday)," said Andronikou, referring to the slump of the two stocks on Monday and Tuesday.

"The market seems set to continue to go up and down through the summer," he predicted.

[13] Cypriot student freed after manslaughter appeal

Georgiou had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 1996 killing of an 80-year-old woman in her house in an Athens suburb. The woman died after being struck with a piece from a broken mirror.

The only evidence against him was that he was found sitting on the victim's body in a drunken state, unable to explain his presence in the victim's house.

The student pleaded not guilty at both the initial court case and his appeal, saying he had been celebrating at a nearby tavern with friends and had consumed so much alcohol that he could not remember when he left or how he ended in the victim's house.

"I believe," he claimed, "that I must have heard voices calling for help and ran there without thinking."

Judge Demitrios Okeanos recommended Georgiou be set free due to the lack of evidence against him.

[14] Confusion over Spidernet line problems

He said the problems occurred when the provider's overseas line was switched to a new exchange, which had previously been tested to ensure it was running properly. However, when the line was switched it did not work. However, the fault continued when the line was switched back to the original exchange.

Spidernet checked their equipment and told Cyta there were no problems at their end. Cyta engineers checked the line but could not find any fault, and the problems continued until Spidernet reset their equipment.

The overseas connection is still running on the old exchange. It will be switched to the new one at a future date.

Spidernet's Managing Director Christos Constantinou said yesterday that the matter had been resolved for the present.

Spidernet's international connection went down at around 9.30am, and was resumed at approximately 1pm on Tuesday. In an e-mail to the provider's subscribers, Constantinou described Cyta as incompetent, and stated that it was "ironic" for Cyta to claim "high technological know-how" for their rival Cytanet connection service, when they "cannot even switch a single circuit". Cyta made no comment on this.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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