Day: October 28, 2022

Turkey has rejected our proposal to take the delineation of the exclusive economic zone between the two countries to The Hague, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Friday, when asked to comment on Ankara’s position on the Israeli-Lebanese maritime agreement.

 

Following a church mass for the anniversary of 28th of October, at the Apostle Varnavas cathedral, in Nicosia, the President was invited by the press to comment on the announcement of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Israel-Lebanon agreement is a good precedent for the case of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

 

The President reminded that a proposal was submitted by the government for a dialogue between the Republic of Cyprus and Turkey or even to take recourse to the international court in The Hague to delineate the EEZ of each country, based on the Convention on the Law of the Sea as well as international law. “They rejected it”, he said.

 

The President said that what happened and resulted in a peaceful solution between Lebanon and Israel could be a real paradigm.

 

But, he said, Cyprus’ occupied areas are not a separate state entity and therefore we could not follow Turkey’s advice. The President underlined that Turkey violates the rights of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and disputes 40% of the EEZ of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

Replying to another question for “biased attitude” by UNFICYP, following recent incidents in the buffer zone in Deneia village and whether he intends to request the replacement of Colin Stewart, who serves as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, President Anastasiades said that the necessary protestations are being made in every direction, including the UN Secretary General.

 

Asked to say whether there is any update about the arrival of UN official Rosemary di Carlo in Cyprus, the President said that in November we may have the visit of a high-ranking official of the United Nations.

 

As regards today’s anniversary, he said that this is one of the most historic days of Hellenism against fascism and Nazism and the ‘’OXI’’ guides every nation whose rights are being violated.

 

OXI day commemorates the rejection by Greek prime minister Ioannis Metaxas of the ultimatum by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 October 1940.

 

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Numerous talks under the UN aegis failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations took place in the summer of 2017 in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana.

 

Turkey claims a portion of Cyprus’s claimed EEZ based on Turkey’s definition that no islands, including Cyprus, can have a full EEZ.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Tourism Deputy Minister Savvas Perdios said that the Cabinet’s decision to approve an incentive plan for airlines for the period 2023-2027 is a positive development. The plan is co-financed by Ministry of Transport, Communications and Works and Herms Airports Ltd with an amount of €165,6 mln.

 

Speaking to the press in Paphos, Perdios said that the consultations were not easy, adding that time was needed for the agreement to be finalized in the right way.

 

Deputy Minister said that the framework agreed is an even better one and therefore we are optimistic.

 

Replying to a question he said that the airlines’ planning for next year is more or less the same as this year’s and no new announcements have been made yet for additional seats.

 

Perdios said that usually these announcements are not made before the end of November or beginning of December and the timing for Cabinet’s decision is helpful.

 

As regards the issue of the marina in Potima area, Perdios said that the aim is for the political decision to be taken before the government’s tenure is over.

 

He added that the proposal on their behalf is almost ready and that some final views by the Interior Ministry are pending.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Letters and information flyers were sent to all 650 Members of UK Parliament to mark this year’s Cyprus Missing Persons’ day on October 29, in a campaign coordinated by the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, with the support of the Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou.

 

The campaign aimed to raise awareness of this tragic humanitarian issue and to urge MPs to ensure that the UK Government was playing its full part in determining the fate of the Missing, a relevant announcement says.

 

“On 29 October, Cypriots globally mark Missing Persons Day, as it was this month in 1974 that the last prisoners of war were released by Turkey army after its illegal invasion and ongoing occupation of Cyprus began. Missing Persons Day is a reminder of the tragic fate of the 975 Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots whose fate still remains unknown, and the heartache and anguish suffered by their families, across both communities of Cyprus” it is added.

 

In the letter to Members of Parliament (MPs), the Federation President Christos Karaolis emphasises that “these Missing Persons are not just Cypriots, they are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and friends to families who, to this day, have been denied justice and closure.”

 

Whilst recognising the support the UK provides to the Committee for Missing Persons, he urges MPs “to ensure that Her Majesty’s Government is unequivocally calling on Turkey to guarantee unhindered access to military sites in the illegally occupied area for purposes of exhumation; release the information in its possession regarding the location of new burial sites of the Missing Persons moved from primary burial places and; permit investigators access to military archives.”

 

The Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Cyprus, Rt Hon Sir Roger Gale MP, also joined the campaign, by tabling a written question to the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs asking if “He will have discussions with his Turkish counterpart on the importance of resolving the issue of Missing Persons in Cyprus and the role that Turkey can play by providing access to military sites for exhumation purposes as well as releasing all information, including from military archives?”

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Since then, 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 the remains of missing persons to their relatives.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus marked on Friday “Ohi Day” commemorating Greece’s refusal to capitulate to the Axis forces in 1940 and its victory against Italy on the Albanian front. Religious services and student parades were held in various cities across the free areas of the Republic of Cyprus.

 

President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades attended a service at the St. Barnabas cathedral, in Nicosia, and then watched the parade in front of the Greek Embassy, together with House President Annita Demetriou, Minister of Education Prodromos Prodromou, the Greek Ambassador to Cyprus, other government and party officials and the people.

 

“Today, when a merciless war is raging in the heart of Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we invoke the glorious historical past and define the present and the future”, said the President of the Parliament, Annita Demetriou, in her statements after the student parade for the anniversary of October 28, 1940. “Our position, our responsibility and our obligation is to use every step to seek justice for our homeland and to ensure and protect our principles and values,” she added.

 

“Today we celebrate and honour the great saga of 1940, when the Greeks defended national freedom and together resisted the scourge of totalitarianism,” said Prodromou, adding that “today the Greek flag flies proudly, along with the flag of our Cypriot state”. Furthermore, Prodromou mentioned that Cyprus counted “more than 600 dead in that struggle for freedom and democracy”, indicating that the Greeks “defended the principles and values of the whole world, the principles that are the foundations of the united Europe”.

 

On his part, the Ambassador of Greece to Cyprus, Ioannis Papameletiou, said that “today we honour the heroes of 1940”, who “with vigour and self-sacrifice defended freedom”, as well as the Cypriots who participated in World War II. “Unfortunately, today Cyprus does not have the freedom we want because of the continued occupation. Our unwavering goal is the end of the occupation, the reunification of the island through a solution that will be within the framework of the United Nations”, he pointed out.

 

The Government has not stopped making efforts for meaningful negotiations, which will lead to the solution of the Cyprus problem within the framework of international legality, European principles and values and the resolutions of the United Nations, the Deputy Government Spokesperson, Niovi Parisinou, said, speaking in Polis Chrysochous on Friday. She also said that the goal is to make Cyprus a functioning state for all its legal residents “without guarantees, without occupying troops, without intrusive rights from foreign protectorates”.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

“There is no problem between Lebanon and Cyprus that cannot be resolved easily,” Cypriot special envoy Tasos Tzionis, said on Friday after meeting with outgoing Lebanese President Michel Aoun, to discuss maritime delimitation.

 

According to Reuters, the Cypriot delegation in Lebanon on Friday for talks on maritime border delineation between the two countries said any disputes during that process could be easily resolved.

 

Lebanon and Cyprus reached a maritime border agreement in 2007 but it was never ratified by Lebanon’s parliament and therefore never went into force, the report adds. Cyprus delineated its maritime exclusive economic zone vis-a-vis Israel in 2010. Lebanon and Israel officially delineated their contested sea boundary on Thursday, following years of U.S. – mediated indirect talks.

 

Aoun said the next step following that achievement would be delineating Lebanon’s maritime boundaries with northern neighbour Syria and resuming talks with Cyprus to the west.

 

Lebanon’s deputy speaker of parliament and border negotiator, Elias Bou Saab, said that Syria is still the priority and added that “we will not delineate with Cyprus until we communicate with Syria.”

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

The European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA) will meet with Attorney General George Savvides, Minister of Commerce Natasa Pilides and Deputy Minister for Digital Policy, Kyriakos Kokkinos, during their visit to Nicosia on Tuesday and Wednesday, 1st and 2nd of November. The MEPs will visit Cyprus in the context of the investigation into allegations that the Predator software has been used in Greece.

 

CNA learns that the agenda of the MEPs so far includes “Phileleftheros” journalist Fanis Makrides, who has covered the matter extensively, as well as members of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs of the House of Representatives. Legal expert Elias Stephanou is also expected to participate in the meeting with the Attorney General.

 

The PEGA mission will then travel to Athens where they will have a series of meetings until November 4th. The MEPs will meet with MPs that participated in the Hellenic Parliament’s investigative committee, as well as with government officials included Minister of State George Gerapetritis and representatives of the Public Prosecutor’s office and the Hellenic Police.

 

The MEPs will also meet Greek journalists that have covered the surveillance allegations as well as persons that have been under surveillance, journalist Thanasis Koukakis, MEP Nikos Androulakis and SYRIZA MP Christos Spirtzis.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency