Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-03-13

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Friday, March 13, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] EU welcomes offer to Turkish Cypriots

[02] Ministers rally to play down meningitis scare

[03] Meningitis: the symptoms

[04] Consumers press for cut in electricity bills

[05] Greeks gearing up to strike, Turkish general says

[06] Greens promise Akamas protests

[07] Game wardens told to look for drugs

[08] Iranian brought to heel

[09] Haravgi steps up coup campaign against Solomis

[10] Limassol hotels braced for strike action

[11] Third man held in pimping probe

[12] TV star's dad dies on Cyprus golf course

[13] Local fury over Strovolos cabaret plan

[01] EU welcomes offer to Turkish Cypriots

THE GOVERNMENT yesterday tabled an "honest and solemn" invitation to the Turkish Cypriot community to participate "fully" in the team negotiating Cyprus' EU accession.

President Clerides said the Turkish Cypriots, should they accept the offer, could "rest assured that their points of view will be discussed freely and in good faith".

He was speaking after presenting the proposal to British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and EU Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek in London.

The proposal, eagerly sought by the EU, was welcomed by Britain, which currently holds the EU presidency.

"We are glad we've been able to secure this step and we congratulate President Clerides on what he's done," Cook told a news conference.

Clerides said the proposal did not elaborate on terms for Turkish Cypriot participation. "The modalities were not discussed now. The first question is: 'Do the Turkish Cypriots agree to participate or not?' If they do, we shall discuss the modalities," he said.

The 'parliament' of the self-declared 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)', recognised only by Turkey, has already voted to take no part in the EU accession negotiations unless the sovereignty of the 'TRNC' was recognised. Non-recognition was the government's principal condition for Turkish Cypriot participation in the talks.

Clerides said yesterday he had re-stated the government's desire to see Turkish Cypriots participating fully in the Cypriot negotiating team.

"I emphasised to the Secretary of State (Cook) that I was making an earnest and solemn invitation to my Turkish Cypriot compatriots to participate; for I firmly believe that they should take an active part and make their contribution," he added.

"Entry of the Republic into the union will most certainly benefit both communities," Clerides said.

"I hope that the response of the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community will be positive," he concluded.

Cook echoed this sentiment: "I hope this proposal will meet with a positive response from (Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf) Denktash, and we shall be watching this closely," he said.

"We would very much prefer a mixed delegation negotiating on behalf of both the communities in Cyprus; we would want to see both communities having the advantage of the benefits of membership," Cook said.

Officials at yesterday's EU summit in London said the government offer was what the EU had been seeking from the Greek Cypriot side, Reuters news agency reported.

It quoted officials as saying the accession negotiations, set to start on March 31, will proceed irrespective of whether the Turkish Cypriots accept the invitation.

But France, already openly opposed to talks without Turkish Cypriot participation, has repeated its misgivings.

In an interview with the French weekly L'Express, France's European Affairs Minister Pierre Moscovici said it was unreasonable to think the EU could hold serious accession negotiations with Cyprus unless both sides were present.

"It does not seem reasonable to think that you can talk seriously, and get a result, with a Cypriot delegation which does not represent all communities in the Island," Moscovici was quoted as saying.

He was also reported as saying a divided Cyprus could not join the EU.

EU Foreign Ministers are expected to discuss their opening positions in the entry talks with Cyprus in a two-day meeting starting in Edinburgh today.

Apart from the accession talks, Cook and Clerides also discussed the government's controversial order for Russian-made S-300 missiles, due to be completed in the summer.

A Foreign Office spokesman said after the meeting that Cook had asked Clerides to cancel the order. There was no comment from the president.

Turkey has threatened a military strike against the missiles should they be deployed.

[02] Ministers rally to play down meningitis scare

BOTH THE health and defence ministers stressed yesterday that the island was not in the grip of a meningitis epidemic following the death from the disease of a National Guardsman.

Health Minister Christos Solomis and Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou were both called before respective House committees to allay fears about a meningitis scare.

Omirou told the House Defence Committee that all preventive measures had been taken following the death of 19-year-old soldier Lefkos Eliades from bacterial meningitis on Monday.

He said a special committee had concluded that the island's meningitis cases were on a par with accepted levels in Europe and America.

"Over the last ten years instances have been sporadic. There have been eight fatalities and only one has been a National Guardsman," said Omirou.

Solomis told the Health Committee that, since 1987, the number of cases per year had ranged between two and 28.

Last year saw the highest number of cases of meningitis - three of which had proved fatal.

Statistics also showed that, of the eight fatalities since 1987, seven had come within the last three years.

The Defence Minister revealed that all new army recruits would now receive a meningitis vaccination as a matter of routine.

"This is deemed a positive step by the WHO, not a necessary one."

However, Akel deputy Doros Christodoulides voiced concern about the circumstances surrounding the soldier's death, and why his illness had not been diagnosed after several visits to a doctor.

"All National Guardsmen are treated by doctors as not actually being sick; this soldier went to the doctors on six occasions."

During the defence committee meeting, he said soldiers who had a high fever did not usually lie about their condition. Christodoulides then put the question:

"If a 19-year-old is coming and going for medical treatment shouldn't we have said, 'let's put him under 24-hour observation just in case?'"

Omirou explained that the soldier displayed all the symptoms of flu at a time when there was a flu epidemic sweeping the army.

Diko deputy Marios Matsakis put the blame somewhere else.

"We are paying for the mistakes of the past. When we had a meningitis epidemic the previous minister did nothing."

Meanwhile Solomis was explaining to the health committee that the recent incident of an eight-year-old girl contracting meningitis was not linked to that of the soldier.

The girl from Troulli is reported to be improving, although the next 24- hours will be crucial.

"We are doing everything necessary without making things unnecessarily difficult. We are not in an epidemic situation," said Solomis.

[03] Meningitis: the symptoms

THERE are two types of meningitis, the non-fatal viral form and the dangerous bacterial type that killed national guardsman Lefkos Eliades and has struck down eight-year-old Maria Georgiou.

The fatal disease is notoriously difficult to diagnose in its initial stages, and often by the time it becomes obvious, it is too late to save the victim's life.

Homer Christodoulou, a Nicosia doctor, says that if diagnosis is not established around the fourth or fifth day, there is usually little hope of survival.

But if the disease is spotted early, there is a 90 per cent chance of survival, he said.

The only foolproof way to diagnose bacterial meningitis is through blood tests and usually a lumbar puncture - a "troublesome" procedure, according to Christodoulou, which "is not easily accepted by patients".

Meningitis is usually spread by carriers who harbour the bacteria, which makes its way to the brain via the blood. It can be detected within 48 hours if the correct diagnosis is followed; antibiotic treatment should begin immediately.

Symptoms are flu-like with strong headache and various aches and pains in the joints. Temperature is high, but not always unusually so, and vomiting may occur. Small spots on the skin can also be present, mostly on the face, neck, and trunk.

Stiffness of the neck and spine is also evident, especially in children.

Christodoulou said doctors' first reaction to the symptoms was often to give a flu diagnosis.

"But if it's very severe and intense and no progress is made on the treatment then people should be referred to hospital," he said. "The thing is to act quickly".

He said doctors should not hesitate to prescribe antibiotics, considering the alternative if the disease went untreated.

[04] Consumers press for cut in electricity bills

THE ELECTRICITY Authority (EAC) is under pressure from industrial and consumer associations to cut bills in the wake of savings made on supplying the occupied areas.

But the EAC is adamant that despite reducing the free supply to the north to a minimum, neither consumers nor industry will benefit.

EAC spokesman Tassos Roussos said yesterday that the cost of supplying the Turkish Cypriot side - for which consumers pay a 15 per cent surcharge on their electricity bills - has now fallen to under a million pounds.

The bulk of the reduction came between 1994 and 1995, when the cost of supplying the north fell from £9.3 million to £1.5 million after the Turkish Cypriots built their own power station near Kyrenia.

Roussos said he did not know when supply to the north would finally be cut off.

"That's a political decision," he said.

But the further fall of over half a million pounds since 1995 has prompted industrialists and consumer organisations to demand a reduction in bills.

The Consumers Association has a further axe to grind, because in 1991 industrialists were allowed to stop paying the 15 per cent surcharge for supply to the north. This was "as a measure to help industry", Roussos said.

Consumer watchdogs were quoted yesterday as saying it was unjustified to allow industrialists off the hook but still impose the extra charges on households.

"The cost of the bills will not be going down," Roussos said. "The EAC has a very large expansion programme including the new power plant at Vassiliko."

He made it clear the extra cash would be channelled into this programme despite claims on the surplus from various sectors.

[05] Greeks gearing up to strike, Turkish general says

Speaking in occupied Nicosia, the Commander of the Turkish occupation forces, General Ali Yalcin, said Russia wanted to establish itself militarily in the region but that the West would not allow it.

Turkish Cypriot papers yesterday quoted Yalcin as saying the Greek Cypriot side was gearing up to strike; Turkey, however, had taken all the necessary measures against the Paphos air base and the Russian S-300 missiles.

He said the military base would be used only once - "an apparent allusion that it would be hit and destroyed by Turkish forces at once," the Turkish Daily News (TDN) reported.

Yalcin said that by helping to set up the Paphos air base, Greece was aiming to transfer its military infrastructure from Crete to Cyprus in order better to target Turkey.

"In the past eight years, the power of the Greek Cypriot forces has been considerably fortified. It is no longer a defensive but an offensive force. If the build-up continues, the balance on the island will be upset and the current calm will come to an end," Yalcin said.

[06] Greens promise Akamas protests

The environmentalists' long-running campaign to halt the war games has meanwhile received support from Greenpeace UK, whose executive director, Lord Peter Melchett, has sent a letter to the British Minister of State for Armed Forces, John Reid, calling for immediate steps to halt the ecological damage caused to the pristine peninsula by the manoeuvres.

Exercises, which Britain is entitled to carry out under the provisions of the 1960 treaty establishing Cyprus's independence, are planned for between March 23 and 27.

George Perdikis, leader of the Cyprus green party, repeated local environmentalists' opposition to the war games and promised protests both before March 23 and during the exercises "should they go ahead."

The exercises have been dogged by protests from environmentalists for years. The government, unable to ban the exercises, is trying to negotiate an alternative, less environmentally sensitive, site for them.

In his letter, Lord Peter points out that the exercises threaten the nesting sites of endangered green and loggerhead turtles.

"The exercises have in the past been the cause of fires and risk, hitting the turtles on their nests," Lord Peter states.

He notes that the turtles are listed as threatened species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and that the British government has pledged commitment "to putting the environment at the heart of all its policy."

Lord Peter also mentions opposition to the exercises from the Cyprus House of Representatives.

[07] Game wardens told to look for drugs

The 80 men working for the game service were yesterday briefed on how they could spot cannabis plantations while out on their daily patrols through the countryside.

Limassol Drug Squad officer Costas Sakkas said there were many out-of-the- way spots ideal for cannabis-growing which his officers never went near, but game wardens did. Spring was the time to plant cannabis, Sakkas added.

Sakkas also urged the wardens to inform the Drug squad if they saw signs of drug abuse among "young people" they knew.

[08] Iranian brought to heel

Sharam Abedin, 31, arrested in Larnaca on Wednesday, was remanded for eight days on suspicion of importing, using and selling cannabis.

Case investigator Andreas Vryoni told the court drug squad officers laid in wait for Abedin in Larnaca town on Wednesday afternoon after receiving a tip-off he would be carrying drugs. Abedin appeared on the scene at about 6.20pm with a plastic bag on his shoulder and was jumped on by the officers, the court heard.

Vryoni said the bag was found to contain a pair of women's shoes in whose soles was hidden a total of 450 grammes of cannabis.

Later on, down at the police station, Abedin admitted the drugs had been sent from Iran and were intended for sale to local users, the court heard. Abedin, who came to Cyprus on October 1 last year to work as a labourer, had received drugs from his homeland hidden in shoes on four or five occasions, Vryoni told the court.

[09] Haravgi steps up coup campaign against Solomis

AKEL mouthpiece Haravgi yesterday launched a fresh attack on Health Minister Christos Solomis, again claiming he had acted as an interrogator for the Greek military junta during the 1974 coup.

Solomis has threatened to take legal action against both the paper and Kyriakos Televantos, the man whose allegations Haravgi carried last week. Unperturbed, Haravgi put the claims of three new accusors, including Televantos' brother Sotiris, on the front page yesterday.

The new allegations again painted Solomis as a chief interrogator for the Junta. One of the accusors, Ploutarchos Akritas, went as far as to claim that Solomis had hit him with the butt of a rifle during questioning.

[10] Limassol hotels braced for strike action

Sek and Peo unions are determined to take strike action in a bid to stop the "mass sackings" of its members in the industry.

The powerful unions have accused hotel employers of violating collective agreements and introducing "take it or leave it" terms and conditions stripped of all benefits.

Although the island is expecting an increase in tourists this year, unions say hotels are using the excuse of "low occupancy rates" to justify the sackings.

Employees say they will not sit back and watch staff losing their jobs while foreigners are being hired illegally.

District committees of the two unions will meet on Tuesday March 24 to sanction which form the strike measures should take.

[11] Third man held in pimping probe

Larnaca hotel manager Kypros Chrysostomou, 52, was remanded in custody for six days yesterday in connection with trying to run a prostitution ring.

A Moldovan man, Lelenko Alecandre, and Cypriot hotel owner Andreas Patsalos are also in custody helping police with their inquiries.

Police claim that Chrysostomou went to Patsalos' hotel to pick up a 22-year- old Moldovan woman on the understanding she would entertain clients at his establishment.

The court heard the woman worked her new patch for three days before Chrysostomou asked her to leave, fearing a police raid.

A police swoop at Patsalos' hotel discovered the woman had returned back there.

When questioned, the woman admitted to soliciting clients at both hotels, police said.

[12] TV star's dad dies on Cyprus golf course

Larry Morrissey, 60, was on holiday in Paphos with wife May, 59. He collapsed while playing golf at the Tsada golf course and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

His body was flown back to England on Tuesday.

Neil Morrissey, 33, is best known as Tony on the situation comedy Men Behaving Badly. Last November, his elder brother Stephen, 37, who had a history of drug-related problems was found dead in a Wolverhampton tower block.

A spokesman for the actor said he would be taking some time off work after the tragedy, and had pulled out of a new BBC TV film.

[13] Local fury over Strovolos cabaret plan

STROVOLOS Mayor Savvas Eliophotou yesterday met with disgruntled residents after a storm blew up over plans to build a new cabaret in a residential area.

The residents claim that if the cabaret is opened on the current site of the Nicosia Gymnastics Centre, the area will be flooded with prostitutes and other undesirables.

The club's owner, Bambos Charalambos, however, has denied his establishment would be disreputable, saying all he wants is to be able to play music and present floor shows - in a similar vein to those in "European countries" - in the club's restaurant.

He also maintains that there are few houses nearby anyway.

On this basis, the Strovolos technical committee has recommended that he receive permission to open the club. The mayor, however, says the issue was one which should have been discussed "publicly", and therefore arranged last night's meeting with the residents who have been canvassing against the cabaret.

One irate resident told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the area was a residential one and had already been spoilt by the construction of a printing factory.

He also said that in spite of Charalambos' claims that the club would be an exclusive, members-only establishment, residents were furious and didn't want the street turned into a "prostitution alley".

The resident added that it was not only the houses on the same street that would be affected, as there were other homes behind the club, and the owners of these were equally upset.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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