Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-11-22

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

CONTENTS

[01] Turkish jets violate airspace in Toros exercise

[02] IMC move going well

[03] Irish mad cow tester for Cyprus?

[04] CyTA liberalisation on the agenda

[05] Women from both sides meet

[06] Senator lifts hold on helicopters for Turkey

[07] 38 sites earmarked for EU ecological protection

[08] Children go home early as teachers strike

[09] European socialists not optimistic after Denktash meeting

[10] `We need talks results by mid-2001'

[11] Euro court orders Cyprus to pay woman for 11-year court delay

[12] Foxes `being driven to extinction'

[13] Old Finance Ministry site for new parliament?

[01] Turkish jets violate airspace in Toros exercise

FOUR Turkish aircraft violated Cyprus' airspace yesterday during the Toros military manoeuvres, prompting a protest from the government.

We have monitored the violations of our airspace and we are in a position to locate and lock on to them," President Glafcos Clerides said yesterday.

Two Turkish F16s and two reconnaissance RF4 aircraft flew over the northwestern town of Morphou but did not land at the Turkish controlled military airport in Lefkoniko, authorities said.

The Turkish Army launched the three pronged air, land and sea military exercise yesterday, docking two battleships at Kyrenia.

A joint civilian defence and earthquake search and rescue operation are also planned for the two day Toros event.

In Greece, Government Spokesman Demetris Reppas said Turkey was being provocative in the design and execution of the military exercises.

This was a negative point in bilateral ties, Reppas said, adding that Greece and Cyprus are in continuous contact through their military and diplomatic channels and are ready to deal with any provocation.

He said the exercise was causing a strain at a time when a new round of UN led Cyprus proximity talks is scheduled for January.

Cyprus plans to participate in the European Army, which were under discussion in Brussels yesterday, are also causing tension with regard to the talks.

The Greek Cypriot side has offered services and infrastructure to the European army, a move which has been slammed by the Turkish Cypriot side.

Belgian Defence Minister Andr Flahaut yesterday welcomed Cyprus' support for the European Defence and Security Policy and for Europe's enhanced role in the international arena.

Flahaut told Defence Minster Socratis Hasikos at a meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of defence ministers from the EU and candidate countries, that the Nice EU summit would examine further the contributions of candidate countries to the creation of a rapid reaction force.

Hasikos told his European counterparts Cyprus would not contribute battle troops but it could offer logistics support and reconnaissance facilities, including an air base, three ports, telecommunications, services and a network of sea and air monitoring, which the EU could use in the event of peacekeeping operations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

He said Cyprus' offer was is in line with its proposal for the demilitarisation of the island, in the context of continuing efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the Cyprus problem.

"This is why our contribution to this force does not include battle units," Hasikos said. Turkish Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said he disagreed with Cyprus' moves to contribute to the EU rapid reaction force, and announced his intention to table the Turkish positions in writing.

[02] IMC move going well

THE OWNER of the IMC Building, George Kaisis, yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that everything was perfect after the Cyprus Stock Exchange began moving in to his premises last Friday.

He added everything was on track for the official re-opening for trade tomorrow. The market was suspended for three days to allow the CSE and stockbrokers enough time to set up shop. "Everything's perfectly all right and everything's in order," Kaisis said.

The Australian consultants responsible for the new software initiated a trial trading session yesterday morning to check that there would be no hitches. The test passed smoothly first time.

But an appeal against the IMC move, filed by Nicosia Mayor Lellos Demetriades, was yesterday heard in the Supreme Court.

Demetriades alleges that the deal between Kaisis and the CSE was not processed through the correct channels.

The mayor is also campaigning against the transferral of national institutions outside the municipal boundaries of the city.

[03] Irish mad cow tester for Cyprus?

THE government is considering the import of a special system from Ireland, which will allow it to test all cattle for mad cow disease, Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said yesterday.

Themistocleous told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that government and parliament would be prepared to approve extra funds if it was decided that more programmes to combat BSE had to be implemented.

He said government was taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of the disease to the island and assured consumers that the authorities were prepared to adopt measures taken in other European countries and if necessary test all cattle.

Commenting on an agreement reached in Brussels yesterday by EU agriculture ministers extending testing for mad cow disease to all cattle at risk over the age of 30 months from January 1, Themistocleous said: "We are already in contact with specialised laboratories in three countries, France, Switzerland and Ireland."

Themistocleous said measures to prevent the spread of mad cows disease in Cyprus had been implemented since the syndrome first appeared in 1985.

"That is why no incidence has been reported until today," he said. He said these measures included a ban on imports of livestock, as well as fresh meat on the bone from European countries.

"We are taking more measures than the EU," Themistocleous said, adding that the government had been carrying out sample tests on old cows, while Cypriot officials had been sent abroad to be trained on the issue.

He said no one could be sure if Cyprus would be affected by the disease. "But what we are doing is taking all measures to make sure that all possibilities are minimal," he said.

Asked what measures had been taken to avoid the possibility of animals or meat with the disease being brought to the government-controlled areas from the north, Themistocleous said there was a special programme carried out with the UN to prevent the spread of diseases.

[04] CyTA liberalisation on the agenda

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Averoff Neophytou said yesterday the issue of the liberalisation of the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) was on the government agenda for the next two weeks.

CyTA's monopoly in the telecommunications sector must end in keeping with the requirements of European Union harmonisation.

The minister said yesterday he hoped to set up a national telecommunications regulatory authority, but the plan needs parliamentary approval.

Neophytou also expressed concern about the high cost of implementing the project, while maintaining the quality and competitiveness of the services currently offered.

One of the international consultants called in to advise CyTA about the changes it must make to keep up in a liberalised market, has told the Cyprus Mail the authority has to overcome massive hurdles in order to meet the challenge.

The Minister said yesterday that telephone companies applying for an operating license would be fully scrutinised.

Companies will be invited to make offerings after the necessary bill is passed by the House of Representatives.

[05] Women from both sides meet

GREEK and Turkish Cypriot women met in the north yesterday to discuss another kind of equality in a bizonal bicommunal federation.

The women from both sides, representing left wing trade unions, spelt out their concerns about womens affairs and agreed there was a long way to go until women on the island were treated equally with men.

Issues under discussion included unemployment, facilities for working mothers, and equal work for equal pay.

Particular attention was paid to the role working women could play in efforts for a Cyprus settlement.

[06] Senator lifts hold on helicopters for Turkey

AN influential US senator who temporarily halted the export licence for eight Sikorsky heavy-lift helicopters to Turkey out of concern about Ankara's stance toward the Cyprus conflict has withdrawn his objection to the sale, Reuters news agency reported from Washington.

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said late on Monday he remained unconvinced that Turkey was aiding United Nations-sponsored peace talks on Cyprus, but he had accepted US State Department assurances that progress was being made.

"Since the number of machines is small, and since they are not outfitted as attack helicopters, I've lifted my hold on this sale," Biden said in a statement. "But I remain deeply sceptical that Turkey is acting in a truly helpful manner with regard to the Cyprus question. Were this a sale of greater consequence, I would remain opposed at this time."

Turkey in June signed a $350 million contract with United Technologies Corp.'s Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. unit for the eight S-80E heavy-lift helicopters. They are due to be delivered in 2003.

Biden temporarily suspended US approval of the sale last week because of what he regarded as unhelpful comments by Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit about efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem.

Under US export procedures members of Congress have 15 days from the notification of a weapons export request to NATO countries to object to the sale.

While Biden's objection delayed the approval process, the Clinton administration has supported the helicopter sale.

Biden said his decision came in response to assertions by Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering that removing the hold on the helicopters was necessary "in order not to disturb mildly promising signs reported by the State Department with respect to the Cyprus peace talks."

[07] 38 sites earmarked for EU ecological protection

THIRTY-EIGHT sites of ecological importance, covering some 15 per cent of the island, have been earmarked for protected status under the EU's Natura 2000 programme.

But the sites - which include Akamas and the turtle-nesting beach at Limni - will not acquire protected status till after accession to the EU and, even then, will not necessarily be kept free of development or the attentions of hunters. At least two of the sites are already threatened by development.

Nonetheless, Cyprus' participation in Natura 2000 still represents the most ambitious conservation initiative ever launched by the government.

"We have many unique sites that need protection," Environment Service offices Antonis Antoniou told the House environment committee yesterday.

The list of potential sites for inclusion in the Natura 2000 network would be ready by the end of 2001, Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said. "About 75 per cent of it had been done," he told a depleted committee session. "The sites will cover between 13 and 15 per cent of the island," Themistocleous told acting committee chairman Katie Clerides and deputy Takis Hadjidemetriou. The rest of the committee was busy greeting the visiting Yemeni vice Foreign Minister, Abdullah Al- Saidi.

Themistocleous said his Ministry would now be entering into dialogue with local authorities, environmentalists and hunters in a bid to achieve consensus on which sites should be included in Natura 2000.

Antoniou said the final list would have to be approved by the EU and management plans for the chosen sites would be drawn up after accession, which is expected in 2003.

But both Themistocleous and Antoniou made it clear designation would not mean complete protection for the local Natura 2000 sites.

"Designation will not only mean environmental protection, it could also mean development, but with sensitivity and after environmental impact studies. There could be both development and hunting, but we would be bound to ensure protection of species and biotopes," Antoniou stated.

Some areas will enjoy complete protection, but "relaxations" from protection provisions will also be permitted.

At least two of the chosen sites - Akamas and Limni -already face development threats.

The two deputies homed in on the apparent contradiction of Akamas being chosen for designation when the Cabinet had approved a plan allowing businessman Photos Photiades to develop part of the peninsula for tourism.

In response, Themistocleous repeated that designation for Natura 2000 did not necessarily mean no development. He also noted that no final decision

had been taken on Photiades' Akamas land, adding that he hoped the "right decision" would be reached. He declined to say whether he favoured protection or development for the plot.

Committee members have threatened to appeal to the European Court of Justice against the controversial Cabinet decision to allow development on the unspoilt Akamas.

Representatives of green groups told the committee that the turtle-nesting beach at Limni, which is currently not protected despite repeated urgings from the Council of Europe, was threatened by plans for a 2,500 to 3,000 bed tourism complex in the area.

[08] Children go home early as teachers strike

PRIMARY and nursery schools across the island closed two hours early yesterday, as teachers went out on strike to back their demand for better salaries.

Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides said his department did have plans to protect those children affected by the industrial action, but would not reveal the details just yet.

In addition, he renewed his appeal to the teachers to reconsider their proposal to take further action in the form of future strikes.

"Teachers are people who are committed to having constructive dialogue, and it is through this medium that we hope to reach a solution to this crisis. As a minister, I'm unable to take the decision to satisfy their demands and we cannot give into everyone who requests a pay rise." He added that the Cabinet as a whole could only take such a decision and that once the appropriate bodies had discussed it, he would pass the matter onto cabinet members to debate.

Ioannides emphasised that the ministry would do all it could to help solve the dispute, because it realised children's education may be affected if the strikes continued. "The all- day schools tend to cater for children from poorer communities, and if they are not at school it creates a problem for their parents as well," he added.

Sophocles Charalambides, the chairman of the teachers union POED, has apologised for the industrial action and says he regrets the fact it will directly affect pupils. However, he insisted yesterday that teachers had been forced to take such drastic steps, as all previous negotiations had proved to be unfruitful.

Approximately 4,500 teachers downed books yesterday. They are calling for a salary equal to that received by their secondary school colleagues, which they believe will raise the status of primary and nursery teachers in society. They plan to stage a second strike next Tuesday, which will last throughout the day.

[09] European socialists not optimistic after Denktash meeting

A VISITING European Socialist delegation sees little optimism for the future of the UN-led proximity talks, after meeting Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

Speaking yesterday at the end of a two-day visit to Cyprus, Swedish Euro MP and delegation head Lena Hjelm Wallen said that while she saw encouraging signs, there were also some huge obstacles.

Referring to her meetings with President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, Wallen said: "It is a rather stiff situation now, it is difficult to see openings when you listen to these two gentlemen. The message from Denktash was that it is a very locked situation."

She was not optimistic for the future of ongoing UN efforts in the wake of the meeting with Denktash, she added. "We can see very little progress in these talks," Wallen said.

She said her compatriots also had reservations about Turkey's course towards the EU and that Ankara must show good will on the Cyprus problem, the solution of which must not be a precondition for Cyprus' accession to the EU, although problems may arise if full membership was achieved ahead of a settlement.

Wallen, whose country takes over the six-monthly rotating presidency of the EU in January 2001, said the delegation had gleaned a good picture of the situation in Cyprus and that both the EU and Cyprus had a lot to learn from each other.

She said Cyprus was doing well in its accession negotiations. "We want to see a peaceful solution as soon as possible and we try to encourage everybody to achieve that," she said.

"We leave Cyprus both with an optimistic view, but also with the realisation that there are a lot of very big obstacles."

Wallen said efforts for a Cyprus settlement and the island's EU accession course were separate processes. "But they also go together, because we as everybody else want to see a solution and we want to see Cyprus being a member of the EU, the whole island".

She stressed that a solution was not a precondition for membership. "But it will create a lot of problems if we have not a solution," she added.

Answering questions on Turkey's relation with the EU, Wallen said: "Many Swedes know a lot about Turkey and there are a lot of not always very positive sentiments about what they have heard, and Sweden strongly reacts when it comes to human rights abuses."

"What we will tell Turkey is that she must show good will, to be more co- operative when it comes to the Cyprus issue, because that is what we expect of candidate countries to do".

Wallen also said Monday's postponement of the discussion of Turkey's partnership agreement was due to the long agenda and limited time available for the Commission's meeting.

[10] `We need talks results by mid-2001'

THE GREEK Cypriot side is determined to maintain a constructive stance in the UN-led proximity talks to solve the Cyprus problem, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said yesterday.

"During the fourth and fifth rounds, there has been, for the first time, discussion on the four core issues of the Cyprus problem", Cassoulides told a gathering of Greek and Turkish Cypriot students in London.

"As far as we are concerned, we surely have the necessary political will constructively to engage in intensive and in-depth negotiations that will eventually lead to a breakthrough towards a solution," the Foreign Minister said.

Cassoulides said the Greek Cypriot side was not interested in negotiations as an aim in itself: there would therefore have to be tangible results by mid- 2001, as the timeframe for the completion of the accession negotiations with the EU, tentatively set for mid-2002, imposed strict time limits.

But Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was quoted in yesterday's Turkish Cypriot press as saying the Cyprus issue had come to a crossroads.

He said it was wrong of the EU to apply pressure on Ankara over Cyprus and that the UN and the whole world should thank Turkey for bringing peace to the island.

"If you find the Greek Cypriot administration, which resorts to bloodshed in order to eliminate the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, deserving of the EU, be my guest and admit it into the Union," he said.

Denktash said the pressure being applied on Turkey over Cyprus was an injustice and that Turkey had no blame in this regard.

"Everyone should come to their senses. We are truly at a crossroads concerning the Cyprus issue. We must assess everything very carefully."

Asked if the proximity talks would continue, Denktash, who has threatened to pull out, said the Turkish Cypriot side was still in a stage of assessment

and that the necessary response would be given "when the time comes".

The sixth round of proximity talks is due to resume in Geneva at the end of January.

[11] Euro court orders Cyprus to pay woman for 11-year court delay

THE EUROPEAN Court of Human Rights has ordered Cyprus to pay thousands of pounds in compensation for an 11-year delay in processing a simple compensation claim on behalf of a Larnaca woman.

On September 12, 1987, the woman filed a case for compensation with the Larnaca District Court.

Over four years later, on December 27 1991, the courts granted her compensation of £4,760. But the defence filed an appeal a month later, beginning an eight-year obstacle course through the judicial system. The date of the appeal hearing was set a staggering four years later, in March 1996.

Outraged complaints from the woman only pushed it forward to January 1996. It was then systematically postponed to July 1 1996, and then February 1997 - nearly 10 years after the case began.

The appellant then presented new terms for his appeal in December 1997. In February 1998, the appeal court ordered the compensation claim to be re- examined by the district court. The man due to pay had by that time died.

The Larnaca lawyer who took the matter to the Strasbourg court yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the compensation won was more than satisfactory.

"The Republic of Cyprus was condemned to pay damages that are more than ample. To protect my client, I don't want to say how much, but you can definitely say that it runs into thousands of pounds," said Christos Theodoulou.

[12] Foxes `being driven to extinction'

THE CYPRUS fox is being driven to extinction because it is still classified as "vermin" under the law and suffers relentless persecution, the House environment committee charged yesterday.

Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous responded that the state was now looking into drawing up a plan to conserve the local fox, a unique

local variety of the widespread species.

"Our foxes are classified as `dangerous' by law and openly killed. We must stop this," AKEL deputy Takis Hadjidemetriou protested to Themistocleous, who was attending a committee session.

DISY deputy Katy Clerides condemned the 1972 law classifying foxes as vermin as "anachronistic".

While insisting that foxes were still numerous, Themistocleous admitted that no population studies had been carried out and there could be grounds for concern.

"We might come near (to extinction) as there are, or were, mass exterminations," the Minister said.

Foxes enjoy no legal protection and are routinely shot and poisoned as vermin, though Environment Service officer Antonis Antoniou agreed with the Minister yesterday that persecution had eased in recent years.

"We are now somewhat worried and are in contact with Greece to get expert opinions on how to handle the situation. We hope to draw up some programme to prevent fox numbers from going down," Themistocleous told the committee.

[13] Old Finance Ministry site for new parliament?

THE NEW parliament building looks set to be built in the place of the old Finance Ministry, ending months of disagreement and inertia, official sources told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. Deputies are to take the final decision in the House of Representatives on November 29.

If the House does approve the Finance Ministry site, then it will scrap original plans to build the new parliament on the site of the old Pasydy headquarters.

Preliminary excavations uncovered antiquities there, and although the Antiquities Department suggested that the new House could be built around the finds incorporating the remains into the modern building, there is still doubt about the logistics and cost of this option.

The plan mirrored displays in the new Athens Underground, which showcased the antiquities dug up during tunnel construction, to wide acclaim.

The favoured spot would make the new Parliament the neighbour of the Water Department and the Town Planning offices on Demostheni Severis Avenue.

Communications and Public Works Minister Averoff Neophytou yesterday declined to comment about the report.

"The final decision will be taken next Wednesday by the House," he told the Cyprus Mail.

"When actual work can begin is another matter," he added. The building is likely to take over a decade to complete.

The House of Representatives move was first proposed five years ago. The Minister confirmed that the cost as estimated then would now have to be substantially revised.

Deputies are in line to make more use of the parking facilities at the soon- to-be-abandoned Nicosia General Hospital across the road for the reminder of their time at the current House.

Cyprus Mail 2000

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