UNSG spokesperson: Moller still in charge in Cyprus
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Michael Moller remains in charge in Cyprus, UN Secretary-General's Spokesperson Michelle Montas has said. Montas was invited to comment on reports according to which Moller is leaving his post. She was also asked whether there would be a replacement since some names to replace him were mentioned in the press. “These are in the domain of rumors. At this point Mr. Moller is still in charge”, she noted.
CYPRUS MAIL
Direct property sales to be offered by north
The Turkish Cypriot side plans to expand the powers of the controversial property commission to allow Greek Cypriots to sell their properties directly to Turkish Cypriots... The new move is designed to make it easier for Greek Cypriots who would be able to sell their properties to Turkish Cypriots, sources at the north’s Immovable Properties Commission said yesterday. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, a source within the Commission said the change in the law would mean that Greek Cypriots who own property in the north will be able to apply, along with a potential Turkish Cypriot buyer, to the Commission in order that a sale recognized by the north’s authorities can take place... The move appears likely to further anger the Cyprus government which discourages Greek Cypriots from approaching the commission to ask for reinstatement of their property rights in the north.
CYPRUS MAIL
‘If you want a political party, quit the Church’
Former President George Vasiliou yesterday called on Archbishop Chrysostomos to step down as Church leader and form a party of his own if his conviction was to enter politics. Vasiliou chastised the Archbishop for his involvement in the presidential elections, describing his support for one of the candidates as “unacceptable” and “sad.”
CYPRUS MAIL
‘Just because reunification is a possibility, it doesn’t mean it is a probability’
Global intelligence service Stratfor warned yesterday that Papadopoulos’ ouster from the presidential race did not necessarily mean plain sailing for the international community towards a solution. “Just because reunification is a possibility does not mean it is a probability,” Stratfor said in its intelligence report on Cyprus sent out on Tuesday. The report said Papadopoulos lost by an extremely narrow margin... “This means that his constituency accounted for 164,000 votes out of 516,000 registered voters, and that he fell short of his opponents by about 8,000 and 9,000 votes, respectively,” said Stratfor. “These numbers reveal that a sizeable chunk of Cyprus’ electorate approves of his anti-unification platform, which called for the permanent scrapping of the U.N. A new referendum on reunification would have to overcome this formidable obstacle, and no one knows whether the new president will be capable of guiding the public through such a difficult process.” Strafror’s assessment echoes comments made last week to the Cyprus Mail by a western diplomat who warned that the international community should not be naive and to think that everything would be so much easier if someone other than Papadopoulos was elected. “A large portion of those who did not vote for Papadopoulos still will expect the reunification plan if it emerges, and regardless of who holds the presidency - to fall unequivocally in line with Cyprus` strategic aims,” said the Stratfor report. “Considering that Cyprus is by far the most substantial barrier to friendly EU-Turkish relations, the potential transformation of Nicosia from a stalwart barrier to a partial advocate would turn the entire EU-Turkey relationship on its head. “Because Papadopoulos acted decisively in urging Cypriots to reject the U.N. reunification plan in 2004, his election loss seems to offer new prospects for the reunification of the island. But these prospects will remain in limbo until after elections and the new President’s inauguration, the report added. The US State Department also commented briefly on last Sunday’s election. “The people of Cyprus are going to have to make a decision about who leads them in the future, who is their – who are their elected officials that set the policies for that country,” said spokesman Sean McCormack at his daily press briefing in Washington. “Let’s let that process play out in full. Let’s let that person take office and set whatever changes or not to policy in this regard and then we’ll deal with those facts. But there’s still a way to go in terms of this political process playing out.”
CYPRUS MAIL
‘We will choose who represents the best chance of a solution’
For the first time in the history of the Republic of Cyprus, Turkish Cypriots living in the south have the right to vote in the presidential elections. There are currently 390 Turkish Cypriot registered voters, with 148 living in Limassol... “This is the first time that I’ve had the right to vote in presidential elections,” said Ayhan Mehmet, who has been living in Limassol for the past 20 years. “We were also able to vote in the last parliamentary and local elections, due to a decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the rights of Turkish Cypriots living in the Republic of Cyprus,” he added. “Before that I was in a very difficult situation. I was living here in Limassol without having the right to vote. This was a human rights issue,” Mehmet explained. “Of course we want a solution that unites our country. Cyprus is such a small place and we cannot have two states, we want one state with two communities. We want to live together like we did before,” Mehmet said. “We want peace and a united country, not two states,” added Yilmaz Assik. Assik has also been living in Limassol for 20 years. “My father was from Limassol and I came secretly here from the north when I was16 years old, before the opening of the borders.” Assik argued that a left-wing president is more likely to bring a solution. “I will vote for AKEL, as I always do. I believe AKEL is closer to the Turkish Cypriot community. Whenever we have a problem and we go to them, they have always helped us,” he explained. “Left-wing organisations have always been more supportive of the Turkish Cypriots,” added Florentzos, the Greek Cypriot owner of a coffee shop in Limassol’s Turkish quarter, a meeting point for the men of the Turkish-Cypriot community. “If a Turkish Cypriot goes down the road to the coffee shops of right-wing clubs, he will not be welcomed. For any solution to work we must eliminate this two per cent in the Greek Cypriot population who have extreme nationalist ideas,” Florentzos said. “I haven’t had any problems,” Assik clarified. “I have work and a house. I’m doing well. We have been living side by side for so many years and I don’t see any reason why we should fight” “What I want is peace,” he added. “We want things to be like they were before when we were all living together. We want to say ‘yes’ to a solution.” Another man at the coffee shop, who wished not to be named, said that he was unsure on where he should go to vote and said that nobody had informed him on how to vote. Ayhan Mehmet, who said he has been acting as an unofficial representative of the local community, told the Cyprus Mail that Limassol’s Turkish Cypriot community will gather before the elections, either on today or tomorrow, so that they can come to a collective decision on who to vote for. “We will decide together and vote as a community,” he said. “We have not been approached or been promised anything by any party or candidate. We will be following the news very closely this week to see which candidate is closer to the Turkish Cypriots before we make our decision. We will choose based on who represents the best chance for a solution, who can provide security to our community, who will help us to continue to live here,” Mehmet said.
BLOOMBERG
Cypriot Election Will Clear Way for Island's Unification Talks
Greek Cypriots will pick one of two pro-unification candidates in a presidential election that likely will produce fresh attempts to end the division of the eastern Mediterranean island... Demetris Christofias, 61, leader of the communist Akel party and a Soviet-trained historian, says his ties to those Turkish Cypriots will help mediate a solution. Ioannis Kasoulides, 59, a member of the European Parliament for the Disy party, promises that his European Union connections will aid him in pushing for unification. ``The first-round vote means that a majority of Cypriots want to break the stalemate,'' said Alexandros Lordos, a professor of political and social studies at the University of Nicosia. Both candidates ``have the good will to solve it.''... As president, Papadopoulos led Greek Cypriots' rejection of a United Nations reunification plan four years ago. Talks to end the island's division between Greek- and Turkish-controlled parts have since halted. Both Christofias and Kasoulides pledge to resume discussions with the UN and Turkish Cypriots... ``Kasoulides is probably better placed to create the right international climate within which a solution can be achieved, while Christofias has traditionally maintained cordial contacts with the Turkish Cypriot community,'' Lordos said.... Turkish Cypriots say they are ready to discuss reunification. Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat has said Papadopoulos's defeat ``raises hopes that the deadlock in negotiations can be overcome.'' Neshe Yasin, a poet and teacher of Turkish literature at the University of Cyprus and one of about 390 Turkish Cypriots registered to vote, said she'll support Christofias. ``He is the one sending the strongest message to the Turkish Cypriot side in favor of a settlement, and he has good relations with the Turkish Cypriots,'' she said...
FINANCIAL MIRROR
EU launches school initiative for Turkish Cypriots
The EU “Schools’ Initiative for Innovation and Change” Grant Scheme will give grants of between EUR10.000 and EUR50.000 to primary and secondary schools in the northern part of Cyprus. Overall, up to EUR600.000 will be available. The grants are financed from the EUR259 million EU aid programme for the Turkish Cypriot community. This grant scheme will offer support to the modernisation of the Turkish Cypriot community’s education sector by funding a range of activities including, amongst others, training courses, study visits, upgrading of materials and equipment. The aim of such activities is to promote the development of modern teaching and learning methods, to raise the capacity of educational practitioners, to improve the overall management of the educational system and to encourage networking between stakeholders. The grant scheme consists of two Strands: Strand A covers small-scale upgrading projects, whereas Strand B aims at long-term and capacity raising projects. Primary and secondary schools can jointly apply for activities under Strand A and B, if such partnership is considered as bringing an added value or higher cost-efficiency.
Thursday, February 21
CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY
Christofias' aim a viable settlement of Cyprus problem
Christofias said his aim was a viable and functional settlement of the Cyprus problem, which would reunite the state, the people, the institutions and the economy. Speaking at an election rally in support of his candidacy, Christofias said ''together we will pave the way for a just settlement of the Cyprus problem, a solution that the people themselves will approve in a referendum,'' adding that ''we are determined to fight so that the occupation force abandons its current expansionist policy,'' by turning to the UN, the EU, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Islamic world and the Turkish Cypriots. He stressed that the main support for Cyprus was Greece. ''Our steadfast aim remains a viable and functional settlement of the Cyprus problem, based on UN resolutions, high level agreements, international and European law. A solution that will release our homeland from the occupation, division, settlers and any foreign dependencies. A solution that will reunite the state, the people, the institutions and the economy. A solution that will restore and guarantee the fundamental freedoms and human rights of our people,'' he said. Christofias added that the solution should be in the form of ''a bizonal, bicommunal federation, which of course involves political equality, as this is set out in UN resolutions.'' He said ''this Sunday we are called upon to choose among two radically different policies on the Cyprus problem and internal governance,'' adding that his own candidacy ''combines assertion with flexibility for a just settlement.'' Christofias said his candidacy is very different to the candidacy of Ioannis Kasoulides, his opponent in Sunday’s run off election, both regarding the Cyprus problem and internal governance, adding that ''in the forthcoming elections we are choosing a President who will be close to the people and who will care about their problems, who knows the problems and can give solutions.'' “We are a member state of the EU. This reality opens significant prospects and opportunities for us. We will utilise them,'' he said, adding that ''at the same time, within the EU, we have the right and duty to pursue the special interests of our homeland and our people. We will do this with determination and consistency.''
CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY
Kasoulides' vision a free Cyprus in the heart of Europe
Kasoulides said his vision was a free Cyprus, a modern European state, with economic growth, social cohesion and social justice, a Cyprus in the heart of Europe, adding that his government would be one of ''national cooperation, with personalities from all political spheres, who share the vision of a modern, European Cyprus.'' Speaking at an election rally in support of his candidacy, Kasoulides said the rally sent ''a message of hope, optimism and change'', adding that ''the political momentum that led us to first place last Sunday is becoming stronger day by day.'' He said ''a common goal unites us, to move forward, to look forward, to create once again hope and prospects for Cyprus,'' adding that he was asking for the people's vote ''in the name of a common national vision,'' that of ''a free Cyprus, a modern European state, with economic growth, social cohesion and social justice, a Cyprus in the heart of Europe.'' ''I ask for your support and cooperation on a programme with specific positions and values. On the most modern and comprehensive programme that has ever been submitted before the people of Cyprus,'' he pointed out, adding that he has spoken ''openly and clearly on how we will proceed regarding our national programme, how our country will have the upper hand, how we will gain unity of goals, how we will set out a common course and will find channels of understanding with the Turkish Cypriots.'' Kasoulides said he was the first to speak about ''national understanding and the necessity for a national framework solution agreement, a text on which we all agree,'' adding that he wanted a solution ''made to fit all of us.'' ''I spoke first about the need to mobilise Europe again, convince Europe of our intentions and bring her on our side once again, to win back our prestige and credibility, our diplomatic and moral advantage,'' he said, adding that ''Turkey must make its choice, since it may enter Europe as a partner but never as an invader.'' He added that ''if Turkey's stance does not change by the year 2009, if it does not show true signs of cooperation, we will not hesitate to use even our veto in its course towards Europe,'' noting that ''the interests of Cyprus are linked to Turkey's European course.'' Kasoulides said the main difference between himself and Christofias was that ''my views look to the future, while his relegate to a world that has collapsed.”
CYPRUS NEWS AGENCY
ADIK calls on followers to vote freely in elections
The Struggling Democratic Movement (ADIK) decided on Thursday to call on its members and followers to decide and act freely and according to their conscience in the second round of presidential elections. ADIK President Dinos Michaelides said, after a party meeting, that since there were different views about who to support in the run off election, he proposed that the Movement should call on its followers to vote according to their free will, a suggestion that was accepted.
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Communist leads to become Cyprus president
Cyprus election frontrunner Demetris Christofias could make history by becoming the divided island’s first communist president when he faces off against his conservative rival on Sunday. The AKEL communist party boss has a clear advantage in the race after securing the backing of two other parties despite differing views over peace talks with the Turkish Cypriots. “He should feel happy with the support he’s got but this will not be an easy battle for anyone,” professor of international relations at Cyprus University Joseph Joseph told AFP. “Christofias will be the winner but it’s going to be a close race.” The centre-right DIKO party of outgoing President Tassos Papadopoulos, who was dumped by voters in last Sunday’s first round, urged its supporters to back Christofias in the run-off against conservative Ioannis Kasoulides. Socialist EDEK also urged its members to vote for Christofias. Their combined forces would give the AKEL chief more than 58 percent if the electorate votes along the same lines as in the 2006 parliamentary polls... If successful, the Soviet-educated Christofias would become the European Union’s only communist head of state in a presidential system under which he wields real power... Alarmed at such a prospect, the leader of the Cyprus Orthodox Church, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, urged people to vote for Kasoulides over fears that religious education would be scrapped from the school curriculum. But he quickly came under fire from the communist camp, with Christofias calling the comments a slur and stating categorically that he had never contemplated abolishing religious education. “I’m not sure Kasoulides getting the support of the archbishop is good for him,” Joseph noted. “Most people in a European Cyprus are not very enthusiastic today to see this kind of involvement on behalf of the church -- more people will be unhappy than happy about this.” MEP Kasoulides, 59, narrowly won the first round, 1,000 votes ahead of Christofias, 61. But it was Christofias who later secured the support of backers of Papadopoulos, who came a close third. Both Christofias and Kasoulides have pledged to renew efforts to find a settlement to the 34-year division of Cyprus and end the stalemate that followed the Greek Cypriot rejection of a UN reunification plan four years ago. Papadopoulos came under fire from European and UN mediators for leading the the Greek Cypriot “no” vote in an April 2004 referendum on the peace plan when the Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly backed it. Kasoulides supported a “yes” vote in the referendum. Christofias urged “no” purely on tactical grounds, and has since called for an intensification of negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots that went nowhere with Papadopoulos at the helm. Both EDEK and DIKO are firmly in the “no” camp, however, taking a tougher line on the Cyprus issue than AKEL, which has since independence from Britain in 1960 played the role of kingmaker in most Greek Cypriot administrations. European diplomats, who were dismayed at the referendum result which meant a divided island joined the European Union on May 1, 2004, heaved a sigh of relief at the incumbent’s first-round defeat. Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat has said the result had raised hopes that the deadlock in the negotiations could be overcome. Christofias would be the country’s first ever communist president, even though his party is the island’s largest with 18 seats in parliament after topping the last election in 2006 with 31.1 percent of the vote.
COMMENTARY
EKATHIMERINI
The underlying issue in Cyprus by Nikos Xydakis
“The three-way split of voters in the first round of presidential elections on Cyprus and the exclusion of Tassos Papadopoulos by the narrowest of margins is open to several different interpretations. In Greece, Papadopoulos’s numerous enemies, most of whom fervently support the Annan Plan, rejoiced at the electoral defeat of the last representative of the Cypriot national liberation struggle. These hostile analysts have still not forgiven him for his dramatic speech on the eve of the 2004 referendum on the Annan Plan, for a speech that other commentators have called historic because it led to 76 percent of Cypriots voting against the UN blueprint for reunification. It has been said that Papadopoulos’s defeat in 2008 is a criticism of the “No” vote he elicited in 2004. Nothing could be further from the truth, either politically or historically. The presidential elections and the referendum are two radically different processes – in the latter case the people are called upon to deliberate on the future and they expressed themselves beyond political affiliations. In the elections, the people spoke in terms of the present and the vote was fairly split three ways. The stakes here were not a here-and-now solution to everything, and none of the three candidates presented such a platform, not even the outgoing president who made a series of tactical errors in his campaign. There is no doubt, though, that what is ultimately at issue is a solution. A solution based on a revised version of the Annan Plan, or a solution based on a radically new strategy which will be appropriate to 21st-century geopolitics and Cyprus’s modern face. The “No” vote did not bring disaster. Nor is the election of a new president, even one who does not belong to the historical 76 percent, a disaster. Greek Cypriots have proved that despite all hardships they will always survive."
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