Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 02-06-20

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

Thursday, June 20, 2002

CONTENTS

[01] The Hannay furore: a foretaste of things to come?

[02] Cyprus steers clear of European flight chaos

[03] Ecologists slam 'farcical' Aphrodite project

[04] Sex on the brain: the good and the bad of it

[01] The Hannay furore: a foretaste of things to come?

THIS week's blow up over British envoy Lord David Hannay's comment on 'two states' and a 'new' Cyprus was British High Commissioner Lyn Parker's first brush with the lexical minefield of the Cyprus issue.

Parker was summoned to the Presidential Palace to explain the comments made by Hannay to CNN Turk last week, and President Glafcos Clerides set him straight on the Greek Cypriot side's concern about his statements.

That should have been it, but the issue won't go away. Only two days ago, the government persisted in repeating its annoyance, saying it was disappointed that Britain appeared to be backing the creation of a new state in Cyprus, even after Nicosia had outlined its views and made formal representations to the British government.

Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said on Tuesday that Parker, by saying he would neither add nor subtract anything from what Hannay had said, was "essentially adopting these positions about a new state and two peoples."

"In the past, they declared themselves to be ardent supporters of a give- and-take approach, but now they seem to be adopting a give-give approach," Papapetrou said.

Britain, however, feels the Greek Cypriot side is being paranoid about Hannay's remarks and says its policy on Cyprus is as clear as it's always been. It does not support the creation of two states and adheres to UN policy on a bi-zonal bi-communal federation for Cyprus.

"It's not an issue of being angry," Papapetrou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. "We disagreed with his position and the Foreign Minister communicated this disagreement to the British government. They know now our position in a very clear manner and how strongly we feel on certain issues, so we hope things will go better in the future."

He said that if British policy was the same as it had always been, then the government would like to see that policy expressed in certain words.

Diplomatic sources said there was a lot in Hannay's comments that wasn't new.

"I think there's been a lot of reading between the lines by everyone and people are fearing the worst," the source said. "There was lots in there for the Greek Cypriot side, but you have to remember the interview was going out to a Turkish audience."

The source said Hannay seemed to be trying to get the message out that things were not as bleak as they appeared and that the Greek Cypriot side was not being as unconstructive as the Turks and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said they were.

'The important thing was to get that message out to the Turkish people at large, and there has been a lot of overreaction," the source said.

He added Clerides had himself on several occasions referred to a new state and a new constitution and the view that the reference to two peoples was recognition "is not the case at all".

"The Greek Cypriots are being constructive but the message is not getting through to the people who need to know that. The Greek Cypriots were being held up (by Hannay) as the ones making the moves at the moment," the source said.

"All of this has turned into major deal, much bigger than anyone expected it to."

In the interview, Hannay did refer to "a central state with a new flag a new anthem, a new name".

"It will not be called the Republic of Cyprus," he added. "I do not know what it will be called, but it will be called something different. This is of course just symbols. But symbols are extremely important in politics, as you know, and those symbols will demonstrate that this is a new partnership - what Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots have been saying [is that] it must be a new partnership. Now it is very clear that the overall structure of this will be a central state which will have rather limited responsibilities."

The British diplomat also said there would be a "central state and two component states".

"That is what the United Nations calls it," he said. "I would call it also two constituent states, which will have very, very substantial responsibilities - effectively for everything that is not explicitly given to the centres".

He said the use of the word "component" in UN terms was "a kind of filler for the meantime".

"It will of course be a different name when there is a settlement. But yes, the two states, the Turkish Cypriot state to the north and the Greek Cypriot in the south, will have responsibility for a whole range of matters, like health, education, welfare, transport, police and so on. And they will run their own affairs - they will be masters in their own house.

"They will of course have their own assembly of some kind. They will be elected. They will be, if they choose to be, led by a president. And they will take executive decisions on a whole range of issues, so long as those decisions do not cut across the settlement that is being negotiated now. So it will be a completely different sort of Cyprus from anything we ever saw in the past. It will be one in which the two peoples will be masters in their own house, with this whole range of affairs, and they will work together on a limited range of affairs."

One Greek Cypriot political observer said yesterday he believed that Hannay might be starting to break in the concept of what an agreement would entail. "Whether there are two peoples or one is irrelevant," he said. "There will be a new constitution and a new Cyprus but whether or not he is advocating two separate states is a bit vague. What's much more worrying than the Greek Cypriot reaction is the British response to Hannay's comments that there was nothing to add or subtract. That's very telling," he said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002

[02] Cyprus steers clear of European flight chaos

WHILE thousands of European passengers found their travel plans wrecked by strikes by air traffic controllers, most travellers turning up at Larnaca and Paphos airport yesterday enjoyed a normal day with minimal disruption.

As expected, Cyprus Airways scheduled flight to Paris was cancelled and air traffic to Greece was reduced from the usual four daily flights to three, but there were no other unexpected cancellations reported by airport officials, who confirmed that it was business as usual.

Passengers at Larnaca airport who were asked if their travel plans had been affected reported no changes to their pre-booked arrangements. Even those who were travelling to Greece confirmed that their plans had been unaffected.

Cyprus Airways Spokesman Tassos Angelis confirmed that, apart from the Paris flight and the cancellations of morning flights to Athens (CY312/CY313 and CY336/CY337), which were replaced by an extra flight in the evening, there had been no further disruption. CY flights to Salonica also left as scheduled.

Olympic Airways likewise said its flights to Greece had left as normal, although one flight on Tuesday night had had to be cancelled due to unrelated industrial action over pension reforms.

In other parts of Europe, however, airports were reported to be deserted, as the combined industrial action of air traffic controllers from France, Italy, Portugal and Greece against the European Commission's attempt to push forward their 'one sky' programme took effect. Worst hit were Paris' two airports, where activity was reported to have slowed to 12 per cent of normal capacity. At Charles de Gaulle airport, only 264 arriving and departing flights were maintained out of a normal daily load of 2,000 short- haul services. At Orly, only 77 out of 600 such flights operated.

Air Traffic Controllers are opposing EU plans to bring them under a single European chain of command. The scheme is designed to boost capacity by 50 per cent and involves bringing all controllers under unified supervision so that airlines can fly routes that are not defined by European borders. The proposals will also harmonise varying technical standards between EU states and ensure better co-ordination between military and civil aviation.

Unions say the plan aims to improve efficiency at the expense of safety, and fear the move is a first step towards privatisation of services - a suggestion the European Commission vehemently denies.

Cypriot air traffic controllers have expressed no objection to the scheme.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002

[03] Ecologists slam 'farcical' Aphrodite project

THE FEDERATION of Environmental and Ecological Organisations yesterday expressed concern over Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis' efforts to promote plans for a controversial Aphrodite Theme Park in Paphos.

Federation President Antonia Theodosiou, secretary Antonia Lyra and Central Beaches Committee representative Xenia Loizidou yesterday questioned the "worrisome procedure" the State had followed for the project and wondered to what extent equal rights and equality before the law truly existed in Cyprus.

Two months ago, sketches of the statue were published showing a floating theme park in the shape of waves with a giant shell carrying the Goddess of Love. The estimated cost of the project is $50 million and the statue itself could stand as tall as 30 meters. So far, three possible locations on government-owned land, between Kouklia village and Paphos town, have been proposed for the theme park.

But the project has come under attack from artists and environmentalists who have labelled it "farcical" and "gaudy". But Rolandis, the project's strongest supporter, has dismissed the criticism, saying he believed the statue and theme park would be a worthwhile venture for Cyprus.

However, the Federation hit back yesterday, saying it could not understand how the Tourism Minister had "so readily embraced a proposal that is purely based on a private citizen's preliminary suggestion and not a thorough study".

It went on to question how Rolandis could promote the approval to go ahead with the endeavour within the Cabinet, without there being anything substantial to base a decision on - "no study, no specific location and no investors."

The ecologists also wondered how the Minister could claim that the State planned to remain uninvolved, when it was he who had asked the Land Registry Department to look for State coastland in the Kouklia area that would be "conceded" to a private developer.

"All this, and much more, raise a lot of questions and doubts over the equality of rights and equality before the law that exists in this country. If the government is willing to set its political wheels in motion, to squander thousands of pounds on the time that Land Registry Department and Interior Ministry employees have spent searching for an appropriate location, to give a citizen a 'gift' worth millions of pounds based on a simple proposal that has not even been legally approved, then we have a very serious problem on our hands," said the statement issued by the Federation.

The environmentalists criticised comparisons with New York's Statue of Liberty, Australia's Sydney Opera House and Disneyland.

"Under ordinary circumstances such a comparison should undermine this proposal," rather than promoting it, the ecologists said. "Obviously the lords of this forsaken land are not seriously concerned at the thought of a 30 metre statue of Aphrodite coming out of a shell as the frontispiece of a 12,000 square metre project on the Paphos coastline."

The campaigners pointed out that Cyprus was just a small island, a fact they said the authorities appeared oblivious to.

"We are already in a difficult position as far as tourism is concerned: we are an expensive destination that has lost its character to a great extent. All we offer are the three 'Ss' (sun, sea and sand) and at great expense."

Although the Cyprus Tourism Organisation is promoting a new strategy to change the island's image, offering alternative forms of tourism by focusing on Cyprus' culture and history, this project would have the opposite effect, they warned.

"All that we will promote with this theme park is our bad taste and the fact that as a country we are hardly continuing to develop. Hopefully, the House of Representatives will put the stops on this unbelievable and ridiculous farce."

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002

[04] Sex on the brain: the good and the bad of it

CAN'T GET it up? Had a bad sexual experience that is projected right in front of you each time you're about to get it on? You're not the only one.

Thousands of people see images of their sexual disappointment time and again before sex, which can lead to sexual dysfunction, rapid relationship deterioration, emotional pain and despair.

According to sexologist, Giovanna Genovese, all you have to do is visualise bad sex out of your life forever.

The Italian therapist had just finished speaking to the sixth Congress of the European Federation of Sexology in Limassol and told the Cyprus Mail that when a bad sexual experience is imprinted in the brain it pops up each time we are about to have sex.

"The idea is that there is a connection between mental images and emotion all the time."

Apparently, everything we see, hear and experience is archived in a little part of the brain. The picture and the emotions linked to that image are stored in this archive. Genovese has come up with a scientific model, which says that if we can cancel these images then we will also cancel the emotion that goes with them.

"For example, I remember feeling ridiculous the last time I had intercourse. My movement was not good and motivity is very important during sex. What happens is that an image was recorded in my brain and when I thought about having sex again, my brain ran a sequence of the bad images that I had experienced and that put me off having sex."

Genovese said that during sex men and women become rigid and don't pay attention to the emotion during intercourse and what goes on inside the body. They only think about how ridiculous they look.

But the sexologist says that the solution to this form of sexual dysfunction is very easy.

"Before having sex, we must force our brain to visualise not what has been recorded, but a moment of wonderful sexual pleasure that we have experienced. One can do this together with a therapist," she says.

"During the day we should think of good images and therefore change bad images into good ones.

"For example we should think of good sex that we had like a feature film, in which we are having a very good intercourse and there is a good erection. This would also help blood to go to the right place so that you can have a good erection," Genovese says.

"In order to have sex you must have an erection and in order to have an erection blood must go to the penis. This is an instinct that nature gave us. This instinct needs no interference."

Genovese says that the work of the therapist is to concentrate to change the images that are inside the brain that give a negative emotion and one way to achieve this is through hypnotism.

"During hypnosis the subject can think without interference and the therapist can induce the person to remember good sexual moments, she explains.

During intercourse we should concentrate on the feeling and sensation of having sex. Genovese says this would help everything work perfectly.

"You must focus on your sensation. In the moment that your partner touches your hand, you should concentrate on what is happening on your hand, if it feels good, you must then encourage your partner to continue this movement that makes you feel good," she says.

"If you don't feel good you should then lead her somewhere that makes you feel good."

"The body is a map and in contrast to Freud, it changes day by day. One day you'll feel good when your partner touches you in a certain place and the following night you may not feel that good. Men must change their position and help their to give them pleasure. And make sure you leave out all negative images during sex."

Genovese says that to change the emotions is easy.

"Think of the last intercourse you had that was bad. Take that image and push it further from your body. When you push it away the picture gets smaller. Put all your negative images far away."

"When the images are far away from you, then visualise the good sexual experience you have. This will be greater than the bad image, which is now far away."

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2002

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