Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-04-15

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

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

CONTENTS

[01] Security Council blames Denktash for Hague collapse

[02] US envoy the first to visit since Hague fiasco

[03] Cyprus Donor Centre is a world leader

[04] Kurds brave gunfire to cross south

[05] Civil marriages continue rising, but most couples aren't Cypriot

[06] 'No devaluation for stable Cyprus pound'

[07] Talat to appeal to European Court

[08] Police in spate of hooligan arrests

[01] Security Council blames Denktash for Hague collapse

WITH a unanimous vote, the United Nations Security Council, as expected, yesterday passed a resolution blaming Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash for the collapse of the UN-led effort towards a settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Earlier yesterday, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said the government was satisfied that for the first time a UN Secretary-general's report put the responsibility for the breakdown on the intransigent stance of the Turkish side, and indicated the Greek Cypriot side's positive outlook in solving the Cyprus problem, which would benefit both communities.

The resolution was based on Kofi Annan's report but fell short of the government's hopes that it would also blame Turkey for encouraging Denktash's intransigence at The Hague summit early last month.

The resolution commended Annan for taking the initiative to present his plan to the parties in a bid to bridge the gaps between them.

The UN Security Council “regrets that as described in the Secretary- general's report, due to the negative approach of the Turkish Cypriot leader, culminating in the position taken at the March 10-11, 2003, meeting in The Hague, it was not possible to reach an agreement to put the plan to simultaneous referenda, as suggested by the Secretary-general”, thus denying the two communities the opportunity to decide on the plan themselves.

The resolution further supports Annan's plan “as a unique basis for further negotiations and calls on all concerned to negotiate within the framework of the Secretary-general's good offices, using the plan to reach a comprehensive settlement”.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[02] US envoy the first to visit since Hague fiasco

It was the first visit by a foreign envoy involved in the Cyprus issue since the collapse of UN talks at The Hague last month when Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash refused to take a solution plan to a referendum.

The Security Council was due to vote in New York late yesterday on a resolution intended to lay out a path for any future negotiations on reuniting the island.

Last week, squabbling among UN Security Council powers blocked agreement on a resolution, as the United States and Britain backed a text designating the peace plan drafted by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan as the basis for any future talks while Russia and China insisted the resolution make no mention of Annan's plan - or any other.

The UN plan was designed to see a united island sign the EU accession treaty in Athens tomorrow but Annan's timetable fell apart due to the Turkish Cypriot leader's negative stance, the Secretary-general said in his report to the Security Council.

During his talks in Nicosia, Weston met President Tassos Papadopoulos, House of Representatives President Demetris Christofias and Foreign Minister George Iacovou.

Weston said he was convinced there was nothing in the UN resolution that contradicted the positive position that Papadopoulos has taken with regard to continuing efforts to negotiate on the basis of the Annan plan.

“The US recognises, as well other members of the Security Council, that the Annan plan was based on a particular constellation of events' and was based on the idea of actually achieving a settlement before the accession of Cyprus to the EU,” Weston told reporters after meeting Iacovou. “I think it is recognised that there are elements of the plan that do need to be examined, and should be, in the course of negotiations.”

Iacovou said the interpretation given by the US and other members of the Security Council was that the plan would remain as a basis for negotiation.

He said the resolution clearly blamed the Turkish Cypriot leadership for the collapse of the talks but did not blame Turkey, something the government had wanted.

Asked what he would tell Turkish Cypriot leader Denktash when they met later, Weston said he would express “the view of the US that there is only one way forward for a settlement on Cyprus, and that is to adhere and respond to the recommendations of the Secretary-general, soon to be endorsed by the Security Council”.

Weston also welcomed moves by the Greek Cypriot side to find ways of providing some of the benefits of EU membership to Turkish Cypriots “who are being denied those benefits by one or a very small group of gentlemen in the north”.

Marios Karoyan, a spokesman for Papadopoulos, told reporters that the Greek Cypriot side “has sent the message that it is ready to enter the negotiation process whenever it is deemed necessary by the UN Secretary- general and the Security Council, always in the framework and under the auspices of the UN”.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[03] Cyprus Donor Centre is a world leader

The Foundation is the largest such facility in the world in terms of donors per head of population.

In five years, the foundation has succeeded in creating a donor archive, which today is a model for many countries in the work while its scientific infrastructure has huge potential in offering clinical, research and academic services to the immunogenetic field, the report said.

Its immunogenetics laboratory is one of the most modern and pioneering molecular immunogenetics labs in the world, attracting many foreign scientists interested in developing similar centres in their country.

Its potential has been recognised by the US National Marrow Donor Programme, the biggest in the world, which has approved and accepted the foundation as an associate, offering Cypriot patients immediate access to 3.7 million American donors.

Since 2000, the foundation's donors have provided marrow to 13 Cypriots, five Greeks and nine patients from other countries.

By the end of 2002, the foundation had processed 83,000 samples with over 3, 000 new donors registering every year, not counting the organised drives among the general population.

According to the report, the number of new patients referred to the archives in search of a matching donor showed a 410 per cent increase in 2000, which was put down to the excellent co-operation it maintained with other centres and the disproportionately small number of donors of Mediterranean origin in the International Donor Bank.

To date, the foundation has been approached for donors for 1,500 foreign patients from 30 countries, with Italy ranking first, followed by Germany and Greece.

The foundation has also played a pivotal role in processing samples for Greece in May 2002.

After a request from the Greek Health Ministry, the foundation processed 4, 500 samples sent from Greece and 500 collected from soldiers serving in Cyprus with the Greek contingent.

The report said Armenia has asked the foundation to explore the possibility of collecting samples from Armenian nationals (from Armenia), since the country had not yet set up the necessary infrastructure.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[04] Kurds brave gunfire to cross south

A GROUP of nine Kurds slipped into the Greek Cypriot sector of Nicosia on Sunday morning after Turkish guards fired shots to prevent them from crossing over.

According to a police report, around 6am on Sunday residents of the Paphos Gate area in Nicosia heard several shots being fired. When police officers arrived on the scene to investigate, they came across nine Kurds who had crossed over from the north. Meanwhile a UN team was also investigating the disturbance.

The Kurds -- aged between three and 41 -- were escorted to the Paphos Gate police station, where they said they crossed over to the south in search of a better life.

Police say Turkish soldiers apparently fired the shots for intimidation.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[05] Civil marriages continue rising, but most couples aren't Cypriot

According to a demographic study by the Statistics Department, civil marriages jumped from 161 in 1974 to 6,890 in 2001, compared to a relative increase in church marriages from 2,796 to 3,684.

The huge rise in demand for registry office marriages is explained by Cyprus becoming an increasingly popular wedding spot destination for foreigners.

Civil marriages first overtook religious ceremonies in 1998 when they reached 4,091 compared to 3,647 church marriages. This was a far cry from 1991, when couples felt more drawn to the house of God than the mayor's office as a place to seal their fate. In that year, civil marriages numbered 1,026 compared to 5,196 church marriages.

In total, marriages have rocketed in Cyprus over the last 27 years from 2, 796 in 1974 to 10,574 in 2001.

According to the study, 5.1 per cent of partners were between the ages of 15 and 19 hen they married, 28.4 per cent between 20 and 24, 31.6 per cent between 25 and 29, 17.6 per cent between 30 and 34 and just 0.5 per cent above 60 years of age.

Of the 6,890 couples married in a registry office in 2001, just 1,029 were Cypriot, compared to 2,614 with British citizenship, 2,205 Israeli (civil weddings are not allowed in Israel), 270 Lebanese, 108 American, 81 Greek and 583 other. Cyprus' increasing popularity as a wedding destination is apparent in the dramatic boost in civil marriages in the last 10 years. Back in 1990, only 41 British couples and 96 Israeli sweethearts got married in a registry office in Cyprus.

The last study in 2001 revealed that of the 6,890 civil marriages, only 289 brides were Cypriot, 2,552 British, 161 Romanian, 117 Bulgarian, 311 Russian, 64 American, 30 German, 233 Lebanese, 44 Iranian, 1,975 Israeli, 95 from the Philippines and 1,019 other.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[06] 'No devaluation for stable Cyprus pound'

THE Central Bank Governor said yesterday he was cautiously optimistic about the economy, ruling out any possibility of devaluing the pound.

Speaking after meeting Finance Minister Markos Kyprianou in the first of a series of meetings on the economy, Christodoulos Christodoulou was categorical: “The Cyprus pound is very stable, very powerful and reliable internationally.”

“It has not been mooted, it is not mooted, and I do not expect the issue of devaluing the Cyprus pound to be mooted in any case, unless something which I don't even conceive happens,” Christodoulou said.

Kyprianou said he has asked and expected to have, before Easter, the revised forecasts concerning tourist arrivals based on the end of the war in Iraq.

Kyprianou said the decrease in state income in the first months of the year was due to the decrease in consumer spending. He believed that the recovery of the international economy would play a major role in increasing state income. “Because (state) proceeds are mostly supported by indirect taxation, the decrease in consumption led to decreased income,” Kyprianou said.

The minister said there was a prospect of cutting fuel prices, in light of the cuts in international crude oil costs, but he noted that at least two increases in consumer taxes would be added to fuel prices this year.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[07] Talat to appeal to European Court

THE leader of the Turkish Cypriot Republican party yesterday said he was considering appealing to the European Court because Turkish had not been included as an official language of the European Union.

Speaking after a meeting between Greek and Turkish Cypriot parties at the Ledra Palace hotel in Nicosia, Mehmet Ali Talat also criticised the fact that Turkish Cypriots would not take part in the European Parliament.

Asked whether Turkish Cypriots would take part in the European Parliament elections, even without a solution of the Cyprus problem, Talat replied: “I believe that practically it is very difficult since not only the Greek Cypriot authorities but the European Council too have decided that the acquis communautaire would not apply in the northern part.

“Thus it is not practical for the Turkish Cypriots to participate in the European Parliament,” Talat said.

He added that he could not understand the “appropriation” of the two parliamentary seats earmarked for the Turkish Cypriots.

“And I don't understand why the Turkish language is exempted from European languages,” Talat said.

He suggested the issues were political rather than practical and a compromise should be found.

Concerning the government's measures for the Turkish Cypriots, he said they were not going to end his community's isolation, adding that the Turkish Cypriot community was not fighting for personal or political rights.

He said the measures were similar to those proposed by the Turkish Cypriot side, suggesting the two sides were trying to maintain the status quo, which was beneficial to them, while trying to help the Turkish Cypriots survive.

The leader of the United Cyprus party, Izzet Izcan, said any measures, which offered understanding, co-operation, free movement of goods and solidarity between the two communities leading to the solution of the problem were welcome, no matter where they came from.

“We have to be open with each other; the main issue is the solution of the Cyprus problem,” Izcan said.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

[08] Police in spate of hooligan arrests

POLICE cracked down on football hooligans over the weekend, making 13 arrests in total.

On Saturday, police arrested eight youths before and during the high- profile Anorthosis v Apoel match in Larnaca. The youngsters were charged and then released. The charges ranged from carrying banned flares, throwing stones and possession of a small amount of an unspecified narcotic. Later in the day a 20-year-old from Nicosia attending the game was arrested on suspicion of counterfeiting tickets; he was also charged and released, but police are looking for an accomplice.

Four people were arrested on Sunday at Nicosia's GSP stadium before the start of the Omonia v Dighenis game. Two youths aged 15 and 17 were charged with carrying flares, while a 16-year-old had a screwdriver on his person. A 43-year-old man was also detained for walking onto the football field at the half-time break.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

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