Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 99-12-16

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

Thursday, December 16, 1999

CONTENTS

[01] Denktash says Turk EU candidacy helps Cyprus

[02] Arbitration report rules in favour of Eurocypria pilots

[03] Market jumps 9.8 per cent to snap losing streak

[04] Clerides on his way back to Cyprus

[05] Jailed Chinese girl says she was duped

[06] Residents threaten court appeal against desalination plant

[07] Potato growers plead for extra cash

[08] Nicosia pollution levels 'acceptable'

[09] Government to seek tenders for Larnaca port privatisation in the New Year

[10] Cytanet offers new service for occasional users

[11] Iranian arrested in connection with heroin find

[12] Farmers accused of flooding market with sick meat

[13] Second man charged in child sex abuse case

[14] Newspaper scratch cards are illegal, authorities warn

[01] Denktash says Turk EU candidacy helps Cyprus

TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday welcomed Turkey's newly won EU candidacy, saying it would give his breakaway administration's strongest backer added influence in Europe.

Speaking at Istanbul airport on his way back from "beneficial" UN-backed talks in New York aimed at ending Cyprus' tense division, Denktash said he wanted international recognition for both parts of the island.

Turkey within Europe would be in a better position to campaign on his behalf, he said during a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.

"The New York visit has been beneficial because many truths were put on the table. Now some stones will move," Denktash said. "With Turkey taking a step toward the EU, Europe will see these truths and seek to unify both sides."

Earlier, Denktash had attacked the EU line on Cyprus saying it would solidify the 25-year division of the Mediterranean island. And he implicitly criticised Ankara for accepting an invitation to enter membership talks at last weekend's EU summit.

Denktash heads a breakaway Turkish Cypriot administration in the north recognised by Ankara alone. The rest of the world views Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides, leader of the Greek Cypriot south, as head of the island's government.

Denktash is seeking a loose confederation of two states on Cyprus, a move that would involve recognising his administration, something Greek Cyprus rejects.

The indirect talks in New York are set to resume in January.

In New York, Denktash criticised the EU for failing to make a political solution on Cyprus a precondition for accepting the Cyprus government's application to start membership talks.

Turkish President Suleyman Demirel warned that the EU would inherit the long-running dispute if it made Cyprus a member country without ending the island's division.

"The key for a solution is (acknowledgement) of the equal sovereignty of both sides of the island," he said.

Despite accepting the EU's offer of candidacy and with it the wording on Cyprus, Turkey stressed it had not changed its opinion that the Cypriot EU application had been made for the whole island over the head of Denktash's administration.

"The Greek Cypriot government is not our government. They are bandits who have taken the title of government of Cyprus at gunpoint," Denktash said.

The Mediterranean island has been partitioned since 1974 when Turkish troops took over northern Cyprus in response to a coup in the capital Nicosia engineered by Greece. The coup leaders sought to unite the island with Greece.

The problem has long resisted diplomatic attempts at a solution. But many see the EU's acceptance of Turkey as a candidate as a way of possibly breaking the deadlock.

Turkish columnist Ismet Berkan said Turkey's future in Europe was now bound to resolution of the Cyprus dispute.

"No solution on Cyprus means no EU membership for Turkey. And the reverse is true. As Cyprus approaches a solution, Turkey will near full membership, " he wrote yesterday.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[02] Arbitration report rules in favour of Eurocypria pilots

BOTH Cyprus Airways (CY) management and its pilots have had their wrists slapped by a team of arbitrators brought in to resolve a dispute over a vacancy for Captain at the airline's charter arm Eurocypria.

The 22-page report, a copy of which was obtained by the Cyprus Mail, concludes that the job should go to a Eurocypria pilot.

However, it also criticises CY management for sitting on the fence during the row, and says that CY pilots union Pasipy acted 'irrationally' when it staged a strike to demand the vacancy for its members.

The three arbitrators, lawyers Takis Papamiltiades and Xanthos Clerides, and Ioannis Papadopoulos, a judge, were asked last July to decide whether the Captain vacancy in Eurocypria should go to the charter firm's co-pilots or to CY pilots.

A collective agreement with Eurocypria pilots clearly states the job should be filled from their own ranks, but Pasipy insisted a later agreement they had with the company to discuss common seniority, superseded the Eurocypria collective agreement, at least until a dialogue was completed. CY says the dialogue collapsed in early June.

Later the same month, when CY advertised the Eurocypria vacancy, Pasipy's 100 pilots staged two strikes in one week, which affected some 15,000 passengers.

CY, fearing more strikes by both sides, let the dispute run until it reached binding arbitration in July.

"The management side in certain cases encouraged or took part in dialogue or acted with one union on issues that affected the interests of another union, despite warnings from the other union," the report said.

It said the arbitrators realised that management was often in a difficult position with strike threats. "But we believe a clear position is better than giving away concessions and not keeping promises," the report said.

It also concludes that the fact that Pasipy's demand was not met was no excuse for the strike action carried out by the union.

"Under the circumstances, Pasipy's stance was irrational and hasty with the result that it affected the public good," the arbitrators said.

They added that specific demands should have been discussed and resolved between all unions first and then with the company.

"We wonder what the stance of Pasipy would be if Eurocypria-Sek was negotiating for demands which would affect the collective agreement rights of the Cyprus Airways pilots."

Pasipy chairman Chris Christodoulou said yesterday they had to comply with the results of the arbitration. But he warned that if another vacancy came up at Eurocypria, they would lay claim to it. "Then we will be back at square one," he said.

Christodoulou said until the issue of common seniority was resolved such disputes would continue.

"We respect the decision of the arbitrators, but this was for only one position. We will never accept a continuation of this conclusion," he said.

He tossed aside the arbitrators' criticism of Pasipy. "They criticised just about everyone. It's not a big deal," he said.

Eurocypria pilots, who were not criticised in the report, were satisfied with the outcome of the arbitration, but expressed concern that CY management had not yet made any moves to fill the vacancy.

Eurocypria sources told the Cyprus Mail that on Monday they met management, who asked them for a delay in filling the vacancy and promised it would be filled by the busy summer season.

No decision has been taken yet on that aspect, but as far as Eurocypria pilots are concerned, the issue of who should get the job is now closed. "The results were what we expected," said one pilot.

CY spokesman Tassos Angelis yesterday declined to comment.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[03] Market jumps 9.8 per cent to snap losing streak

SHARES closed sharply higher yesterday, halting a four-session skid that shaved nearly 16 per cent off their value.

Brokers said yesterday's steep rise was largely due to heavy buying by investors who went bargain hunting as a result of the sharp drops of the past four sessions.

"I cannot say whether this upward trend will continue for the rest of the week but there may be some profit-taking tomorrow," said Stavros Agrotis of CISCO, the Bank of Cyprus' brokerage.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange's all-share index closed up 69.93 points, or 8.90 per cent, at 783.22 on a modest volume of £32.82 million. Yesterday's close took to 764.19 per cent the market's gains so far this year. The index's all-time high was reached November 29, when it closed at 849.30, representing gains of 837.10 per cent on the year.

Such spectacular gains had led to widespread speculation that the losses incurred since last Thursday signalled the start of a massive downward correction which had been expected for months. But brokers and analysts have maintained throughout that the drops were caused by investors liquidating their holdings to buy into new issues due to hit the market before the end of the year.

One such issue, investment powerhouse Athienitis and Severis, began trading on Tuesday. At a nominal value £0.50 and sold to investors at £2 apiece, the share closed at £18.50 on Tuesday and at £22 pounds yesterday, an appreciation of 825 per cent and 1,000 per cent respectively over two sessions.

All of the market's seven sectors finished sharply higher yesterday with trading companies the biggest winner. The three-company sector jumped by 21 per cent, slightly ahead of industrials, which leapt by 20.10 per cent. The sub-index of insurance companies was up by 15.21 per cent, while the blue- chips of the banks finished the day up 9.91 per cent.

The Bank of Cyprus, the market supremo, finished more than £1 up at 11.52, while Popular Bank closed at £15. Hellenic Bank also regained some of the territory it had lost over the past four sessions, closing at £5.30.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[04] Clerides on his way back to Cyprus

Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides stayed behind in New York for the UN vote, expected late last night, on whether to renew for another six months the mandate of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (Unficyp).

An affirmative vote was expected on the Unficyp resolution, UN Security Council President Sir Jeremy Greenstock told the Cyprus News Agency yesterday.

The draft of the Unficyp resolution secures continuation of peace talks on Cyprus, in the context of the Helsinki EU Summit meeting, and reaffirms all relevant Security Council Resolutions on Cyprus, diplomatic sources at the United Nations said.

The sources said the second round of peace talks was scheduled to take place in Geneva in Switzerland from January 27 to February 6.

The Unficyp resolution was expected to reaffirm Resolution 1251, which notes that a Cyprus solution must be based Cyprus being unitary state with a single sovereignty and international personality, the sources added.

At the Helsinki Summit, the European Union reversed its December 1997 rebuff to Ankara, and invited Turkey to apply for membership in the 15- nation body. Turkey accepted the invitation.

But the same issues that were obstacles to an EU invitation in 1997 - Turkish occupation of Cyprus, its poor human rights record and its treatment of its Kurdish minority - remain on the table for any Turkish-EU accession process.

Clerides arrived in New York on December 1 for the proximity talks, which began two days later. After leaving New York, he stayed overnight in Zurich, before flying on to Cyprus today.

Returning with him are Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou, Attorney- general Alecos Markides and other government officials.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[05] Jailed Chinese girl says she was duped

A YOUNG Chinese student facing deportation after she was jailed for allegedly working illegally, appears to have been the victim of a trap to lure her into prostitution.

Li Yun has already spent 10 days in jail after being arrested by Immigration Department officers on December 4. Foreigners can be detained indefinitely pending deportation.

The 20-year-old hotel management trainee from Shanghai says she was duped into working at a Nicosia pub, earning £12 a night. She told the Cyprus Mail she had been assured that everything was above board, and that a work permit had been arranged.

Now, Interior Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou and Acting Chief Migration Officer Kyriacos Triantafyllides are all that stand between her deportation or the completion of her studies.

Her troubles began at a November birthday party in the pub for a fellow Chinese student. She never dreamed it would lead her to jail facing deportation.

"Sir, I am afraid, very afraid. I come here, crying," she pleaded as she was led back to her cell. "If I had known, I wouldn't have worked, because I have money."

Li Yun's plight is a far cry from her parents' dream of a Western education in hotel management for their only child. If she is deported back to China, they will greatly lose 'face'.

Until her arrest on December 4, Yun was "attentive, a very innocent girl, a good student," recalled the director of the local college at which she studied.

She is still unclear about what happened that night. But several people close to her believe she was the victim of a scheme by some pubs to entrap young women, for either cheap, disposable labour, or blackmailing into prostitution.

Yun said that soon after she and her four friends arrived in the pub, its owner greeted an older man, who had come to the pub with them. The pub owner then sat down with the students, homed in on Yun, and began asking her about her studies.

At her mention of hotel management studies, Yun said the pub owner offered her some on-the-job experience in his bar.

"I said: 'I don't know if students can stay here and work'," Yun said. She recalled her college's warning not to work in Cyprus without proper permits.

Just as the pub owner was pledging to square things with the Immigration Department, Yun said, an "Immigration man came into the pub" - or at least the pub owner introduced him as such.

"He is my boss' (the pub owner's) good friend," Yun said. "My boss and 'Immigration man' came and sat down. My boss told 'Immigration man' I was a student," she said, adding the "boss" then said: "'I want this student to come here and work. Can she or can't she?"

At this point, the alleged immigration man told Yun to give her passport and student visa to the pub owner, who would get her a work permit. She said she did, and a week later, her "boss" called her to pick up her documents.

In reality, she had no work permit. But she said the pub owner told her: "'No problem. Yesterday 'Immigration man' went to Immigration Department. Immigration said because you study hotel management, there is no problem" working.

Brought up to respect authority back home in China, and convinced that her boss, the 'immigration man' and the older man with the students in the pub that night were trustworthy, Yun began waiting tables two nights a week from 7pm to 1.30am five weeks ago in a Nicosia pub for £12 per night.

She insisted her boss had not asked her to sit and drink with customers - as cabaret 'artistes' often do. "No, no, nothing... Only drinks. Only work as a waitress," she said, the light beginning to dawn on what might have been up the pub owner's sleeve.

One source, who said he feared underworld reprisal if identified, claimed the pub's owner and the older man who went with the five students to the pub "co-operate together to trap girls, especially nice girls... She is a very innocent girl. She is not suspicious at all."

"They trapped her," the source said. "They made her believe they actually got a permit from Immigration - which is actually the whole secret of it. Luckily - I say luckily - she was arrested, because after a few days, who knows that they might 'promote' her to other dirty things."

"Of course this was a trap," he said. "I don't know if they have any co- operation with somebody in the Immigration Department. But I don't believe they had in their hands any work permit. They told her (to surrender her passport and visa) just to make it seem official," he said.

Yun's lawyer, Yiannakis Erotocritou, has asked the Supreme Court to quash her deportation order. He has also asked Christodoulou and Triantafyllides to reverse her deportation order on the grounds she was an innocent, lured into working illegally by deceit.

Erotocritou said he agreed that Yun was the victim of a trap. The next step could have been choosing between being a prostitute, or being turned over to Immigration police as an illegal worker, and deported.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[06] Residents threaten court appeal against desalination plant

ZAKAKI residents yesterday threatened to appeal to the Supreme Court if the state insisted on building a desalination plant in their suburb.

Residents presented a British expert's study suggesting the building of a desalination plant in their neighbourhood would have destructive environmental impacts.

The study, by civil engineer Dr Derrick Beckett, also suggested drinking desalinated water over a number of years could have adverse health effects.

Zakaki mayor, Andreas Demetriades, said the local community would appeal to the Supreme Court if the House approved a government decision to build a desalination plant on Ladies Mile beach next to the new Limassol port.

The Limassol suburb's residents are set against state plans to build a desalination plant in their "back yards".

Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous insists the plant is needed to combat growing water shortages. Limassol will have to suffer deeper water cuts if the plant is not built soon, the Minister warned.

Themistocleous also insists the environmental impact from a Zakaki plant would be minimal.

At a press conference yesterday, the local residents' action group presented the initial findings of the environmental impact study they commissioned Beckett to carry out.

The study, the action group said, showed the plant would have "destructive" long and short-term impacts on the local environment.

Beckett's study, the residents said, showed there was a small, but measurable, risk to human health from long-term consumption of desalinated water. The study suggests desalinated water is better used for agriculture.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[07] Potato growers plead for extra cash

POTATO growers gathered outside the Finance Ministry yesterday to demand an extra £3 million in compensation from the government.

Increased competition from other countries meant growers failed to sell hundreds of tonnes of their export crop last year. The state has offered growers £5 million to cover their losses.

Farmers' unions Pek, Eka and Agrotiki insist this is not enough. They want £8 million in compensation.

About 30 potato growers converged on the Ministry yesterday morning to press their demands.

A joint announcement by the three unions identifies Finance Minister Takis Klerides as their bête noire, stating he had repeatedly refused to meet growers' representatives to discuss the compensation issue.

The protest seemed to do the trick yesterday, with Klerides agreeing to meet with a deputation from the unions.

The minister told the delegation they were wrong to think the £5 million was the sum total of the money they were likely to get.

"The government sees your issue sympathetically which is why it has given - and this is not the final amount - £5 million and then approved about £5 million extra for the Potato Marketing Board," Klerides said.

The Minister added that the compensation issue would be considered anew by the cabinet tomorrow.

If the potato growers did not like what the cabinet came up with then he would be open to discussing the issue anew, Klerides said.

Farmers' unions are, however, not presenting a united front on the compensation issue, with Panagroticos staying away from yesterday's protest.

The other three unions lambasted this no-show, suggesting Panagroticos was "pandering to interests other than those of the growers" and attempting to "torpedo" the demonstration "in order not to offend the government."

Panagroticos had originally agreed to join in the demonstration, Pek, Eka and Agrotiki stated in an announcement.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[08] Nicosia pollution levels 'acceptable'

LEVELS of atmospheric pollutants in Nicosia are within acceptable limits, with the exception of ozone and particulates, the Environment Advisory body heard yesterday.

The body held one of its regular meetings yesterday, chaired by Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous, to discuss a whole gamut of environmental topics, including energy, atmospheric pollution and hunting issues.

According to an official announcement, a Labour Ministry expert told the body that regular checks were carried out on air quality in Nicosia using three detector vans. Measurements made in April 1993 and March 1999 showed that only ozone and particulates were at dangerous levels. These levels were not specified.

Ozone is a major smog generator, while both ozone and particulates are known to exacerbate asthma and other breathing complaints.

A recent study by an independent epidemiologist suggested about one in four Nicosia residents had dangerously high concentrations of lead in their blood. But government readings apparently record no particular lead pollution problem in the capital.

The Labour Ministry man told the Environment Advisory body that there were plans to extend atmospheric pollution checks to other areas of the island.

The body considered ways of reducing atmospheric pollution, the announcement stated. These included encouraging a reduction in car usage, regular inspections of cars and improving fuel quality.

The government has to phase out leaded petrol by 2005 and vastly reduce the sulphur content of locally refined diesel if it is to meet EU requirements.

A Labour Ministry expert also told the body there was much room for reducing energy consumption, and therefore pollution, in Cyprus.

The island has very high per capita energy consumption and there was plenty of scope for developing renewable energies like wind and solar power, the official announcement stated.

Carbon dioxide emissions, at almost nine tonnes per person per annum, are almost twice as high in Cyprus as they are in the US.

Turning to hunting, the body decided to set aside a special session to review the impact shooting had on the island's ecosystem.

The government announcement reiterated that it was state policy to preserve and increase the populations of game species.

Tens of thousands of partridges and hares are captive-bred and released every year to provide targets for hunters' guns.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[09] Government to seek tenders for Larnaca port privatisation in the New Year

"We have a reality here," Neophytou told reporters after discussing the port with Larnaca Mayor George Lycourgos and other of his ministry's officers.

"The Larnaca Port is closed (at present)," Neophytou said. "Are we going to leave it closed, and the workers with no future?" he asked, "or (will the state) revitalise the ports towards the workers best interest?"

"This specific proposal" - to seek what he called "strategic tenders" privately to redevelop the port as a cruise-line harbour - "is for the workers' best interest, because it creates new hope for the future of Larnaca Ports," Neophytou said.

Lycourgos backed Neophytou's proposal, declaring: "We shall continue to co- operate with the government to find the best possible solution for this port, which is unacceptable as closed."

[10] Cytanet offers new service for occasional users

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS Authority (CyTA) yesterday announced the introduction of a new Internet service.

The new service, which is called Cytanet For All, was announced at a press conference in Nicosia.

The service is aimed at those who only want use the Internet every now and again, and do not want to be burdened with a monthly subscription charge.

Users of this service will be charged two cents per minute.

The service is targeted at foreign visitors, business people, and Cypriot students studying abroad back in the country on holiday.

Anyone with a computer, a modem and a telephone line can access the new service by simply opening the Windows internet connection window, typing the word "cytanetforall" as username, and 0992626 as the phone number. The service does not need a password.

CyTA also announced yesterday that they had upgraded their Internet connections, claiming they now offered the fastest connection to the Internet in Cyprus.

Asked about trouble that some Internet subscribers had been experiencing in recent months, CyTA experts said any problems were due to the upgrading of their equipment.

Several subscribers have reported to the Cyprus Mail that they were experiencing difficulty in connecting, slow connections and repeat disconnections.

The CyTA technicians said yesterday that apart from the upgrading process, faulty phone lines and low quality modems might be responsible for bad connections.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[11] Iranian arrested in connection with heroin find

Kaivan Arzagi, 42, was arrested during a police search on Tuesday, following an earlier drug arrest of an Iranian woman at Larnaca airport.

Hadavad Kayvandokht, 57, had been arrested after airport police searched her and found four bags stuffed with heroin strapped around her body.

She was leaving the country for Toronto, via Athens.

Investigators on Monday claimed that during the woman's visits to Cyprus, she stayed in hotels in Larnaca where she met with individuals whom police suspected to be Iranian.

Kayvandokht told police she had come to Cyprus for a holiday, and claimed that an unknown man had given the drugs to her at the Finikoudes beach in Larnaca.

The man, she said, had promised her money if she delivered the heroin to Toronto.

Police believe the woman was acting as a 'mule', coming to Cyprus to get the drugs and take them to Canada.

Police told the court yesterday that Arzagi and Kayvandokht had in fact met before at Larnaca hotels where they were staying at different dates, despite the suspects' emphatic denials.

Investigators said that they had found two address books on Arzagi, with Kayvandokht allegedly named in one of them.

The court heard that Arzagi allegedly brought the heroin found on Kayvandokht from Iran.

Police suspect Arzagi of flying to Cyprus via the United Arab Emirates, instead of taking the direct flight from Teheran, to avoid the strict search by Cypriot authorities, who are known to examine that particular flight closely.

Arzagi, police claim, will not tell them where he stayed between December 8 and 10.

Both suspects, police said, had repeatedly renewed their visitors' permits.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[12] Farmers accused of flooding market with sick meat

THE GREEN Party yesterday said some Nicosia and Limassol livestock farmers were illegally selling meat from animals - notably pigs - that had been sick or had died of natural causes.

Evi Theoventou, of the Green Party, said the farmers were taking their healthy animals to the slaughterhouse in the mornings, during the hours that government inspectors are there to apply a stamp of approval to healthy animals' hides.

But in the afternoons, she said, some of the same farmers were posting guards at their farms while they clandestinely slaughtered their sick animals, or dressed out the dead ones.

No government "stamp" was applied to these illegal animals' hides, she said. In fact, she said, the farmers were cutting up the sick or dead animals into smaller-than-normal pieces to make their meat easier to sell to local butchers, who then have less cutting to do to the meat before selling it.

Theoventou called "unbelievable" the recent low price of the sudden glut of cheap pork in local markets, some of it priced as low as 30 cents per kilogram.

She said "the information we have is (that) pork" is being produced in vast quantities, and cheaply, by this illegal slaughter of sick or dead pigs.

She said the Greens had "independent sources" to confirm this claim, adding that these sources included "people in the villages" near farms that were doing the illegal slaughtering.

She declined to identify the farmers she alleged were involved in the illegal slaughtering, but pledged to reveal their names today to the police, and to the appropriate departments in the Health, Agriculture and Commerce ministries.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[13] Second man charged in child sex abuse case

The 29-year-old charged yesterday (whose name police released) is suspected of failing to intervene as his 23-year-old builder friend (whose name was also released by police) assaulted the two children.

The 29-year-old was arrested on Tuesday night as police continued their investigations into the alleged sex attack at the builder's Limassol home on Saturday night.

He was yesterday brought up before Limassol District court along with the principal suspect, who was arrested on Sunday. They were both remanded for eight days.

The remand hearing was held behind closed doors in an effort to protect the identity of the two alleged victims.

Thursday, December 16, 1999

[14] Newspaper scratch cards are illegal, authorities warn

According to the state lottery director, Andreas Himarides, the issuing of such cards by private enterprises is illegal.

A number of dailies have offered such scratch-cards in recent months. Scratch-cards have even been included as free gifts in packets of crisps.

Himarides said a complaint about these freebies had been lodged with the Attorney-general's office. He suggested prosecution would follow.

The state lottery director also warned that an illegal German lottery ticket was currently being circulated.

Himarides cautioned that people buying such illegal tickets were more than likely to get their fingers burnt.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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