Category: General

ISTANBUL: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed Wednesday that Russia is seeking to “disrupt” the Global Peace Summit on his 10-point peace formula scheduled for June in Switzerland.

‘We have precise intelligence information –specific data — that Russia not only wants to disrupt the Peace Summit, but also has a specific plan, how to do it, how to reduce the number of participating countries, how to act to ensure that there is no peace for even longer,’ he said during a meeting in Kyiv with foreign and Ukrainian ambassadors.

Expressing that Ukraine will share ‘specific plans and specific points’ of Russia’s plans at the diplomatic and intelligence level, Zelenskyy said: ‘Together we must counteract this, we must work in unity for a just peace.’

‘I am grateful to everyone who is helping and will help,’ he said, expressing it is important that the world majority attends the summit as the more active the world is in restoring peace in Ukraine, the more likely ‘similar aggressions’ do not take place
elsewhere.

‘It is not brute force that should determine the world order, but the UN Charter, and in unity we can force Russia to comply with international law. In June, at the summit, we will start agreeing on the first foundations of peace and put forward a shared global vision of how peace should work,’ he said.

Zelenskyy also said there are no state borders or natural barriers to prevent the ‘spread of radiation,’ as well as no nation that would ‘simply put up with the captivity or deportation of people by a hostile state.’

‘There is no nation that would accept that someone is turning its cities into ruins. The peace formula must work for everyone, and I ask all of you to help ensure that the world is truly united at the summit in Switzerland,’ he added.

Zelenskyy’s 10-point formula was laid out at the 2022 G20 summit in Indonesia, with its final step being the signing of a peace accord. It also focuses on issues such as nuclear safety, and food and energy security.

Source: Anadolu Agency

After 109 years, we keep alive the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Presidency of the Republic said in a post on platform X on Wednesday, marking the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24.

“We express our solidarity and reiterate our full support to the people of Armenia for the international recognition and restoration of the historical truth about the heinous crime of genocide against them,” the statement said.

“Never again” is the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s message on the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

In its own post on platform X, the Ministry says that “we remember and pay tribute to the victims of the Genocide and vow to uphold their memory”.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Wednesday that linking the EU – Turkey course with the progress in the Cyprus issue is “a step forward”, stressing that we can reach a mutually beneficial state of affairs as long as Turkey shows a constructive attitude.

Asked after the Council of Ministers meeting about Turkey’s refusal to be represented at an event marking the 20th anniversary of the EU enlargement, the Spokesman said that indeed Turkey has informed about its non-participation in the event.

“We believe that based on the Conclusions of the last European Council, in which the course of the EU-Turkey ties is clearly linked to the progress in the Cyprus issue, it is a step forward, a positive step, a positive message” he said, adding that the Republic of Cyprus, has proven that it has a positive and constructive stance in seeing progress in the EU-Turkey affairs as long as there is also progress in the Cyprus issue.

Noting that the Cyprus problem is a European problem, he said that the Eu
ropean family has sent a message to Turkey about the positive prospects that can exist in these very important points that are of interest to Ankara and said that Turkey should now show in practice its own constructive attitude regarding the Cyprus issue.

He added that from the first moment of taking office, the President of the Republic had developed this approach to achieve a mutually beneficial state of affairs.

“We believe that through these Conclusions we can reach this mutually beneficial state of affairs and we sincerely hope that Turkey will also demonstrate the same constructive stance that will benefit not only Cyprus, but also the wider region”, he concluded.

It is recalled that in its Conclusions last week, the European Council said that “the European Union attaches particular importance to resumption of and progress in the Cyprus settlement talks in further enhancing EU-Trkiye cooperation. Recalling its previous conclusions, the European Council remains fully committed to a comprehensive settl
ement of the Cyprus problem, within the UN framework, in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and in line with the principles on which the Union is founded and the acquis”.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Colombia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Minister of Health Michael Damianos outlined the needs of Cyprus and the challenges the country faces when it comes to the supply of medicines due to being a small market, in a discussion with the rest of the Ministers of Health of the EU in an informal meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) in Brussels.

The Minister of Health also participated in the inaugural meeting of the Alliance for Critical Medicines, that is medicines for which no suitable alternative exists and the inadequate supply of which would result in serious harm or risk to patients.

During this meeting, France presented an initiative for a “Manifesto for a coordinated industrial policy to address critical shortages of medicines in the European Union”. This was supported by ten member states, including Cyprus.

According to an official press release, Damianos suggested ways to improve Cyprus’ accessibility to a greater number of pharmaceutical products by introducing them more quickly to markets
throughout Europe.

In his statement on the issue of the human resources crisis in the health sector, he presented Cyprus’ recommendations and noted that any measures taken should ensure that the high quality of health services provided is maintained.

On the issue of prevention of non-communicable diseases, Damianos pointed out that through prevention incidence can be reduced by up to 70% and stressed the importance of implementing policies aimed at reducing the consumption of tobacco and alcohol products and improving nutrition.

Damianos also had brief bilateral meetings with the Greek Minister of Health, Adonis Georgiades, and the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakidou. He also had a trilateral meeting with the Danish Minister of Health Sophie Løhde Jacobsen and the Polish Deputy Minister of Health Katarzyna Kacperczyk, with whom he discussed the cooperation of the three countries in the context of the start of the next trio of EU Council Presidencies (Poland in the first half of 2025,
Denmark in the second half of 2025, Cyprus in the first half of 2026).

Source: Cyprus News Agency

ISTANBUL: Trkiye on Wednesday rejected ‘one-sided’ statements on the events of 1915 “that have been made to satisfy certain radical circles,” the Foreign Ministry said.

‘These statements, which misrepresent historical events, also contradict international law. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has clearly stated that the events of 1915 are legitimate subject of debate,” the ministry said in a statement.

‘These biased and partial statements about history undermine the reconciliation efforts between the two communities, and encourage radical groups to commit hate crimes,’ it added.

The ministry urged all parties to endorse its proposal for a Joint Historical Commission and to support the normalization process that has been initiated with Armenia.

Trkiye on the events of 1915 says deaths of Armenians in eastern Anatolia took place when some sided with invading Russians and revolted against Ottoman forces. A subsequent relocation of Armenians resulted in numerous casualties.

Trkiye objects to the pre
sentation of the incidents as “genocide,” describing them as a tragedy in which both sides suffered casualties.

Ankara has repeatedly proposed the creation of a joint commission of historians from Trkiye and Armenia as well as international experts to tackle the issue.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: After a long time, the European Council has again included Trkiye on its agenda. On the summit held in Brussels on April 17-18, there were many high expectations, either from experts, including the business circles and academics who had drawn up in-depth documents on the state of relations between Trkiye and the EU and by the public. Unfortunately, these were severely disregarded, proving once more the inability of the EU to create a constructive engagement with Ankara.

Although the EU emphasizes its strategic interest in developing the relations with Trkiye based on cooperation and mutual benefit, the conclusion of the European Council reads: “Particular attention is attached to the resumption of and progress in the Cyprus settlement talks in further enhancing EU-Trkiye cooperation,” and “Trkiye’s own constructive engagement will be instrumental in advancing the various areas of cooperation.” Moreover, it also specifies that the “European Council remains fully committed to a comprehensive settleme
nt of the Cyprus problem, within the UN framework, in accordance with the relevant UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions and in line with the principles on which the Union is founded and the acquis.” [1]

Those statements have raised widespread criticism. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said: “The conclusions on Trkiye by the Special European Council held in Brussels on April 17-18, 2024, are yet another example of the EU’s lack of strategic vision on Trkiye and the global developments,” adding: “Trkiye will never accept an approach that links progress in Trkiye-EU relations to the Cyprus issue.” Hence, “It is necessary to abandon an understanding that reduces these multifaceted relations to the Cyprus issue. Such a mentality cannot make a positive and constructive contribution to the problem, nor to the other regional and global issues.” The ministry also said: “Trkiye, as a candidate member, is determined to get EU membership, but rejects selective limitation of cooperation to certain areas.” [2]

The busines
s community is also of this opinion, as the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) posted on X: “Strategic interests of the EU and Trkiye require the long-overdue modernization of the Customs Union without any political conditions or further delays.” [3] As a matter of fact, such a disappointment has not to be blamed, since it pivots on concrete assumptions.

Firstly, the European vision of the Cyprus issue is not neutral because historically it disregards the proportion of the problem, by simply siding with the Greek Cypriot administration which in 2004 not only rejected the Annan Plan but they also got full EU membership. Accepting a state that had an unresolved dispute within its territory was a blind strategic move, instrumental to creating the political conditions for impeding Trkiye-EU accession. Furthermore, in 2017 the Greek Cypriot administration was reluctant on the negotiations in Crans-Montana. Hence, efforts aimed at finding a sustainable solution have come to a standstill. Neverthele
ss, the mainstream responsibility has constantly fallen on Trkiye and on the Turkish Cypriots, perceived by Europe as the only ones who have to make concessions. Although this attitude may be understandable if seen from the opportunistic perspective of safeguarding an EU member state, it still goes beyond any legitimate acceptance. Over time, this approach has increased the awareness that the EU has contributed to spoiling any confidence toward a joint solution, by exacerbating nationalist stances and self-interested behaviors. Furthermore, while undermining Trkiye’s efforts and good intentions, the EU proved a lack of geo-strategic and peculiar inability to arise as a vocal foreign policy actor.

EU-Trkiye relations need to be addressed pragmatically

Certainly, the European shortcoming vision has had dramatic impacts on Trkiye’s accession to the EU, which is a long-standing process that culminated with the negotiations in 2005, born flawed. The veto placed by the Greek Cypriot administration – as a new memb
er of the union – on a significant number of chapters, which immediately halted the Turkish path, showed the European double standards.

Another longstanding issue in Trkiye-EU relations made discretionally depending on the Cyprus solution, is the modernization of the Customs Union. Initiated in 1996, the Customs Union between Trkiye and Europe covers industrial and processed agricultural products, while for agricultural products and coal and steel products, a preferential agreement is applied. However, as there are also some problems in the implementation of the Customs Union, mainly stemming from its asymmetric structure, facilitating the integration of trade, as well in line with green and digital policies would be beneficial not only for Trkiye but also for Europe.

Another topic in need of being addressed pragmatically is visa liberalization for Turkish people. Currently, the existing visa regime contradicts the principle of reciprocity by creating many discomforts for Turks entitled to access the Europe
an territory. Entangling those issues, without political or strategic conditions, would be an asset for both sides as it would increase Turkish-EU integration. In addition, it would build mutual trust by restricting further margin of friction aimed at a constructive approach in dealing with a challenging regional environment.

A changing region and the role of Trkiye

Recently, the regional context has changed dramatically, showing great fluidity and a certain unpredictability. Although the Euro-Mediterranean basin has been challenged by wars, migration flows, energy disputes, political and social clashes, and strategic alignments, important efforts aimed at mediation and normalization have also been recorded.

As the conclusions of the 2021 European Council, which was the last one that dealt specifically with Trkiye, show there were many critical issues between the EU and Ankara. Indeed, the relations had reached the lowest point in terms of trust and mutual perception. Up to that point, Trkiye had been regu
larly on the agenda of the European Council, notably in the context of migration, counter-terrorism operations, and as a result of an increasingly intense situation in the Eastern Mediterranean; the Middle East, and in the South Caucasus. Despite the frictions, cooperation on a positive political agenda had been implemented, including modernization of the EU-Trkiye Customs Union, making this conditional upon progress on restoring good neighborhood relations.

However, many things have changed both at a regional and internal level since 2021.

For its part, Ankara has been proving a strong cooperative spirit towards its historic regional competitors, initiating significant normalization processes and showing its good diplomatic inclination on dialogue. Even in war-torn areas such as in the Black Sea region, Ankara has invested a lot in negotiation efforts arising as the only mediator.

More recently, even the Eastern Mediterranean, although it remains an intricate basin crossed by various cleavages, has witnes
sed a significant de-escalation. Despite the pending issue of the division of Cyprus persisted, Trkiye-Greece re-appeasement marked a new beginning in terms of confidence-building measures.

Nowadays, thus, while the Cyprus issue is back on the table in a partial perspective, new tensions may loom on the horizon. On one hand, it is evident that on the 20th anniversary of the Greek Cypriot administration’s EU accession, Brussels aims at advancing the already dominant position of the Greek Cypriot administration. On the other hand, associating Turkish-European relations with Cyprus is unfortunately nothing more than a misguided attempt to neglect the extent of the problem, ignoring the existence and rights of Turkish Cypriots. Nevertheless, such an approach proves the hypocrisy of the EU, whose lack of trust-building skills and strategic vision is dramatic.

[1] https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2024/04/18/european-council-conclusions-on-ukraine-and-turkiye/

[2] https://www.ab.gov.tr/rega
rding-the-conclusions-of-the-extraordinary-european-council-of-17-18-april-2024-republic-of-turkiye-ministry-of-fore_53779_en.html

[3] https://twitter.com/TUSIAD/status/1781239423226544523

*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.

Source: Anadolu Agency

ISTANBUL: Lawmakers in the US state of Tennessee passed a bill on Tuesday that allows school staff and teachers to carry concealed handguns on school grounds, amid a protest from the gallery.

“I believe that this is a method by which we can do that, because what you’re doing is you’re creating a deterrent,” Republican state representative Ryan Williams said on the House floor, according to NBC News.

According to him, the bill would prop up school safety.

The move came a year after a shooter opened fire and killed six people at the state’s Nashville school.

The bill was passed in a 68-28 vote in the Republican-majority Tennessee House. Also Republican-dominated, the State Senate approved the bill earlier this month.

The House’s approval came amid protests from the gallery, with the protesters chanting “Blood on your hands.’

Under the legislation, faculty and staff members wishing to carry a concealed handgun on school grounds are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of approved training specific to
school policing each year, according to NBC News.

Tennessee is not the only state to pass legislation allowing teachers to carry guns.

According to the Giffords Law Center, a gun violence prevention group, no less than 26 states have laws allowing teachers or other school staff to possess guns on school grounds, with some exceptions.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Cyprus is one step from being referred to the Court of Justice of the EU for not having transposed correctly into its national legislation a directive on fight against fraud to the EU budget, according to the latest package of infringement decisions published by the European Commission on Wednesday.

In particular, the incorrect transposition of the directive concerns provisions on the definition and the liability of legal persons, as well as on the Cypriot jurisdiction over the offence of money laundering.

The European Commission also decided to begin an additional infringement procedure against Cyprus for not having yet empowered the agency chosen to be its digital services coordinator, in order to be able to monitor and impose sanctions related to the Digital Services Act.

Rules on the fight against fraud to the Union’s budget

——————

The European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion to Cyprus (INFR(2021)2265) and Greece, which is the last step before a possible referral to the
Court of Justice of the EU, for failing to correctly transpose into their national legislation the Directive on the fight against fraud to the Union’s budget by means of criminal law (the PIF Directive).

These rules harmonise the definitions, sanctions and limitation periods of criminal offences affecting the EU’s financial interest and they lay out the foundation for the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

The Commission first sent a letter of formal notice to Greece in December 2021 and to Cyprus in February 2022.

After analysing their replies, the Commission considered that Cyprus has failed to fully transpose some provisions on the definition and the liability of legal persons, as well as on the Cypriot jurisdiction over the offence of money laundering, as required by the Directive.

The two countries now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Uni
on.

Designating and empowering Digital Services Coordinators

—————–

The Commission has also decided to send letters of formal notice to Cyprus (INFR(2024)2016), Czechia, Estonia, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia as these Member States have not yet designated their Digital Services Coordinators under the Digital Services Act, or as the designation has not been complemented by sufficient empowerment powers. Member States should have done so by 17 February 2024.

To date, Estonia, Poland, and Slovakia still have to designate their Digital Services Coordinators, while Cyprus, Czechia and Portugal have designated their respective authorities but still have to empower them with the necessary powers and competences to carry out their tasks, including the imposition of sanctions in cases of non-compliance.

Fully empowered Digital Services Coordinators in each Member State are essential for the exercise of the new rights created under the DSA, notably to ensure users can lodge complaints in their place of
residence against platforms, to award the status of trusted flaggers and to vet researchers.

The six Member States now have two months to respond and address the shortcomings raised by the Commission. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to issue reasoned opinions.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

ISTANBUL: Mass graves found in Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip, from which the Israeli army withdrew after months of attacks and occupation, highlight Palestinians’ grief.

The Israeli army withdrew from Khan Younis on April 7 following a four-month ground offensive. With the withdrawal, mass graves began to be found in the city and bodies were collected from the rubble of houses and roadsides.

Speaking to Anadolu and stating that she lost her son Nabil Mohammed Zedan in an Israeli attack on Jan. 22, a Palestinian mother said she was there to find his body.

Noting that her son was a 4th-year student in the law department at the university, she added: “I have been looking for my son for three months. During this time, I have not slept, I have not shed a tear.”

“I applied to the Red Cross, civil defense, the Ministry of Health, and everywhere else. I even opened the covers of the martyrs I saw on the street to see if they were my son.”

She said that when Iran strikes Israel with drones, Arab cou
ntries are concerned about Israel’s security, and asked: “What about our children? Why aren’t you worried about them? I am a mother, see and hear my burning heart.”

They drew ‘smiles’ on bodies to provoke Palestinians

Abdullah Abu Mustafa, another Palestinian who accompanied the work in the area, said they buried his daughter, cousin, cousin’s wife, and cousin’s daughter on Jan. 22.

Stressing that when the Israeli army entered the city by land, it blocked the road to Khan Younis cemetery, Abu Mustafa noted that for this reason, they buried the bodies in Nasser Hospital.

On Eid al-Fitr, people communicated among themselves to take the bodies out of the temporary graves and bury them in a cemetery worthy of them, he added, saying: “When we arrived, we saw that Israel had exhumed all of the approximately 1,000 martyrs we buried. They changed their clothes.”

“We saw the Israeli star on the martyrs’ clothes. They went so far to provoke the Palestinian people that they drew smiles on the bodies of our martyrs.
”

Emphasizing that they found three to four mass graves in the area and that there were 30-40 bodies in each of them, Abu Mustafa underlined that the people tried to identify their dead relatives by their clothes, but 70% of the bodies could not be identified because the clothes were removed.

Abu Mustafa said they found some of the bodies with their heads down and their feet up and four to five bodies stacked on top of each other.

‘Working for 3 days, dug up about 150 martyrs’

Raid Raid Sakr, the civil defense official who led the process of exhuming bodies from the mass grave opened by the Israeli army in the garden of Nasser Hospital, said the people informed the civil defense unit when they could not find their relatives where they were buried.

Emphasizing that civil defense teams immediately came to the area and tried to locate the bodies with simple equipment, Sakr said: “We saw that Israel opened a mass grave.”

“According to the reports we received, there are hundreds of martyrs in the grave. It i
s said that there are 300-400 martyrs. We have been working for three days. During this time, we have unearthed about 150 martyrs. There are many unidentified bodies.”

Sakr said the identified bodies were taken and buried by their relatives, while the unidentified ones were buried by civil defense teams.

Decomposed bodies found without head and skin

Ismail Al-Thawabteh, the head of Gaza’s government media office, said: “Some 150 bodies have been found in two graves.”

He said around 700 people are still unaccounted for since the Israeli withdrawal from Khan Younis on April 7 following a four-month ground offensive, adding that this is a real crime and massacre committed by the Israeli occupation.

Al-Thawabteh said they believe that there are hundreds of “martyrs” executed by Israel and buried in mass graves, highlighting that they retained a large number of half corpses, completely decomposed, with no skin or head.

Pointing out that what happened in Nasser Hospital also happened in Shifa Hospital in Gaza
City and before that, in Kamal Adwan Hospital, he said: “The Israeli soldiers removed the bodies of martyrs and buried them in mass graves in the hospital complex.”

“However, government-affiliated teams are working hard to uncover this crime and identify the bodies.”

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 people were killed.

More than 34,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and around 77,000 others have been injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to
guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel

Source: Anadolu Agency

Women Judges constitute 56% of the Supreme Constitutional Court Judges, 50% of the District Judges, 36% of the Court of Appeal Judges and 43% of the Supreme Court Judges in Cyprus, said Katerina Stamatiou, President of the Supreme Court, on Wednesday.

Stamatiou was addressing the second annual conference “Women in Law”, organised by the Cyprus Bar Association in Larnaca.

She added that “the legal equality of the two sexes as we know it today and as it is well established in international, European and domestic law, is completely absent from the legal order of the formerly civilized world. With the obvious aim of preventing any adverse discrimination between the sexes, special national mechanisms have been adopted in the Republic of Cyprus.’

She further noted that “with the enactment of the Combating of Racism and Other Discrimination (Commissioner) Act, the Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights has the power to intervene in relation to discrimination, whether in the public or t
he private sector, in the areas of employment, labour, vocational training, education, social protection, social security and health care, and access to goods and services.”

At the same time, the Supreme Court’s President continued, the Commissioner for Gender Equality, a post which is expected to be officially established soon, “has broad powers and duties, with the aim of promoting equality between men and women and eliminating all forms of discrimination against women.” Through the Gender Equality National Action Plans, a gender equality culture is being promoted, both in the state structure and in society as a whole, she added.

She also said that “the Human Rights, Anti-Crime and Correctional Policy – Gender Violence Department of the Ministry of Justice and Public Order is strengthening the entire framework for the promotion and respect of human rights, the implementation of anti-crime and correctional policy and the fight against gender violence.”

Environment Commissioner Antonia Theodosiou spoke abo
ut environmental justice in the conference session entitled “Environment, Society, Corporate Governance and Sustainable Development Goals”.

Cyprus, she said, has signed the Aarhus Convention in 1998 and ratified it in 2003. “Twenty-one years on, the Convention has had a positive impact in terms of environmental governance and institutional adherence to the first two pillars of the Convention – access to information and participation in decision-making,” she said.

In her presentation, Theodosiou addressed in particular the third pillar, “that of civil society’s access to justice for violations affecting the environment and thus the quality of life” and referred “to the current legal regime in the Republic and whether the law has been adapted to the international and EU obligations of our country, based on what derives from the Convention, and whether citizens actually have access to justice in the Cypriot legal remedies”.

In his address, the President of the Cyprus Bar Association Michael Vorkas referred
to equality issues and said that “the current Board of Directors of the Cyprus Bar Association, upon assuming office, has established the Equality Committee in order to focus on the relevant issues”.

After the welcoming remarks, distinguished speakers from Cyprus and abroad spoke about contemporary issues regarding the empowerment of women, the upgrading of skills, the enhancement of their participation in positions of responsibility and decision making bodies, as well as the challenges they face in the modern labour market, especially in the field of law.

Source: Cyprus News Agency