Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 03-07-25

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

Friday, July 25, 2003

CONTENTS

[01] Bin bag file given to the president

[02] Deadlock over trade as Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce refuses to issue certificates

[03] Denktash offers to clear mines

[04] Denktash DNA bank offer ‘a bit late’

[05] Blow to wedding tourism with new registry office requirement

[06] Government prepared to counter Turkish arguments at European court

[07] Greek Cypriot in Channel swim challenge

[08] Deported Turk was army officer who gave fake name

[01] Bin bag file given to the president

THE findings of a police investigation into the discovery of top-secret state documents stashed in bin bags under a staircase at the health ministry were yesterday handed over to President Tassos Papadopoulos by the chief of police.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said Papadopoulos would study the report and then discuss it with the attorney-general.

The documents were found by a journalist who said he had repeatedly visited the ministry to collect information for himself before realising the severity of their contents and deciding to alert the authorities.

Reports last night however claimed that the 14-page report, which was handed to the president at 7pm did not assign responsibility to anybody but outlined how the documents ended up under the stairs from testimonies given by ministry staff.

Earlier on Chrysostomides pledged to make public the findings of the investigation.

"The government operates with full transparency and the findings will be made public," he said.

Health Minister Dina Akkelidou lashed out at those who called for her resignation over the affair saying she would not quit over other peoples' mistakes.

"I am not going to submit my resignation for the mistakes of those who ask for my resignation," Akkelidou said.

She slammed the previous administration for its "total lack of respect" for documents of the highest importance, which should have been stored according to the regulations of the state archive.

"The documents were circulating and were kept in open cupboards in ministers' offices who had nothing to do with those issues," the minister said.

"There are rules, which have to be followed; if they were not followed for the large number of files, which is said were found, the responsibility is not mine."

House Watchdog Committee chairman, DISY's Christos Pourgourides, said there had been no choice than to launch an immediate investigation into the affair.

"But what's surprising is the fact that once again no one is assuming any responsibility, which is a permanent tactic followed in Cyprus while it is clear there are responsibilities," Pourgourides said.

State television last night reported that more top-secret documents in bin bags have been found outside the education ministry.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[02] Deadlock over trade as Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce refuses to issue certificates

THE Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce has refused to issue certificates of origin for Turkish Cypriot goods, thus effectively putting an end to any hopes for internal trade between the two communities.

The revelation was made by Trade and Industry Minister George Lillikas, who declined to comment on the reasons behind the Turkish Cypriot decision.

“We accepted to authorise the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce to carry out checks and issue certificates of origin.

“But while they had initially accepted, now they refuse and are asking us to issue the certificate instead,” Lillikas said.

The minister stressed that this would make things even harder for Turkish Cypriots interested in selling their products, as it was practically impossible for the government to conduct the necessary checks before issuing the certificate.

Lillikas said the government had tried a lot to make things easier, but it would never authorise the occupying regime to issue the certificates.

“Those who say that the Cypriot government has announced the measures (for the support of the Turkish Cypriots) for the eyes of the world should be especially careful because we have surpassed ourselves in good will,” the minister said.

“The Turkish Cypriot chamber brought up arguments I cannot reveal in public for not being able to issue the certificate of origin,” Lillikas added.

He said the reasons had to do with the Cyprus problem.

The Turkish Cypriot decision effectively puts an end to the hopes of Turkish Cypriot businesses to trade with their Greek Cypriot counterparts.

“How can we check? There is no way of resolving this,” Lillikas said.

At the same time, the first Turkish Cypriot lorry driver yesterday crossed the divide to apply for the necessary permits to carry products from the north.

According to Communications Minister Kikis Kazamias, the man received a day- pass at the Ayios Dhometios crossing and drove to the inspection centre in Latsia to get the necessary road-worthiness certificates.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[03] Denktash offers to clear mines

TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday his administration was willing to clear thousands of land mines peppering his side of the Green Line and that he had informed the UN of his intention.

It was the latest bid by Denktash to boost confidence after UN-backed peace talks with Greek Cypriots collapsed in March. The veteran leader was widely blamed for the collapse of the peace process ahead of the island's entry into the EU next year.

"We have given notice in a letter sent today to UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan that Turkish Cypriot military officials are prepared to meet to discuss the clearing of mines in Nicosia and surrounding regions," Denktash said in a statement.

"This is an important military confidence-building measure... and will be an additional effort to help reach a comprehensive settlement," Denktash said. “Our hope is that the Greek Cypriots react positively to our proposal this time.

President Tassos Papadopoulos pointed out that the proposal had first been put forward by the Greek Cypriot side some months ago, and that it was Denktash who had not responded until now.

“This is just a response to our demand two months ago,” Papadopoulos said. “We had asked the UN to clear all mines in a specific programme.”

The Greek Cypriot side has been in favour of demining for several years and had begun unilaterally to clear some minefields on the National Guard’s side of the buffer zone.

UN experts have already been to the island last year, and work could begin on the demining later this year. Anti-personnel landmines cost as little as $20 each to manufacture but between $300 and $1,000 to remove.

It is estimated that close to 17,000 landmines had been laid in and around the buffer zone and on this side since 1974. It is not known how many exist to the north. Investigations have since revealed that the number of minefields inside the buffer zone now numbers 48, while there are over 70 known or suspected minefields within 400 metres of the buffer zone. The US State Department estimates there are 132 mined areas in Cyprus covering approximately 1,350 square km. Canada offered demining assistance in 1998, connected with the failed UN package of measures to reduce tension along the buffer zone.

UNFICYP spokesman Brian Kelly yesterday confirmed receipt of Denktash’s letter and said it would be forwarded to New York. “We welcome anything that will contribute to making the overall situation safer,” he told the Cyprus Mail.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[04] Denktash DNA bank offer ‘a bit late’

TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash’s proposal to establish a DNA bank to carry out identity tests on Turkish Cypriots killed during hostilities between 1963 and 1974 is a little late in the day, the government said yesterday.

Denktash announced on Wednesday that that the Turkish Cypriot side was taking steps to bring back the remains of Turkish Cypriots buried in the south and that they would be identified through the creation of a DNA bank.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said yesterday Denktash’s proposal “comes a little late to the picture”, and suggested it was in any case part of the Turkish Cypriot leader’s new policy of “creating impressions”.

The spokesman said that the Greek Cypriot side, when it created a DNA bank several years ago to identify the remains of unknown Greek and Turkish Cypriots, had pleaded with the Turkish Cypriot side to co-operate in the effort, which was organised through the bi-communal Institute of Neurology and Genetics.

Denktash ignored the entire project, Chrysostomides said, adding that the government had even published the name of missing Turkish Cypriots in newspapers in the north so that their relatives could donate blood for identification purposes.

When the DNA facility in the south began working on exhumations from two Nicosia cemeteries to identify the remains from mass graves dug in the chaos of 1974 the government decided it would unilaterally exhume the remains of Turkish Cypriots and again asked relatives to come forward, but none did.

No one was available at the Genetics Institute yesterday to confirm whether any relatives of missing Turkish Cypriots had gone to donate blood since the checkpoints had opened on May 23.

Turkish Cypriot newspapers reported on Wednesday that Turkish Cypriot villagers originally from Tochni in the Larnaca district, where dozens of Turkish Cypriot men were rounded up and killed by Greek Cypriots in August 1974, were asking the Greek Cypriot side to carry out DNA tests. Denktash, however, said the villagers were preparing to file a lawsuit against the Cyprus government.

“They want to get compensation. They will firstly apply to the Greek Cypriot government. If they don’t get any satisfactory response, they will apply to the European Court of Human Rights,” Denktash said. “Those who carried out the massacre were known and they carried out the massacre with knowledge of the authorities.

“We hope the Greek Cypriot government will rapidly respond to the compensation demand of these people and the issue will be settled.”

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[05] Blow to wedding tourism with new registry office requirement

TOUR operators dealing with wedding tourism on the island were up in arms yesterday, after a sudden law change was announced obliging some foreigners to have a civil wedding before having their marriage blessed by their own church.

Over the past three years, Cyprus has become a popular destination for British couples who want an Anglican church wedding abroad. British tour operator First Choice is reported to organise more than 200 such church weddings a year in Paphos alone.

“We are shell-shocked,” one tour operator official said yesterday. “In Spain they’ve been campaigning to allow Anglican weddings for years, and it’s just been approved. But we’re going a step backwards.

“Tourism in Cyprus was suffering anyway, and weddings were one of the biggest generators of revenue, so what good can it do?

“If people wanted to have a civil wedding they would book one, but they wanted to have an Anglican wedding,” she added.

Tour operators have also complained at the suddenness of the law-change -- the new law was announced just two days ago, and will come into effect today.

“We’re totally disgusted. We have been given just two days’ notice and people who already have their marriage licences and are due to get married will not know what to do and whether their wedding will be legal,” the official said. “You can’t change a law in two days.”

General Secretary of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) Thassos Katsourides agreed: “The government should allow a grace period of at least one year. They should not propose the enforcement of the law until next year.”

He also echoed tour operators’ concerns that Cyprus’ reputation as an ideal wedding venue would be damaged.

“We will lose a lot of people coming over to get married. British tour operators advertise these weddings in their next year’s brochures -- they issue brochures in May for the following year, so I don’t know what will happen.”

The Reverend Robin Brookes, an Anglican chaplain for the Ayia Napa region, expressed his distress at the news.

“A lot of people will not bother coming if they can’t have a full blown Anglican wedding,” he warned. “I have 260 weddings booked for next year in Ayia Napa, and I suspect this development will mean a whole raft of cancellations.”

He also questioned the timing of the decision. “To introduce this new law in mid-season is just bizarre. And from the tourism angle, weddings are one of the few ends of the market holding up.

“It’s just another nail in the coffin of Cyprus tourism.”

A source at Nicosia Municipality told the Cyprus Mail that the new law -- the Marriage Law of 2003 -- was the end product of a draft law drawn up by the Municipalities’ Union four years ago and approved by Parliament this week.

“But the new law is very different from the draft law,” the source said. “Couples now have to have a civil marriage first before going to their own church to be blessed by a registered priest.

“The law actually simplifies the marriage procedure for foreign couples -- there’s less paperwork and time taken over it. But there are some articles of the law which are unclear, and there are gaps which need to be explained.

“It was very short notice for the municipalities too,” the source stressed, adding that employees had been briefed on the law change just three days ago.

Asked why the law had been changed, Permanent Secretary of the Interior Ministry, Kyriakos Triantafillides said: “As far as I know it must be a matter of harmonising our law with that of the EU. We have an obligation to harmonise.”

Sources say those opposing the new law will pressure Interior Minister Andreas Christou to make changes.

But a government source warned that this was unlikely: “The law is the law.”

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[06] Government prepared to counter Turkish arguments at European court

THE government has gathered a special team, including foreign legal experts, to present its arguments before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said yesterday.

The ECHR has asked Cyprus to present its positions in two cases, concerning why Greek Cypriot refugees should not appeal to ‘courts’ set up in the occupied north to handle property cases.

Faced with hundreds of cases brought before the ECHR by Greek Cypriot refugees demanding compensation for the loss of the right to property due to the Turkish invasion, Turkey, in collusion with its “subordinate local administration” in the north -as the ECHR describes the occupation regime - has devised a scheme whereby Greek Cypriots can appeal for compensation.

Turkey has already been found guilty in one case and has been ordered to pay $900,000 to a Kyrenia refugee and to allow her free access to her property.

The decisions on two other cases are expected at the end of the month.

Yesterday, Chrysostomides said the government and the Attorney-general’s office were ready to argue their positions and overturn any arguments Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash may have.

The spokesman said the courts in the north where nothing more than an extension of the occupying force and it was impossible for them to be considered legal or impartial as stipulated in the Convention for Human Rights.

Chrysostomides stressed that it was clearly a legal issue that the ECHR had to look into.

“Any proposal before the ECHR is discussed within clear legal frameworks and relevant decisions are issued,” Chrysostomides said.

Deputy Attorney-general Petros Clerides said his office was preparing to counter Turkey’s arguments concerning the recognition of courts in the north.

“We have good arguments to pose and we believe that Turkey’s demand won’t be accepted,” Clerides said.

He added that the ECHR has asked the two sides to argue whether applicants had exhausted domestic legal means or not.

“We are taking all necessary measures for the presentation of our arguments, ” Clerides said.

The deputy Attorney-general suggested that the court’s decision on the matter could affect ongoing and future appeals.

Former Attorney-general Alecos Markides had warned that Turkey was trying to steer matters to a mass deadlock, which could force the exchange of property between the two sides.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[07] Greek Cypriot in Channel swim challenge

A GREEK Cypriot lecturer at Imperial College in London will be attempting to swim across the Channel-a feat which no other Greek Cypriot has managed in the past.

Dr. Julio Georgiou, a lecturer at Imperial’s electrical engineering department, will take on the choppy seas of the Channel in a solo swim next month, accompanied by only a pilot boat, in a bid to raise money for charity.

“I’ll be doing a solo swim, so will be the only one swimming alongside the boat,” he told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

“The motivation behind the swim is for the challenge -- which is as mental as it is physical -- and also to help raise money for charities.”

The money raised will go to “Cancer BACUP” and “Children with Leukaemia” in the UK and to the Anticancer Organisation in Cyprus.

According to Georgiou, the shortest distance across the Channel is from Shakespeare Beach, Dover, to Cap Gris Nez, the headland halfway between Calais and Boulogne -- a distance of 21 land miles as the crow flies.

“The aim is just to get across,” Georgiou said. “A typical swim lasts 15 hours but I’ll be happy if I do it in under 12 hours.”

Considered one of the ultimate challenges, Channel swims differ from other swims of this distance because of their complexity and the local environment. Swimmers swim in cold water, between 13°C to 16°C for between 10 to 20 hours, with hypothermia accounting for a large number of the failures.

Channel swimmers come face to face with hazards such as seaweed and flotsam and jetsam and when the wind is in the opposite direction to the tide the water can turn choppy.

The swim is invalidated if the swimmer touches the pilot boat.

“The most difficult part of the swim usually comes about five or six hours into the event when the swimmer’s glycogen levels are depleted and the body starts metabolising fat,” he explained. “Once past this transition period things get better.”

“Covering yourself with grease to keep warmer is a myth,” he added. “It closes up your pores and can make you ill, so Vaseline or a mixture of Vaseline and lanoline is used to prevent the skin from rubbing under the arms and neck.”

During the swim, Georgiou will be given an energy drink at hourly intervals while he treads water; a swimmer risks going hypothermic if he stops moving.

Georgiou has been training for the swim for a year.

“I have been acclimatising to cold water for the past year, during the winter, by going to an unheated open air pool.”

And since May, Georgiou has been training in Dover Harbour every weekend, coached by world-renowned Channel swimming coach Freda Streeter.

“This involves long swims,” he said. “Last weekend I did seven hours on Saturday and five hours on Sunday. My qualifying swim a couple of months ago was six hours at a water temperature of 13 C.”

When in Cyprus, Georgiou does open water swims under the watchful eye of trainer Thomas Kanzilaris, and last month swam from Larnaca Marina to Cape Pyla.

The success rate of Channel swimmer is about 50 per cent. In total, 450 men and 206 women have crossed the Channel solo.

Georgiou will set off on a day between 18th and 26th August 2003, when a suitable tide allows.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

Friday, July 25, 2003

[08] Deported Turk was army officer who gave fake name

THE Turkish man deported with his wife earlier in the week after being caught illegally on the Greek Cypriot side was a sergeant in the Turkish army, it was revealed yesterday.

Turkish mainland newspaper Hurriyet said that the 34-year old man, named as Ismail Keles, had given a fake name, Ismail Mahmut, when he was arrested by police in Nicosia on Sunday.

He has been a sergeant in the army since 2000, the paper said, adding that if his real identity had been established Keles would have spent months being interrogated by the Greek Cypriot authorities and would have caused a political crisis between Turkey and Cyprus.

Keles and his 19-year old second wife, Selda Erdas, who was born in Cyprus of Turkish parents, were fined a total of £250 by the Nicosia court, while the 41-year old Greek Cypriot in whose house they stayed over on Saturday night was fined £300. The couple, who live in his house in occupied Yerolakos, befriended the Greek Cypriot when he crossed to see his old home, inviting them back to visit him in Strovolos.

Turkish settlers are not allowed to cross into the south of the island because the government considers them illegal immigrants. The Justice Ministry issued a deportation order for the two on Monday night and they were deported on Tuesday morning.

Hurriyet also reported that the whereabouts of the pair was unknown, and suggested they had been detained in Athens after authorities may have uncovered Keles’ real identity.

However, Interior Ministry Permanent Secretary Kyriacos Triantafyllides denied the Hurriyet claims that the couple was missing. He said three police officers had accompanied the couple as far as Istanbul.

A written statement from police said the three officers had taken Keles and his wife to Athens on an Olympic Airways flight at 9.30pm on Tuesday night, arriving in the Greek capital at 11.10pm.

On Wednesday they flew, again with Olympic Airways, to Istanbul at 8.05am, arriving in Istanbul at 9am. The police statement said the couple was handed over to the Turkish authorities but the three Greek Cypriot officers did not disembark. They were due back in Cyprus later yesterday.

Copyright Cyprus Mail 2003

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