Month: August 2021

The number of unemployed people in the second quarter of 2021 amounted to 39,224 and the unemployment rate to 8.4% of the labour force (males 7.5%, females 9.5%) in comparison to 30,451 persons (6.8%) in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

According to the results of the Labour Force Survey by the Statistical Service of Cyprus, the labour force in the 2nd quarter of 2021 amounted to 466,525 persons or 63.9% of the population (males 70.4%, females 57.9%) in comparison to 448,466 persons (62.2%) in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

The number of employed persons was 427,300 and the employment rate 58.5% (males 65.1%, females 52.4%) in comparison to 418,015 persons (58.0%) in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

For the age group 20-64, the employment rate was 75.2%. The rate for males was 81.9% and for females 69.0%. In the corresponding quarter of 2020, the rate was 75.2% (males 81.1%, females 69.6%). For the age group 55-64 the employment rate was 62.2% in comparison to 61.0% in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

According to the distribution of employment by sector, the biggest percentage of employed persons was in Services (78.5%), followed by Manufacturing (18.6%) and Agriculture (2.9%). For the 2nd quarter of 2020, the corresponding percentages were: Services 77.1%, Manufacturing 20.0% and Agriculture 2.9%.

The share of part-time employment to total employment was 11.4% or 48,505 persons (males 10.1%, females 12.8%). The corresponding rate for the 2nd quarter of 2020 was 10.7% (males 7.4%, females 14.4%).

88.1% or 376,440 of the total employed persons were employees, of which 13.1% (49,461 persons) had a temporary job. In the corresponding quarter of 2020 employees accounted for 86.6% of total employment of which 13.8% had a temporary job.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The first Cyprus-Egypt Intergovernmental Summit will take place on September 4 in Cairo, with the participation of the two countries’ delegations under their Presidents, Nicos Anastasiades and Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The Cyprus News Agency (CNA) has learned that President Anastasiades will be accompanied to the Egyptian capital for the Summit by Foreign Minister, Nikos Christodoulides, Energy, Commerce and Industry Minister, Natasa Pilides, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Minister, Costas Kadis, Defence Minister, Charalambos Petrides, Deputy Minister of Shipping, Vassilis Demetriades, and Government Spokesman, Marios Pelekanos.

During the Summit the two sides are expected to discuss a broad spectrum of issues regarding bilateral relations of Cyprus and Egypt and related to the competencies of the Ministers who will participate in it.

Meanwhile Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, will honour during an official banquet that will take place at 1900 local time on August 30, in Nicosia, the Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez. Anastasiades will decorate Menendez with the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III for his contribution to the promotion of human rights, the rule of law and democracy into the world.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Economic Sentiment in Cyprus marked a 3-point increase in August mainly due to the improvement in the service sector, but uncertainty remains, fuelled by the Covid pandemic, University of Cyprus’ Economic Research Centre (ERC) said on Thursday.

According to the ERC, the Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) in August rose by 3 units reaching 108.6 from 105.6 in July.

“The increase in the ESI-CypERC resulted from stronger business confidence in services and, to a smaller degree, from confidence gains in retail trade and among consumers,” ERC said.

In Services, the increase in the Confidence Indicator was driven by improved assessments of past performance (business situation and demand), and upward revisions in demand expectations, while the increase in the Retail Trade Confidence Indicator was mainly due to more favourable assessments of past sales, despite downward revisions in sales expectations, ERC added.

Downward revisions in employment expectations were offset by improved assessments of order book levels, leaving the Construction Confidence Indicator unchanged from July’s level.

Furthermore, according to the ERC, the Industry Confidence Indicator remained unchanged at the level registered in July, as the downward revisions in production expectations were offset by improvements in recent performance, which resulted from more favourable assessments of stock levels.

The Consumer Confidence Indicator registered a small increase owing to the improvements in the forward-looking components of the Indicator.

“Consumers’ expectations about their financial conditions and the economic condition in Cyprus were revised upwards. Moreover, in August, consumers’ intentions to make major purchases strengthened,” the ERC said.

In any case, the ERC points out that despite the rise in the overall ESI, uncertainty remains as it rose among businesses and retail trade, manufacturing, constructions, as well as among the consumers, while the ESI among the services sector declined.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The Royal iconostasis doors of the church of Agios Anastasios in the Turkish-occupied Peristeronopigi village, at Famagusta district, have been repatriated from Japan.

According to Cyprus Department of Antiquities, the Royal iconostasis doors have returned to Cyprus after yearlong efforts that have been intensified during the last two years, thus concluding one of the most renowned and at the same time complex cases of repatriation.

The Royal iconostasis doors will be conserved by the Department of Antiquities and will be handed over to the Holy Archbishopric of Cyprus, until their return to the church of Agios Anastasios, where they belong, is made possible.

“The looting of the church of Agios Anastasios by the Turkish occupation army and its collaborators and the sale of the Royal iconostasis doors, as well as of the icons and sacred vessels of the church, the fate of which remains unknown, reveals once again the catastrophic consequences of the Turkish invasion on the cultural heritage of Cyprus,” the Department of Antiquities notes in its press release.

The Royal iconostasis doors were located in Japan in the 1990s at the Kanazawa College of Art. Their repatriation was made possible following the coordinated efforts of the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in Tokyo and the Church of Cyprus, together with the competent authorities of the Kanazawa College of Art that possessed the Royal iconostasis doors.

The Royal iconostasis doors from Agios Anastasios church belong to the Cypriot iconographic tradition of the 18th century, which is differentiated from the rest of the Orthodox world, of which they are an important example. During this period, the upper part of iconostasis doors were usually decorated with representations of the Annunciation, while the lower parts were often decorated with representations of the Three Hierarchs and occasionally, with a Cypriot saint, Agios Spyridonas in this case.

Apart from their archaeological importance, Royal iconostasis doors bear important symbolical and religious meanings, since they are an integral part of Orthodox churches. The repatriated Royal iconostasis doors from Peristeropigi date to 1778, according to an inscription preserved between the upper part representing the Annunciation and the lower part representing the Three Hierarchs and Agios Spyridon.

According to the inscription, the Royal iconostasis doors were painted by the Monk Filaretos from Psimolofou, who became Protosyncellus in the Monastery of Agios Iraklidios in Politiko, an important iconographic center of that period. The doors were made at the expense of Hatzigiasoumis, probably a resident of Peristeronopigi village, during the time when Chrysanthos was Archbishop and Leontios was Abbot (Egoumenos)

The Department of Antiquities expresses its gratitude to the Church of Cyprus and especially to the Archbishop, with whom direct communication on the case occurred throughout the whole process and whose support and contribution towards the repatriation efforts was invaluable, to the competent Directorates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus for their close cooperation, the National Committee for Combating the Looting and Illegal Trafficking of Cultural Heritage, as well as all other governmental authorities of the Republic of Cyprus involved, such as the Department of Customs and Excise, the Department of Civil Aviation and the Cyprus Police, especially the Office for the Combating of Illicit Possession and Trafficking of Antiquities of the Police Headquarters, for facilitating the return of the Royal iconostasis doors to Cyprus.

The Department of Antiquities, as the competent authority of the Republic of Cyprus for the protection and management of the cultural heritage of Cyprus, underlines that will continue all efforts for its preservation and protection. Although it is acknowledged that the fight against illicit trafficking is an extremely difficult and complex issue, the Department of Antiquities is confident that through coordinated efforts, the desired results can be reached.

The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works Yiannis Karousos has thanked especially the Director of the Department of Antiquities, as well as all those you contributed towards the success of this extremely important repatriation.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus` Forests Department has announced that a “red alert” warning for risk of fire will continue to be in effect on Thursday, urging the public to refrain from activities that may cause a fire and to cooperate with the authorities.

According to the announcement, whoever sees smoke or fire inside or near forests should contact the nearest Forest Station or call the Forestry Department at 1407 or the Fire Service at 112.

It notes that lighting a fire without a permit is punishable with a fine and/or imprisonment, and that lighting a fire to cook is only allowed in the specified areas at picnic sites. Lighting a fire without a permit is punishable with a fine of up to €50,000 and/or imprisonment of up to ten years, based on the legislation in place or a fine of up to €20,000 and/or imprisonment up to five years.

The public is also urged not to engage in any activities that might spark a fire such as welding or the use of any agricultural machinery that produces heat.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou called on the Turkish side to end its tactics as regards the issue of the missing persons and to cooperate for the fate of all those who went missing, pointing out that our side will continue its efforts to locate and identify the remains of all Turkish Cypriot missing persons.

Photiou was asked by the Cyprus News Agency about statements made recently in the occupied areas as regards the issue and claims that the Greek Cypriot side is trying to take advantage of the issue for political reasons and the statements for propaganda.

He told CNA that is with great concern that he read the statements by the Turkish side, adding that Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot side are the ones who want to politicize all the efforts to find a solution to the problem of the missing persons.

He described their allegations and accusations as unsubstantiated adding that uttering these claims is not in line with the spirit of cooperation that should govern the behavior of all those involved in the efforts to solve the problem.

Photiou said that our side will not go down this road, pointing out that highlighting the problems that hinder progress is neither propaganda nor political exploitation, but the obligation of all who really care and are interested in ending the pain and ordeal of the families of the missing.

The Commissioner refuted the claims for propaganda, saying that pointing out the problems who derive from Turkey`s refusal to open its archives and to cooperate is not a propaganda or political exploitation.

Photiou stressed that the responsibilities and obligations of Turkey are included in the decisions of the ECHR in 2001 and 2014, as well as in the interim resolutions of the Council of Europe.

He called on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to provide answers as regards the approximately 800 cases of Greek Cypriots and Greeks who went missing, adding that our side will continue and will intensify its efforts in every direction in order to determine the fate of every Turkish Cypriot missing person.

Since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Allegations by Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar about discrimination are invalid, said on Wednesday President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, replying to Tatar’s statements following the cabinet’s decision to revoke the Cyprus Republic’s passports of some Turkish Cypriot ‘officials’.

In a written statement, President Anastasiades said that he could reply substantially and with a strict manner to Tatar’s allegations, however he does not wish to further escalate the situation. “What I am interested in is the solution to the Cyprus problem, based on the High-Level agreements, the UN resolutions and the acquis communautaire for the benefit of both communities”.

I will only make two observations about the unsubstantiated and conflicting remarks by Mr. Tatar, the President said.

On Tatar`s claims that the decision is discriminatory and it so called violates human rights, as it discriminates between citizens, “I would like to remind Mr. Tatar that he personally said in public statements and I quote ‘…we are of a different race. We speak Turkish, our religion is Islam, our homeland is Turkey”.

Contrary to the above allegations, the President underlined, the Republic of Cyprus, “respecting the rights of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, went ahead and issued 97 thousand travel documents while those who possess Cypriot identification cards, which confirms the Cypriot nationality, exceed 110 thousand”.

Therefore, allegations concerning discrimination are unfounded since the revocation of passports strictly concerns a restricted number of persons who with their actions undermine the independence, the sovereignty and status of the Republic of Cyprus and certainly not the entirety of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots”.

Secondly, President Anastasiades said, Tatar had said that the Republic of Cyprus is the common Republic of two peoples and that the passports are a natural right derived from the treaty of Establishment of the Republic of Cyprus and that this right should be respected.

At this point, president Anastasiades said the observation “is indeed true but is contrary to Tatar’s views about two peoples’ regarding Cypriot citizens or a two-state solution which flagrantly violates the agreements which he is citing”.

Therefore, if he means what he is claiming, “the Greek Cypriot community insists and is completely ready to accept the restoration of the constitutional order with Turkish Cypriots returning to the executive, legislative, judicial authority and the other services of the Republic, based on the provisions of the 1960 Constitution, and the simultaneous start of negotiations to determine the areas which each community will have the right to administer, according to UN resolutions”.

The government of the Republic of Cyprus announced on Monday that it will revoke Cyprus’ passports held by fourteen “officials” of the Turkish-occupying regime, in the northern part of the island, as well as members of the “committee for the opening of the fenced-off city of Varosha” as they undermine the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Cyprus and promote the implementation of Turkey`s plans to change the status of the fenced off area of Varosha, in contradiction with the UN Security Council resolutions and more specifically resolutions 550 and 789, related to the fenced off area of Famagusta.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory.

UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. Resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.

Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, announced in July 2021 a partial lifting of the military status in Varosha.

On October 8, 2020, the Turkish side opened part of the fenced area of Varosha, following an announcement made in Ankara on October 6. Both the UN Secretary-General and the EU expressed concern, while the UN Security Council called for the reversal of this course of action.

Source: Cyprus News Agency