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Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 00-01-21
Friday, January 21, 2000
Cordial Turkish welcome for Papandreou
GREEK Foreign Minister George Papandreou's official visit to Turkey was
given great prominence, with most papers reporting that he would raise the
Cyprus issue during his talks.
Politis reported that it was the first time in 38 years that
a Greek foreign minister was paying an official visit to Ankara. A
restrained Papandreou said that any steps that were taken regarding Cyprus
should be serious. Cyprus, the most difficult issue of Greek-Turkish
relations, might not be on the agenda of his talks, but reliable
information suggested that it would dominate proceedings. The paper also
reported that Turkish troops would participate in a Nato military exercise
that would take place on Greek soil for the first time. In the exercise,
codenamed , Turkish fighter jets would also participate and
use a Greek airfield for refuelling.
Simerini said that Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart
Ismail Cem praised each other at Ankara airport. However, the general
feeling prevailing at the airport did not allow any references to the
Cyprus problem as this "could have affected the cordiality and warmth"
exhibited. According to Papandreou's associates, the foreign minister was
to raise the Cyprus issue at yesterday's meeting with Cem. He would ask Cem
to pressure Rauf Denktash into accepting the promotion of meetings between
members of the two communities in Cyprus. The objective of such meetings
was "the gradual removal of differences between the two communities through
a ".
Phileleftheros also reported that Papandreou would request
specific steps on Cyprus from Turkey, particularly in view of the second
round of proximity talks on January 31. He would put emphasis on
rapprochement measures which would enable the Turkish Cypriots to
participate in Cyprus' EU accession procedure. Cem's comments at the
airport were characterised by their "warmth". Both he and Papandreou
avoided bringing up the "thorny issues", preferring to concentrate on the
continuation of the good climate created between the two countries. Cem did
acknowledge the fact that there had been positive developments in relations,
and said these would continue.
Alithia, in a front-page editorial, said that the reception
given to Papandreou by the Turkish press, Awas related to the new economic
and European thinking of the Turkish elite, which obviously influenced the
political views of the Ankara administration@. It heralded the dawning of a
new era and cited the following examples to illustrate the point: 1) Prime
Minister Ecevit admitted that the difference with Greece were not so
important or difficult to overcome; 2) The Turkish elite felt indebted to
Greece's help in Turkey's drive for EU membership; 3) extremist nationalist
tendencies in Turkey were being marginalised; 4) Cem's remark that the
earthquakes of last year had shown that Greeks and Turks were closer to
each other than what they had thought; 5) press reports that only the
bitter cold would prevent the Turkish people from fully expressing their
feeling towards Papandreou and his government.
Haravghi reported that many differences remained between the
government and the unions over the issue of tax allowances. This was the
conclusion of union representatives after a meeting with finance minister
Takis Klerides, who had failed to make any proposal "that would remedy the
(tax) injustices against salaried workers", the paper said. Peo union boss
Bambis Kyritsis said the government was opposed to the allowances because
these would have an inflationary effect. Kyritsis insisted that there
should be a fairer distribution of tax burden as wage earners paid much
higher tax than companies that found loopholes in the law that enabled them
to pay less tax.
Machi said that Popular Bank executive chairman Kikis
Lazarides was the most popular choice as presidential candidate among
communist party Akel supporters.
© Copyright Cyprus Mail 2000
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