Day: November 27, 2022

President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou departs for Athens on Monday, 28 November, to take part in an event marking the 25th November International day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

A House press release said Demetriou was invited by Euro MP and vice chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) Eliza Vozemberg.

She will be one of the main speakers of the event, including Vozemberg and Olga Kefaloyianni, member of the Hellenic Parliament and chair woman of the Executive Council of the Center for Gender and Equality Policy Studies (CEGEPS).

Demetriou returns home on Tuesday.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Ankara’s policy is depicted on a daily basis with unspeakable actions and unfounded provocative statements that it will not honour the agreed framework that will lead through dialogue to a fair and viable solution and reunite the island, Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides said on Sunday.

On the contrary, he added, it remains adamantly fixed on an extreme solution approach that has nothing to do with the agreed framework and the Security Council resolutions. At the same time he appealed to the international community to exert pressure on Turkey for de-escalation.

In a memorial service for those who fell at Neapolis in the Turkish occupied Nicosia district, Petrides said the conditions which Turkey is putting forward for a two-state solution as a precondition to return to the negotiating table, torpedoes every effort to resume the procedure and makes any prospect for a solution non feasible.

He said that despite Turkey’s negative attitude and its aggressive stance towards Greece and Cyprus, “we have no other alternative but to defend the rights of our people internationally.”

He urged foreign countries to exert their influence on Turkey in the hope that it will understand and accept that the de-escalation of tension and securing peace and cooperation among eastern Mediterranean countries is to her benefit.

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

Source: Cyprus News Agency

President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades has stated that Cyprus could transport natural gas sooner to the EU if Brussels supported the construction of the necessary infrastructure.

He made the remarks in Sunday’s online edition of the German ‘Welt’ newspaper where he said the EU has already signed an agreement of intent with Israel and Egypt that it wants to support the transport of natural gas from these countries and also from the natural gas resources of Cyprus. This way there could be a mechanism that would encourage business people to construct faster the necessary infrastructure, the President added.

Welt notes that the extraction of natural gas from Cypriot shores is still in the preparatory stage and international companies such as Chevron, Shell, Eni, Total and Qatar Oil are already taking part.

Extraction of natural gas is scheduled to commence in 2027 and that the EU wants to become independent from Russian natural gas and find non-problematic suppliers, it adds.

President Anastasiades said currently, Turkey’s aggressive stance in the Cypriot EEZ is the fundamental obstacle in commencing the production of natural gas.”

He said “Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus, violates international law of the sea and is carrying out illegal drilling in front of our shores.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member since 2004, and considers a portion of the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as its own or belonging to the illegal regime, set up in the northern Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus.

Ankara sent on several occasions its seismic research vessel “Barbaros” to Cyprus’ EEZ, following the Republic of Cyprus’ decision, in 2011, to start exploratory offshore drilling. After May 2019, two Turkish drill ships, “Fatih” and “Yavuz”, conducted unauthorised hydrocarbon drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, at times in areas licensed by Cyprus to international energy companies. A third ship, “Kanuni” was eventually sent to the Black Sea, while Turkish officials announced that the country’s fourth ship, “Abdülhamid Khan” prepares to search for natural gas in the Mediterranean.

In the past, the European Council called on Turkey to abstain from renewed provocations or unilateral actions in the Eastern Mediterranean, in breach of international law. The EU also expressed determination to use the instruments and options at its disposal to defend its interests.

Source: Cyprus News Agency