Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-03-14

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

Saturday, March 14, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Denktash rejects EU offer as 'trap'

[02] Government denies Turk shooting claim

[03] UN soldier gets meningitis

[04] Galanos promises new party in April

[05] No electricity hikes until 2003

[06] EU funding for bi-communal water projects

[07] Irish EU experience can help Cyprus

[08] US wants EU door left open for Turkey

[09] Koshis plans cabaret crackdown

[10] Tourism leads week-ending market rally

[11] Committee to reassess Strovolos cabaret licence

[12] Market forces the answer to the water crisis

[13] Cancer charity appeals for cash

[14] Where are the politicians?

[15] Meningitis girl improving

[16] Union plans bank robbery seminars

[17] University students threaten strike

[18] Will Apoel suffer fourth defeat by Anorthosis?

[01] Denktash rejects EU offer as 'trap'

TURKISH Cypriots are being offered full participation in the Cyprus negotiating team for EU accession, and not just observer status, the government said yesterday.

But the offer failed to impress Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who rejected it as "a Byzantine trap".

"We are proposing to the Turkish Cypriot community that it comes and participates as a full member, that is, not with the status of observer; that it will appoint its representatives and that it will play a substantial part in the formulation of negotiating positions," government spokesman Christos Stylianides clarified yesterday.

He was commenting from London on a proposal the government tabled with the British EU presidency on Thursday outlining a formula for Turkish Cypriot participation in talks set to start on March 31.

Stylianides said the Turkish Cypriots would join the Cyprus negotiating team "as equal citizens of the Cyprus republic."

But Denktash said the proposal was "a Byzantine intrigue and trap" which eliminated the rights of the Turkish Cypriots as guaranteed by Britain in 1960.

He said Britain had not yet realised that this was the purpose of President Clerides's proposal.

"We will see how long Britain will take to realise what is right and stop any acts of injustice against us," Denktash was quoted as saying by CyBC radio.

Notwithstanding Denktash's hostility, the Cyprus government's proposal has been warmly welcomed by the EU, a fact Stylianides attributed to its being "complete and practically applicable." After tabling the offer on Thursday, President Clerides refused to divulge details about the proposed formula, saying these would be worked out should the Turkish Cypriot side accept the offer.

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' is recognised. Non-recognition of the 'TRNC' was the government's principal condition for Turkish Cypriot participation in the talks.

Speaking in Nicosia, the head of Cyprus's accession talks team, former President George Vassiliou, said the proposal meant the government could not veto any representative the Turkish Cypriot side might choose to appoint.

But he said this did not open the door for recognition of the occupation regime.

"So long as the negotiations are being done with the Cyprus Republic, and so long as the negotiator is called George Vassiliou and he has been appointed by the President, there is no question of who is negotiating," he said.

"The essence is that the Cyprus Republic is the negotiator," Vassiliou said.

EU external affairs commissioner Hans van den Broek admitted the Turkish Cypriot reaction made things difficult but said he hoped Clerides's invitation would eventually be accepted.

"I think this offer should remain on the table," he told BBC radio yesterday. "Maybe we need somewhat more time to see whether the Turkish Cypriots can find themselves in a position to accept this, which we would of course very much recommend, because after all we want the membership of Cyprus to benefit both communities on the island," van den Broek said.

But French President Jacques Chirac expressed misgivings about negotiating with Cyprus should the Turkish Cypriots refuse to come on board.

"Cyprus has a vocation to join the EU. But the EU does not have a vocation to take in a piece of Cyprus and to take in problems that are not its own," Chirac said.

"If it appeared clearly that we could not negotiate with the whole of Cyprus, we would certainly have to draw conclusions and wait a while," he said.

Stylianides dismissed the French misgivings as irrelevant.

He said such statements were only "comments" and that the government would stick to interpreting official EU statements.

"It is better for reasons of national interest to discuss official documents only," he said.

[02] Government denies Turk shooting claim

TURKISH forces yesterday claimed Greek Cypriot National Guardsmen fired at their post in the sensitive Achna area near the British bases.

Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou and National Guard officials last night categorically denied the incident, which allegedly took place shortly after 2:00 p.m.

The National Guard has also protested to the UN for confirming to foreign news agencies that a shooting incident had taken place, the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported.

The major news agencies all carried reports quoting a senior Unficyp official who confirmed the Turkish side's allegation of a shooting.

But Unficyp spokesman Waldemar Rokoszewski later revised the statement, telling the Cyprus Mail last night that the UN force was investigating the Turkish side's claim.

"We got a report from the Turkish side claiming a shot was delivered from the National Guard position at the link road (between the British bases and the Turkish-controlled areas)," Rokoszewski said. "At this stage we are investigating".

Following a check with British bases personnel, spokesman Mervyn Wynne- Jones said nothing was known of such an incident yesterday.

Reports from the occupied north said one shot was fired from Greek Cypriot National Guard positions which hit a Turkish sentry box but caused no injuries. UN peacekeepers were called to the scene, the reports said. A spent shell was allegedly found near the Turkish post.

"I have spoken to the commander (of the national guard) who informed me that no information has been conveyed on such an issue," said Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou.

"From a detailed examination done on the weapons and ammunition of soldiers it was ascertained that no gun was used," an official National Guard announcement said.

The National Guard accused the Turkish side of trying to divert attention from an incident on March 1 when Turkish soldiers fired two shots at a National Guard post near Dherynia, hitting its solar heater.

Achna and Dherynia are two buffer-zone areas that saw fatal shootings in 1996 when four Greek Cypriots, one a national guardsman, and one Turkish soldier were killed in various incidents over a five-month period.

[03] UN soldier gets meningitis

An eight-year-old girl is currently being treated at Larnaca hospital and it is believed there was also a case last month which was successfully treated.

Unficyp spokesman Waldemar Rokoszewski confirmed that the peacekeeper, whose nationality he would not reveal, had been brought to hospital after being diagnosed as having meningitis.

"He is receiving the best possible treatment and we have taken all the precautionary conditions provided for in the military regulations," Rokoszewski said. He added that it was the first known case of meningitis in Unficyp.

Rokoszewski refused to say where the soldier had been stationed, but Antenna TV said he was posted at Nicosia Airport and is a 36-year-old Argentinian.

The station quoted doctors at the hospital as saying the soldier's condition was serious.

[04] Galanos promises new party in April

DIKO exile Alexis Galanos yesterday waved goodbye to the strife within his old party by announcing the coming of a new political force.

Galanos revealed that he, along with fellow Diko rebels, would form a new party of the centre by April.

The one-time Diko number two said there was no turning back following the bitter struggle between pro-Clerides rebels and the party leadership.

A meeting of Galanos supporters will be arranged soon to thrash out the creation of a new party.

"It will not be my own personal party or based on traditional party lines," Galanos told a press conference yesterday.

Asked whether the other high-profile rebel, Dinos Michaelides, would join the party Galanos replied: "As things stand, this is the only way he can go, there is no more room for manoeuvre."

Galanos then rounded on his former boss, Diko leader Spyros Kyprianou, saying he was an unpopular tyrant who was dragging his party down with him.

"We cannot expect anything more from a leader who has lost interest in his party."

Galanos believes thousands of voters from the centre will join the new party because "they are fed up with the attitude of the Diko leadership which does not represent them."

The defiant rebel also proposed to pay for an opinion poll to prove whether Kyprianou was as popular as "he thinks he is".

[05] No electricity hikes until 2003

In a statement hitting back at calls for a current surplus of cash to be used to reduce household and industrial bills, the EAC repeated that bills will not be going down.

However, there was a sweetener to the announcement: there would be no increase in bills until 2003 thanks to a £9 million surplus which meant any possibility of an increase had been put on the back burner.

It said the last time the EAC had reviewed prices had been in 1983.

The EAC is under pressure from industrial and consumer associations to cut bills in the wake of the savings made on supplying the occupied areas.

The cost of supplying the Turkish Cypriot side - which puts an automatic 15 per cent surcharge on electricity bills - has now fallen to under one million pounds, prompting calls from industrialists and consumer organisations to cut the bills.

But the authority said that as a non-profit organisation all surpluses were ploughed back into the development of the company in order to keep prices down for the public.

The EAC says it needs the current surplus in order to stay abreast of its development plan, which includes the opening of the new power station at Vassiliko.

[06] EU funding for bi-communal water projects

THE EUROPEAN Union and United States are offering funding for bi-communal projects aimed at alleviating the effects of continued drought on both sides of the island.

Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous said joint use of recycled Nicosia sewage water was one of the candidate projects for this funding.

Nicosia sewage is currently piped to the Mia Milia treatment plant in the occupied half of the town.

"There already has been bi-communal co-operation on sewage, the idea is now to look at how this recycled water could be used for the benefit of both communities," Themistocleous said.

He said agriculture on both sides of the divide could benefit from treated water from the Mia Milia plant.

"Third parties are interested in helping to finance (such projects). I speak of the US and EU," the minister said.

He said US experts were currently visiting the island to study ways of promoting bi-communal water solutions.

"Drought is a problem for all of Cyprus and should be faced collectively," Themistocleous said.

With no sign of an end to the drought, the minister said the government was also considering damming the Karkotis river. The river rises in the Troodos range and has its mouth in the occupied Morphou bay. The project could thus again involve a bi-communal component, Themistocleous said.

"The river has much water in the winter and currently this just spills into Morphou bay," the minister said.

The 100-or-so existing dams on the island are currently less than 10 per cent full.

[07] Irish EU experience can help Cyprus

IRELAND'S experiences in the EU could serve as an example for Cyprus, Irish Defence Minister Michael Smith said yesterday.

Speaking after a meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Smith - who is on a routine visit to Irish troops abroad - also called for a dialogue to resolve the political problem both in Cyprus and in Ireland and said solutions could be found without surrendering or compromising fundamental principles.

Smith said that when Ireland had joined the EU as a divided country, adjustments had had to be made to ensure a "sense of equality along the border regions."

He referred in particular to the tax rates that applied on the two sides of the divide in Ireland and said decisions existed in the south which could not apply in the UK.

"It is possible to apply decisions on an island-wide basis by the communities, though it did not apply in the UK," he said. "It is possible to have a difference about how things develop and yet apply similar type of schemes which would have a beneficial effect on the communities."

Commenting on Cyprus, Smith said his Cypriot counterpart had briefed him on efforts to break the deadlock and added "we too know what is like to have a conflict and we are working towards a resolution."

He said that talking to people around the table and building trust was a way to help the two communities live together without compromising their fundamental philosophies.

"The best way to solve problems is not to waste time in conflict but spend resources on time to create peace; that is what we hope will come out of our deliberations and certainly this is what I would wish to happen here," Smith said.

He did not rule out a possible increase in the number of Irish troops serving in Unficyp.

Thirty Irish soldiers and 15 civilian police currently serve with Unficyp, mostly in the mixed village of Pyla.

"We would be sympathetic to any application from the UN in this context and particularly in this country," Smith said.

In the afternoon Smith, inspected troops at a medal parade at the UN- controlled Nicosia Airport.

He will travel on to Lebanon to inspect Irish troops serving with the UN there.

[08] US wants EU door left open for Turkey

"No one thinks Turkey's full integration into the European Union mainstream will be easy," Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott said in Washington.

"Turkey has created its own obstacles to integration, from its record on human rights to its share of responsibility for the failure to find a solution to the Cyprus question."

In his remarks at a seminar on 'A wider Europe: EU Enlargement and US Interests', organised by the British EU presidency, Talbott said Turkey has been part of the European system for 400 years; in the past 75 years, it had moreover "consciously and strategically orientated itself westwards."

Turkey, he added, was still developing its democratic institutions and trying a strike a balance between secularism and the predominantly Islamic faith of its citizens.

"These tensions make it all the more important that the EU put the accent on Turkey's potential for inclusion in the new Europe," Talbott said.

He said such a move would encourage Turkey to make the right choices about its own future, as long as the EU "makes clear that it is holding a place for Turkey when it is ready."

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman James Rubin dismissed reports that US special co-ordinator for Cyprus Thomas Miller had been snubbed by the Turkish government during his recent visit to Ankara.

"The so-called snub story as far as we can tell is inaccurate. There was no snub. Ambassador Miller was received warmly in Ankara as he has always been received," Rubin said.

[09] Koshis plans cabaret crackdown

POLICE are prepared to crack down on cabarets in a concerted effort to stem the tide of prostitution.

This was the stern warning on the seedier side of the entertainment industry delivered yesterday by Justice Minister Nicos Koshis.

He said the government was "seriously worried" about the increase in prostitution and other vice-related cases.

"We will introduce tighter checks of all night spots and cabarets on a daily basis to ascertain whether these establishments are flouting the law, " Koshis said after meeting Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides yesterday.

He made it quite clear the authorities would not hesitate to shut down cabarets in an effort to clamp down on the sex-for-sale industry.

The police are concerned that many of the licensed cabarets on the island are little more than a front for prostitution, among other crimes.

"Personally, I am not satisfied with this situation, and it is a fact that cabarets are centres of prostitution and not entertainment," said Koshis.

Koshis discussed the issuing of cabaret licenses with Michaelides, especially the 20 new applications now depending before the ministry.

It is understood the meeting looked at ways of reducing the number of cabarets and ban the issuing of new licenses.

The authorities are also uneasy about the "unacceptable" numbers of foreign artistes employed by various establishments.

According to Koshis, the island boasts 69 cabarets and 27 night clubs, which employ a total of around 1,200 foreign artistes - about 14 for every establishment.

Although police have no official figures for the number of foreign women forced into prostitution, they are no longer willing to turn a blind eye.

[10] Tourism leads week-ending market rally

SHARES on the Cyprus Stock Exchange yesterday registered their highest one- day gain this week, with the official all-share index reaching 86.44 points, its highest level in more than 18 months.

Yesterday's 86.44 represented a hike of 1.29 per cent on Thursday's close and was the highest since September 10, 1996 when the index reached 86.66 points. The highest ever was 102.79 points, recorded April 4, 1996, only days after the market began official operations.

Yesterday's trade saw the sub-indices of the market's seven sectors rising, with the tourism companies' sector gaining the most - 5.61 per cent - followed by insurance's 3.61 per cent.

"It was a lovely day," said Christos Samaras of Starinvest, a Nicosia-based brokerage. "We all enjoyed it. The banks were steady, but there was a lot of interest in tourism and manufacturing stocks."

Yesterday's close rounded the week with total gains of 2.41 per cent despite Tuesday's drop of 0.82 per cent, which traders labelled as a welcome breather for consolidation.

The market, a showpiece of economic reforms introduced in recent years as a prelude to EU accession talks scheduled to begin on March 31, trades in about 100 securities from nearly 50 listed companies.

Its present impressive run has been fuelled by last month's re-election of conservative President Glafcos Clerides, much improved results from the island's three major banks and promising 1998 forecasts for tourism, the backbone of the Mediterranean island's economy.

Proposed government measures to broaden interest in the market and encourage more companies to seek a bourse listing have also boosted the rally, which has already covered ground lost in 1997.

"It looks like we're in a bull market again. I think it will continue to be like this with on-and-off profit-taking," said Neophytos Neophytou of AAA United Stockbrokers.

Stocks of tourism companies have been steadily gaining in recent weeks following unofficial reports that 1998 will be a record year for tourist arrivals. No figures have been given, but one that has been floating around speaks of a 15 per cent increase over 1997's 2.06 million.

The biggest number of tourist arrivals - 2.2 million - was recorded in 1995.

Evros Constantinou, an analyst with Hellenic Investments, however, said there was a risk that the optimism surrounding 1998 tourism was excessive. "Most tourist companies are weighed down by their debts and one good year will not wipe out their obligations," he said.

A rise of five to 10 per cent in tourist arrivals was more realistic, said United's Neophytou. Most tourist companies' stocks, he added, were still trading below their nominal value despite their recent gains.

Tourism accounts for nearly 20 per cent of GDP in Cyprus and last year brought the treasury nearly £900 million in foreign exchange receipts.

[11] Committee to reassess Strovolos cabaret licence

At a meeting on Thursday, Mayor Savvas Eliophotou asked the committee to reconsider the license it had granted after residents of the area complained about the decision. The new decision will take into account public opinion and decide accordingly.

The prospective cabaret owner, Bambos Charalambos, claims he has no intention of building a full-scale cabaret, but that all he wants is to play music and stage floor shows in the club's restaurant.

However, the area's residents have complained that if he is allowed to do this, the surrounding streets will become a red light district.

[12] Market forces the answer to the water crisis

FORGET water cuts, the government should let market forces solve the island's chronic water shortage problems, a Harvard University resource economist believes.

"Allowing market forces to control the price of water would mean that in drought years like this the price would go through the roof, forcing people to save water," Professor Theodore Panayiotou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

Water cuts - which the government plans to increase in an effort to save meagre resources - were a "third world" policy unbefitting a country aspiring to join the EU, he said.

Subsidised water should also become a thing of the past, Panayiotou, director of the Harvard International Environment Programme, said.

Domestic users should pay a low rate for low consumption but a much higher rate if they use more than a set maximum "reasonable" amount.

"This 'blow-up' system is employed in many countries and works well to ensure water-saving," he said.

"The price of water should be high enough to take account of all sacrifices made to get water, and in particular the environmental costs," he said.

He denied this was a recipe for a system favouring the rich.

"Lanitis Co. gets water at 40 cents a ton to build golf courses.

My elderly parents living on a pension buy water from a truck that comes round their street at £1.50 a ton," he said.

"If the price were liberalised, everyone would pay 50 cents."

He slammed the government's current water resource management policy as "violating fundamental principals of economics."

Panayiotou said water had to be treated as the limiting factor in development strategy, and not a resource to be used to the maximum.

"A scarce resource is being managed as if it were abundant. If you want to get the best from your resources you try to get a return on the most scarce resource, water in this case," Panayiotou said.

Water-use policy in agriculture was a prime example of where government policy was going wrong, Panayiotou said.

"Farmers have become dependant on subsidised water," he said.

"When water is sold to them at 7 cents a ton they have an incentive to grow water-intensive crops," the Professor said.

The solution is, again, to liberalise water prices, he said.

"Given higher water costs they would shift to crops of much higher value per volume of water used," he said.

"Farmers feel entitled to water, perhaps we should recognise this and officially give them an entitlement to a percentage of available water and allow them to trade this entitlement," he said.

"Farmers will not use water on bananas and potatoes when they could sell it to water boards at over 60 cents a ton," he said.

Such a water rights trading system worked well in India and Bangladesh, he said.

[13] Cancer charity appeals for cash

The charity works to provide financial and moral support for victims and their families. Public education and support of cancer research on the island are the other main areas of concern for Elpida.

The charity said work on its hospice for cancer victims, at the site of the new Nicosia hospital in Athalassa, was progressing well and the centre would be ready for use by December.

Donations can be made into three special Elpida accounts: 0161-01-000064 at the Bank of Cyprus, 21-13-0415243-00 at the Hellenic Bank and 116-21-002703 at the Popular Bank.

[14] Where are the politicians?

Nicosia mayor Lellos Demetriades told a news conference yesterday that this year's series would be notable for its increased attendance as lectures progressed.

This was in response to the fact that during preceding years, attendance would lag towards the end, due to the onset of "hotter weather".

"I believe actually that attendance this year will pick up due to the quality of the lecturers and the interesting subject-matter," said Demetriades.

He said the first cycle of lectures would be dedicated to the role of monasticism in Cyprus - relevant due to the marked "revival" of interest in this calling, both in Cyprus and at the monasteries of Mount Athos in Greece.

The second cycle would focus on Greco-Turkish relations, with talks on the statesmen Eleftherios Venizelos and Kemal Ataturk by leading university academics.

There would also be lectures on the Greek literary figures Righas Feraios and Dionysios Solomos.

The Nicosia mayor stressed the significance of the talks, expressing hopes that politicians as well as member of the public would take advantage of the series and attend.

"I have never seen a single politician at any of these (lecture) series" said Demetriades, adding this was "something which was worrying".

The 22nd annual 'Popular University' lecture series are organised by the Nicosia municipality and the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CyBC), being sponsored by the Popular Bank.

Lectures, which begin on March 18 at 7pm, will take place every Wednesday thereafter at 7.30pm (barring March 25 and Easter Week).

[15] Meningitis girl improving

The girl, from Troulli village outside Larnaca, was beginning to communicate better and had even asked for food, Larnaca hospital doctor Marios Kallias said.

Though noting that she was not out of danger yet, Kallias said these signs were very encouraging.

Meningitis hit the headlines this week after a 19-year-old National Guardsman died of the disease.

[16] Union plans bank robbery seminars

At a meeting with the union's General Secretary, Loizos Hadjicostis, the minister heard that the union was calling for greater security at financial institutions, as well as briefing its staff on how to react to hold-ups in the wake of last month's Nicosia bank raid in which armed raiders, who have so far evaded capture, got away with more than £30,000.

[17] University students threaten strike

Phepan General Secretary Yiannis Economides told a press conference yesterday that as a protest statement union members would also be returning to the government letters offering £1,000 towards the cost of postgraduate degrees.

Phepan wants more government funding for postgraduate degrees, higher accreditation of degrees, subsidised accommodation and better tax benefits for students.

[18] Will Apoel suffer fourth defeat by Anorthosis?

Apoel have already lost three times to Anorthosis this season and only in the incident-packed league encounter were they not completely outplayed. In both legs of the quarter-final tie Anorthosis were by far the better side.

On Wednesday night particularly, the gulf in class was evident, as the league leaders powered their way into the semi-finals with a superb performance, crowned with two brilliantly-taken goals by 20-year-old striker Yiannakis Okkas.

Apoel did not lack motivation, as a cup run was the only way of salvaging something from yet another disappointing season. How motivated they will be tonight when they have nothing to play for, in the knowledge that they are the inferior side, is open to question.

To make matters worse, Apoel will be missing the suspended Timotheou and Aristocleous as well as the injured Christodoulou. Anorthosis will be without top scorer, Vesco Michailovic, but with Krismarevic returning from suspension and Okkas, firing on all cylinders, they will not be too worried.

Omonia will be hoping to further improve their goal difference today when they take on bottom club Ethnikos Ashias. At present they are behind Anorthosis in the table because they have scored one less goal.

A big-scoring victory today could take them to the top of the table. In the first meeting Omonia scraped a 1-0 victory, but that was at the narrow Kykkos stadium.

Today, with the top of the table beckoning things should be different. It may be an opportunity for the league's top scorer Rauffman to add to his astonishing tally of 24, after failing to score last weekend.

In Paphos, Evagoras and Salamina will be involved in one of those six- pointer relegation scraps. Evagoras, second from bottom on 11 points, desperately need the win that will take them to within one point of Salamina in 10th place.

Salamina, after Wednesday's cup disappointment, need to concentrate on the league because only two points separate them from the relegation zone. Their away record will not exactly boost their confidence as they have lost seven out of eight.

Apollonas, who knocked out Salamina from the cup, have what looks like an easy home game against Alki, who last week caused an upset by defeating Ethnikos Achna.

Boosted by the their victory, Alki, out of the relegation zone for the first time in months, will play for the draw, although their porous defence could let them down once again. Apollonas cannot afford to drop points as they will lose touch with the table leaders.

Will Paralimni score their second home victory of the season when they take on Apop today in a mid-table clash? Undefeated in six games, which has taken them to seventh place, Paralimni need to break their home jinx - they have only won once in the last year.

Apop, who scored an impressive victory over Aek last weekend despite playing most of the second half with 10 men, will be without the suspended Arsen Michailovic.

Aek will be without at least four first team players when they take on relegation-threatened Anagennisis in Larnaca. The home side, with nothing to play for but pride, will be out to enjoy themselves.

In contrast, Anagennisis, despite their midweek extra-time cup defeat by Achna, will be scrapping for the points that will help them avoid relegation.

Finally on Sunday, fourth-placed Achna will be looking to renew their title challenge at home to Ael.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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