Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 01-06-27

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

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

CONTENTS

[01] Meeting fails to solve airports dispute

[02] Joint oil exploration with Egypt to be discussed

[03] Back to fitness

[04] Two jailed for having forged dollar bills

[05] Tourist 'critical' with suspected meningitis

[06] Sex education programme to be tested

[07] Teachers to stage salaries protest

[08] Prison warden remanded in bombing case

[09] Brandy producers up in arms over EU directive

[10] Bishop argues against the Church paying tax

[11] DISY concerned over Greece-Turkey rapprochement

[12] Markides lashes 'unacceptable' leaks of documents

[13] Clerides presents plan to make National Council workable

[14] Two die in Limassol accident

[15] EU 'forced Turkey to invite Themistocleous'

[16] Prisoners join anti-drugs march

[01] Meeting fails to solve airports dispute

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Averof Neophytou and trade union representatives locked swords yesterday, but again failed to agree over the future of the nation's two airports.

The government believes the only way to modernise Larnaca and Paphos airports urgently is to transfer responsibility to private investors.

Trade unions PASYDY, PEO and SEK fear "privatising the airports" will jeopardise the job security of those already employed at Larnaca and Paphos.

"I didn't succeed in persuading them and neither did they succeed in persuading me," Neophytou told Cyprus Mail after the afternoon meeting.

Yesterday's meeting followed a joint session of the parliamentary committees for finance and communications on Monday.

SEK secretary-general Petros Theophanous said he was not convinced by the Minister's promise that all jobs would be safeguarded under any future airport management.

Nevertheless he said a decision on whether to strike over the matter will be delayed until parliament makes a decision on the future of the airports.

Neophytou criticised the unions for trying to influence political decision making, which he said exceeds their mandate.

"Now, they're not worried about jobs, they want to intervene in political decisions, which are the responsibility of elected politicians. It is their job to protect the rights of the labour force," he said.

"Self-financing is the only way to keep airports under government control, secure jobs and the airports' smooth running. I can't see why the House wouldn't approve such a scheme," said Neophytou.

The state claims that funding the £200 million needed to renovate the airports would violate the Maastricht Treaty and compromise the island's accession course to full European Union membership.

If the House approves the government's proposal, then private companies will operate the airports for 20 to 25 years, while the terminals remain state-owned.

Neophytou thinks private contractors could finish the upgrading at both airports by 2004, whereas state bureaucracy could delay work until at least 2010.

Tender applications will be asked to submit their final offers by December 20, and Neophytou hopes a winner will be selected early in 2002.

Further talks between the two sides are on hold until the House decides whether or not to approve the government's plan.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[02] Joint oil exploration with Egypt to be discussed

CYPRUS and Egypt will discuss possible joint exploration of oil and gas reserves which have been discovered between the two countries, Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis said yesterday.

Rolandis told reporters that Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy would visit the island late next month to discuss possible co-operation in the exploitation of any reserves located in the Eastern Mediterranean between the tow countries.

A recent EU study revealed that rich oil and gas reserves lie in the region and Cyprus has already begun mapping its delimitation areas.

Rolandis' announcement came during a visit yesterday by Egypt's First Under Secretary of the Egyptian Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, El Said Fouad Kasem, to sign co-operation agreements with Cyprus in trade and tourism.

Current trade between Cyprus and Egypt is worth some $70 million per annum.

"We discussed matters of mutual interest relating to trade, investment and tourism, but the issue of oil exploration was only touched upon in a general manner," Rolandis said after the meeting.

He said substantial talks on the oil issue would take place during Fahmy's visit next month.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[03] Back to fitness

During the three-day conference speakers from Australia, the US and the UK will be talking about a therapeutic technique called the Bowen Technique, which was founded in the 1950s in Australia and is recognised worldwide, especially in the treatment of sports injuries and lower back problems.

A Cyprus Bowen Association is in the process of being formed.

For more information contact Barbara Jones at the Soma Centre in Pissouri at (05-221424) or on e-mail at somacentre@spidernet.com.cy

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[04] Two jailed for having forged dollar bills

TWO Limassol men were jailed yesterday by a Limassol court after they were found guilty of possession and circulation of counterfeit documents.

The two were arrested along with another man after police found forged dollar bills in their possession.

The court sentenced Marios Evangellou, alias 'Alexia', from Limassol to 18 months in prison while Paphos resident Emilios Ambousides from Georgia got 20 months.

The two had pleaded guilty to charges concerning possession and circulation of forged bank documents and securing credit by using false pretences.

The court reserved its sentence for the third defendant, Andreas Ioannides, until July 3.

Ambousides and Ioannides were arrested in February after police found counterfeit dollar bills in their possession.

The two named Evangellou as the provider of the forged bills.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[05] Tourist 'critical' with suspected meningitis

A YOUNG British woman on holiday in Ayia Napa was yesterday admitted to intensive care in Larnaca Hospital with suspected meningitis.

She was admitted to a private clinic in Ayia Napa on Monday afternoon with a severe headache, dizziness and a high temperature.

Her condition deteriorated and she was rushed to Larnaca yesterday lunchtime. Doctors were last night carrying out tests to determine whether or not her illness was meningitis and which strand of the potentially fatal disease she may be stricken with.

Her condition is said to be critical.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[06] Sex education programme to be tested

THE Ministry of Education yesterday announced plans to introduce a pilot programme at a school to teach sex education.

After meeting with House Education Committee, Education Minister Ouranios Ioannides said the pilot programme will be tested at one school only, and depending on the results it will either be dropped or introduced as part of the syllabus in all schools.

A decision to subsidise second and third year Cypriot students in private colleges in Cyprus was also taken at the meeting yesterday.

The subsidies will amount to £20 million overall, with each student receiving £1,500.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[07] Teachers to stage salaries protest

TEACHERS' unions have confirmed they will stage a protest tomorrow afternoon outside the House of Representatives and the Finance and Education Ministries against the proposed lowering of entry-level salaries.

OELMEK President Andreas Stavrou has called the government's proposal unethical, and has said that the well-being of others should not lead to the suffering of the new generation of teachers.

"OELMEK disagrees with the downgrading of the new generation, and will do everything in its power to prevent the government's proposal from passing," he said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[08] Prison warden remanded in bombing case

A PRISON warden was yesterday remanded in custody for six days in connection with the bombing in March of the Nicosia home of another warden.

The court heard that a 31-year-old suspect held in connection with two bombings and causing malicious damage had named the warden.

Two more suspects are being held for the same cases.

Their trial begins on July 27 at the Assizes court when they are expected to face charges concerning two bombings at the homes of prison wardens in Nicosia and Ayia Napa and causing damage to the car of a police officer at the village of Frenaros in the Famagusta district.

The offences were carried out between March 3 and 6, police told the court.

Police told the court that they were currently investigating the warden's alleged involvement in the Nicosia bombing.

Police said the warden was named during testimony given by the 31-year-old suspect to police on June 21.

The warden has denied any involvement in the bombing, police told the court.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[09] Brandy producers up in arms over EU directive

A EUROPEAN Union demand that either the taste or the name of traditional Cyprus brandy must be changed became a bone of contention between the government and brandy industry yesterday, two days before an expected vote on the relevant bill in the House.

The House European Affairs Committee on Monday discussed a government decision to bring Cyprus into line with a European directive that brandies produced in EU countries should contain at least 36 per cent volume of alcohol per litre. A litre of Cyprus brandy contains only 32 per cent. The island is expected to join the EU in 2003 or 2004.

The committee said that complying with the directive would mean increasing the amount of alcohol in the drink, thus changing its taste and quality, or agreeing to call it something else.

Committee chairman Tassos Papadopoulos said it was his view that if tomorrow's plenum session approves the government bill then Cyprus brandies might have to be withdrawn from the market.

Government officials have asked for more time to think the matter through.

The committee's acting chairman, Nicos Cleanthous of DIKO, suggested yesterday that changing the name of Cyprus brandy "would not harm the business".

"We can't avoid coming into line with EU standards," he told the Cyprus Mail.

Cleanthous said he expected the plenum to vote on the bill in question tomorrow but "nothing was certain yet".

Christodoulos Michaelides, vice-chairman of the Association of Alcoholic Beverage Industries, yesterday blamed the government for allegedly failing to handle the matter well, and warned that the plan would ruin the brandy business.

"We discussed this matter a year ago both with George Vassiliou, chief negotiator for Cyprus' accession in the EU, and with Commerce Minister Nicos Rolandis. We voiced our objections to them and they reassured us that the plan would not be in effect before the island joined the Union. But we were shocked to learn this morning that they want to implement it immediately," Michaelides, who is a director of Hadjipavlou and Sons Ltd which produces Anglias Brandy, told the Cyprus Mail.

"At 8am we received a letter from the government's council for vine products asking us to respond to the state plan in the next four hours. I cannot understand what they have been doing all these months," Michaelides added.

He said the Association had asked the council to see that Cyprus was exempted from the European scheme.

"The same thing happened with zivania, which is a unique drink, and it should happen now with brandy because it is manufactured in a very special way," he argued.

Michaelides said that the average Cypriot brandy lover liked to have brandy before or after dinner as well as during dinner.

"If we make it stronger then these people will stop buying it."

Michaelides said that changing the name of Cyprus brandy would also bring sales down.

He fears that approval of the contentious bill would herald the end of the Cyprus brandy market, which was established 157 years ago.

The Association's vice-chairman said he had invited Papadopoulos to a meeting on the issue.

"We will go as far as attending Thursday's plenum to block the decision," Michaelides vowed.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[10] Bishop argues against the Church paying tax

PAPHOS Bishop Chrysostomos yesterday said it would not be to anyone's benefit if the six bishops of the Church of Cyprus were taxed by the state because the amount paid would be very small.

Reacting to recent discussion on the issue, Chrysostomos said that bishops were not paid wages, rather they were given grants by the Church which are used to help the poor and needy.

"This grant is given by the Church so that a bishop can reach into his pocket without counting or signing receipts, and give help to a needy or ill brother," Chrysostomos said.

"This grant should not be taxed," he added.

He said the potential tax amount paid by bishops would be negligible and would not benefit anyone.

Chrysostomos defended the Church's business activities, arguing that the development of property is not done to benefit bishops but to help the Church fulfil the task of helping the people.

"The Church tries to use its property to accomplish its work for the good of the people and the country," Chrysostomos said. "It is not for the bishop to live better."

On Monday, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou revealed that the issue of taxation of Church property has been the subject of ongoing talks between the Finance Minister and the Church.

Papapetrou said the talks focus on taxing business activities, including real estate development.

On the taxation of bishops, Papapetrou said on Monday that according to an attorney-general ruling in 1965, the Archbishop and the six bishops of the Church of Cyprus are exempted from paying income tax because "they do not practise a profession".

Only the Kykkos Monastery in the Paphos district currently pays tax on its property after an agreement with the state, Papapetrou said.

Church-owned property is worth many millions of pounds, but not a single cent has been paid in taxes since the inception of the republic.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[11] DISY concerned over Greece-Turkey rapprochement

D.I.S.Y. LEADER Nicos Anastassiades said yesterday he would send a letter to Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou to express his concern that new Greco-Turkish rapprochement was ignoring the Cyprus problem.

Meetings between Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem in Greece and Turkey last weekend have come under fire after they spent the weekend joking and dancing while 'shelving' the Cyprus issue in favour of promoting good relations between the two traditional NATO rivals.

The government has already rubbished the claims, saying any positive developments between Greece and Turkey can only lead to a new momentum on the Cyprus issue.

But Anastassiades said yesterday his party was worried that the increasing Greco-Turkish friendship would slowly detract from the importance of the Cyprus issue as it focused more and more on economic and social issues.

He said that when this happens the "necessary resistance to potential Turkish provocations or demands" would not be there.

"Not only have these provocations and demands increased because of the policy followed by Greece, but they are continually being taken further with threats against Cyprus on its course to EU accession," Anastassiades said.

He said Cyprus should also be worried about the twinning of Greek and Turkish towns.

"If the Cyprus problem was on the way to a solution in the framework of correct dialogue, and if Turkey's tone was at the same level as the European counties it wants to join, we would have welcomed it as an important contribution. But when attention is focused on planting olive trees the problem is not how many olive groves you have but how we uproot the injustice present in Cyprus."

Anastassiades said he would shortly be making his concerns known to Papandreou in a letter. "We repeat we are not against the friendship of the two peoples and countries, but the friendship should also turn to Turkey's stance on Cyprus," he added.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[12] Markides lashes 'unacceptable' leaks of documents

ATTORNEY-GENERAL Alecos Markides yesterday lashed out over leaks from the Foreign Ministry which are being investigated by the police.

Speaking after a meeting of the National Council, Markides told reporters that such leaks coming from the Foreign Ministry were unacceptable and compromised the government's position in negotiations on important national issues.

The Attorney-general mentioned two incidences -- one involving government documents on the status of the British Bases vis a vis Cyprus' EU accession and a second from the Cyprus High Commission in London regarding a top- level meeting with Sir David Hannay on the Cyprus issue.

He said the June 17 leak on the bases was an interdepartmental document, which was to bring him up to speed on the position of negotiations with Britain on the bases issue.

"Unfortunately someone in the Foreign Ministry insisted that he see the document," Markides said. "We sent it to him, and possibly without him being at fault it was leaked, and I believe it must have been leaked from the Foreign Ministry and not from us."

He said police were working on who leaked the document, the contents of which were published in two Greek-language dailies on Sunday, and that a possible charge of abuse of power was being looked at.

Referring to the leak of the London document, Markides said if every diplomatic document was publicised in this way Cyprus would find itself in the Guinness Book of Records.

"In other countries these documents are published after thirty or forty years, while some can be bound for a hundred years because they are top secret and could create tension between countries or influence negotiations against the country getting ready to enter such negotiations," he said. "When preparatory documents are drawn up their aim is to prepare certain positions, and if we effectively start to tell them how we are thinking then I'm sorry but we have gone too far. How are we going to successfully negotiate with the EU or Britain when even our preparations for negotiations and our various scenarios and choices are published in the press?"

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[13] Clerides presents plan to make National Council workable

THE NEWLY constituted National Council met for the second time yesterday when members were given a series of proposals by President Clerides on how the body could operate smoothly, given its expanded numbers.

No statements were made by any of the 22 members of the council, whose job it is to advise Clerides on the Cyprus problem. But reports suggested the President had handed over a document he had prepared containing proposals on how the new council should operate.

When the Council met last week for the first time since the May parliamentary elections, Clerides' office was too small to accommodate the additional seven members, resulting from the larger representation of political parties in the House. Each party is entitled to take part in the National Council with its leader and one or two other members.

To combat any possible confusion and lengthy voting procedures, Clerides has reportedly suggested that the Council meet once a month, and that a voting system based on the parties' percentage of seats in the House be introduced. He also suggested a sub-committee be set up to tackle less important issues for the Council.

The National Council will reconvene on July 6.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[14] Two die in Limassol accident

TWO young men were killed in a traffic accident in Limassol early yesterday.

Costas Constantinides, 16, was driving an unregistered motorcycle with a passenger, 17-year-old Marios Evripidou, at 1am when they failed to stop at a red traffic light at the Makedonia-Grigoris Afxentiou intersection.

Both Evripidou and Constantinides, who were not wearing helmets, were killed instantly when they collided with an oncoming car driven by a 50- year-old man from Limassol.

Limassol traffic police are appealing for witnesses to the accident to come forward, especially the driver of a red BMW.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[15] EU 'forced Turkey to invite Themistocleous'

THE EUROPEAN Union forced Ankara to invite Agriculture and Environment Minister Costas Themistocleous to a conference in Istanbul, Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

A meeting of environment ministers from EU candidate countries is being organised by the Turkish Ministry of Environment tomorrow and Friday in Istanbul.

Papapetrou said the Turkish government initially tried to avoid inviting Themistocleous, given the lack of diplomatic relations between Turkey and Cyprus since the invasion of the island in 1974.

But he claimed European Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen personally intervened and demanded that Ankara include Cyprus in the talks.

Papapetrou said Turkey toed the line when Verheugen threatened that all EU commissioners would boycott the conference if Cyprus was left out.

Candidate countries will discuss various environment issues relating to EU harmonisation, the Nice Treaty and the Sixth Action Plan for the Environment.

The conference will also tackle issues on the agenda of next year's world summit on the environment in South Africa.

Despite the temporary hiccough, this is not the first government visit to Turkey since 1974.

President Glafcos Clerides attended the Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Development (OECD) summit in Istanbul in November 1999.

Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides and Papapetrou accompanied him.

"The hospitality was extraordinary, and the attention we received, so we'll see [what happens this time]," Papapetrou said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

[16] Prisoners join anti-drugs march

SEVERAL inmates from the open prison joined university students yesterday in a march to the House of Representatives to call for stronger anti-drugs policies.

The event took place to mark World Anti-Drugs Day.

The campaigners, all members of the anti-drugs organisation KENTHEA, marched from Nicosia's central prisons in Ayios Pavlos to the House of Representatives, holding placards bearing slogans such as "In prison I feel free: I don't take drugs".

They were joined in their protest by Bishop Chrysostomos of Larnaca.

"Drug use is on the rise," said a memorandum the protesters handed to the House general director, Costas Christoforou. "We condemn the use of drugs and we think the government should invest much more money on prevention. The state should raise social awareness about the matter."

Christoforou said he would present the memorandum to House President Demetris Christofias and the parliamentary parties tomorrow.

He also told the campaigners that the House is planning to implement stronger measures to combat drugs use.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2001

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