Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-03-22

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

Sunday, March 22, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Cordovez reports deadlock in talks bid

[02] Picking up the pieces on the missing

[03] The demise of the model family

[04] Aircraft are the problem

[05] Police say mêlée was over drugs debts

[06] Salamina end losing run

[01] Cordovez reports deadlock in talks bid

U.N. SPECIAL advisor on Cyprus Diego Cordovez yesterday conceded peace talks between the two sides on the divided island could not resume at present.

"For the time being, it is not possible to resume the negotiations and this creates a very serious problem for the Secretary general," Cordovez said at the end of four days of contacts with both sides.

Cordovez, UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan's special envoy to Cyprus, had several meetings with both President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in an effort to kick-start a talks process which stalled last Summer.

Cordovez did not blame either side for the impasse, but said Denktash had refused to resume negotiations unless he was recognised as Clerides's political equal.

"Mr Denktash has refused to return to the negotiating table pending a solution of this issue," Cordovez said at an afternoon press conference at the UN-controlled Ledra Palace hotel in Nicosia.

"It has not been possible to find a solution to this matter between them (Clerides and Denktash)," he said.

"I told Denktash the attitude of the Secretary-general had always been to respect completely the political equality of the two leaders and in fact... these negotiations (are) the only context in which there is actual political equality between the two leaders," Cordovez said.

"Mr Denktash has acknowledged that in the context of the negotiations there is indeed political equality but he feels there are certain asymmetries... between the two leaders which have created elements of discrimination against him and indeed he feels that an extension of this asymmetry is the fact that the EU decided to start negotiations for all of Cyprus with what he considers the administration of one community," he said.

In August, Denktash abandoned settlement talks Cordovez was chairing in Switzerland, saying he would only return if the EU reversed its decision to open accession talks with the Cyprus government.

He has since hardened his stance, saying negotiations could only take place if his break-away state, recognised only by Turkey, was given international recognition.

Cordovez said he felt he now understood Denktash's position very well and would be reporting to the UN Security Council on the issue.

"We need guidance from the Security Council on this issue," he said.

Cordovez said he had told Denktash he did not believe the UN would be willing to agree to his demand for more recognition.

"I have said to Mr Denktash, as a personal opinion of mine, that the Security Council would not be inclined to make any changes, but I cannot anticipate what the Security Council will do," he said.

He said Denktash's request for a meeting with Annan would not be ignored, but that a date for such a meeting had not been set.

Cordovez flies to Athens for further Cyprus problem talks today.

On his arrival in Cyprus on Wednesday, Cordovez warned that international interest in the Cyprus problem could wane unless Cypriots showed more interest in achieving a settlement.

[02] Picking up the pieces on the missing

PRESIDENT Clerides warned yesterday that the government would not tolerate any irresponsibility on the issue of the missing.

His comments came at the end of a week of fantastic rumours that 14 of the 1,619 missing persons were still alive and living in a nearby country.

The claims &#151; aired on Monday by the president of the Struggle Committee for the Missing Persons, Father Christoforos &#151; have caused immeasurable damage to the credibility of the relatives committees, despite a subsequent apology by the priest.

Clerides' comments, made yesterday at the end of a mini marathon for the missing, were a clear rebuke to the controversial priest.

"The nature of this great drama imposes upon everyone the greatest measure of responsibility to avoid the unnecessary emotional burdening of the relatives of the missing," the President said.

"I categorically state that the government will not tolerate irresponsible and damaging actions concerning the tragedy of the relatives."

But while the public was left reeling from the impact of the sensational claims, and government and relatives scurried to limit the damage, the hard core of black-clad relatives were back at the Ledra Palace checkpoint yesterday pressing their cause.

Half of the ten or so women there, carrying photographs of their missing menfolk, told the Cyprus Mail they were more than willing to forgive Father Christoforos, though they admitted he had fallen in their esteem after going public with the claims made to him by Canadian Cypriot Michael Kyprianou.

The priest had only spoken out because of his "love for the missing persons", said Rita Mandoles, who has seven relatives on the list.

"He made a mistake, but not a really bad one. But he should think a little bit more," she added.

The other women, including Panayiota Solomou who has 14 relatives missing, all nodded in agreement.

All five are adamant that their missing husbands, brothers and sons are still alive, and their only concern was what the Turks might do to them in the wake of Father Christoforos' outburst.

"Unfortunately, these statements have put in danger the lives of missing persons," said Mandoles.

But Humanitarian Affairs Commissioner Takis Christopoulos was less forgiving.

He said he believed Father Christoforos had "learned quite a few lessons" in the past week.

"The statements have distressed a lot of people. I don't know if you can measures the damage," he said.

"Apart from that, we now appear to the world, not as serious people, but a bit ridiculous."

Christopoulos said the furore had also highlighted the differences between the two committees for missing persons, and called for a unified committee to be created.

A proposal to that end from the second committee, the Pancyprian Committee for the Missing, has, however, been rejected by the priest.

Sources close to the second committee told the Cyprus Mail that

they had also been tarnished by the week's events.

"The damage he did was talking about it (the claims)," the source said.

"The next time there is information about the missing being alive, the relatives will think about what has happened and say 'yeah right...'

"And of course we can't ignore the unnecessary pain and distress caused to the relatives. It's sad to see such a mistake from the leader of a movement."

Diplomatic sources say Father Christoforos is well-known for airing all kinds of statements about the missing that are "not usually in the interests of the families".

"It's immoral to revive the hopes of hundreds of women hoping that their son or husband will come back. These things should never be announced unless there is corroborating evidence," the source said.

But Diko deputy Marios Matsakis, who was at the checkpoint yesterday with the women, and who is also a member of the House Refugee Committee, defended Father Christoforos.

"There has been great damage caused to the cause of the people, but the person most responsible here is Kyprianou," he said.

Of the priest, Matsakis said: "There's been so much talk of dead missing persons that when he saw the opportunity to raise the issue of living ones and perhaps give hope he grasped that opportunity."

Matsakis said Father Christoforos' judgement was impaired by his depression over his own missing son. In the circumstances, the Diko deputy believes the priest should not be involved in decision-making on the issue of the missing.

"You have to take the reality into account, not what you want the reality to be," Matsakis said.

"He mustn't be made a scapegoat, but there are problems, irregularities and oversights. The most important thing, however, is that the missing issue must not be forgotten. We must not bury the missing persons and we must protect the relatives from charlatans like Michael Kyprianou."

[03] The demise of the model family

A COLLECTIVE shiver went down the parental spine of Cypriot society last week on hearing that a father had been dragged through the courts by his daughter in a bid to make him pay tuition fees for her studies abroad.

Newspaper headlines made great capital out of the fact that a teenage girl had taken her father to court in an attempt to force him to pay her tuition fees at an English university, only to lose the case on appeal.

The girl had started her proceedings when she was 18; she won a decision in the family court, but this was contested by the father.

Last week, the Supreme Court overturned the judgement, only months before the girl graduates.

Though the case set an important precedent in family law, it was the spectre of a father being dragged through the courts by his daughter which captured the imagination.

The far-reaching legal implications &#151; that parents have no legal obligation to finance their children's studies abroad, and that in contested cases the court should decide on merit &#151; were ignored by the media, because it understood that the Cypriot psyche had been dealt a body blow by the fear that such an action could become commonplace.

In a patriarchal society that takes adoring parents &#151; who sacrifice everything for the sake of their kids' education &#151; for granted, the case flashed out a warning sign on the demise of the model Cypriot family.

But behind the legal decisions and the courtroom battles lies another story of severed marital relations, animosity, dented pride and hurt feelings; the kind of unwanted baggage that invariably accompanies a messy divorce and has children caught in the crossfire.

The father taken to court by his daughter was Dr Andreas Vounos.

His ex-wife Lea and former mother-in-law Angela feel his successful appeal &#151; against the family court's ruling that he should pay half the total £32,000 sterling university fees &#151; gave the impression that his daughter was not only spoilt, but an under-achiever.

They are also keen to rectify claims made in court that she was rejected by eight English universities.

"My daughter passed nine 'O' levels and three 'A' levels, all with good grades. She was given an unconditional offer by Coventry University. How can she not be a good student?" said Lea.

Worried about the bad publicity her daughter has received in the press, the mother says:

"Her English School report describes her as a 'hard working academic student'. So why was she being accused of being stupid?"

The mother is unhappy about the Supreme Court decision, saying she has borrowed heavily to provide her daughter with a good education, while the court has ruled her father has no obligation to contribute.

"He said my daughter was no good at school to avoid paying," she charges.

But the father in turn is aggrieved at being painted as a heartless parent who does not care about his children because he remarried his secretary and has other commitments.

"I've suffered over the years.

"And don't tell me that a father who pays £700 a month maintenance for his children isn't interested in his kids."

Vounos said he was ready to match the amount his ex-wife was contributing (even though he had no idea his daughter had a place at university) but was put in an impossible situation.

"I told my daughter I would match the £500 her mother was paying, but she insisted I give her £1,000 or she should would take me to court."

Vounos concedes that since his marriage broke up in 1992 he has seen his eldest daughter more times in court than outside.

"I love my children, but my oldest daughter is influenced by her mother," he said.

The court ruling may have clarified certain provisions under the family law, but no amount of legislation can regulate the strength of emotion this case has generated among the parties involved.

"She left the courtroom crying after being cross-examined for three hours about her grades," said Lea.

"I feel very hurt about how he's treated his own flesh and blood."

[04] Aircraft are the problem

Speaking at a news conference after meeting on Friday with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in New York, Pangalos said he had suggested a US- guaranteed moratorium on flights over Cyprus to "decrease, stop or rather reverse the military build-up."

"If there are no aircraft, there would be no anti-aircraft systems and then there could be a reduction in tanks which could slowly lead to a better climate," he said.

Pangalos and Albright discussed the Cyprus problem in the context of wider talks on Balkan problems and Greco-Turkish relations.

[05] Police say mêlée was over drugs debts

The Famagusta district court sitting in Larnaca, ruled yesterday that businessman Avraam Constantinou, 29, Charalambos Martis, 25, Charalambos Petrou, 18, and Dimitris Sakkos, 22, all be remanded in relation to a Protaras street brawl on Thursday in which a shot was fired.

The court ordered Costas Soteriou, 18, from Trachoni to be remanded for four days in connection with the case.

The five are also being held on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs.

According to police reports, the street-fight &#151; believed to have arisen over a £4,200 drug debt owed to Sakkos by Constantinou and Martis &#151; broke out on Thursday at around 6.15pm outside an apartment block.

All five suspects allegedly took part in the brawl, together with three unidentified others.

Police say Constantinou fired a shot at some point during the mêlée, while Martis wielded a knife and Petrou, Sakkos, Soteriou and three other henchmen carried clubs.

Police investigations the next day recovered an empty cartridge at the scene. A search of Constantinou's home yielded a National Guard Zastava automatic rifle.

Searches at Sakkos' home in Trachoni yielded no clues, but at a neighbouring house, police dogs found three kilos of a plant substance, believed to be cannabis, explosive devices, and three cartridges for a G3 rifle.

[06] Salamina end losing run

SALAMINA ended a run of nine consecutive defeats yesterday by holding Anagennisis to 2-2 draw, but still dropped into the relegation zone.

They were overtaken by Evagoras, whose 4-2 away win over Ethnikos Ashia took them out of the relegation zone for the first time this season.

Anorthosis reclaimed the top spot in the table, at least for 24 hours (Omonia play today) with a comfortable 4-0 win at Paphos over Apop.

Paralimni finally appear to have overcome their home jinx by scoring their third home victory of the season, subduing a disappointing Aek 2-0.

The hero of Salamina's fightback against Anagennisis was 17-year-old striker Athos Angeli, who scored both goals as his side trailed 2-0, to salvage a home point and end the losing run.

It was Salamina's first game under new boss Mike Urogalo, the third coach to be appointed at the club this season. The passion and commitment shown by the side after they fell behind suggested he had succeeded in firing up the players.

Anagennisis, who had won their previous two games to climb out of the relegation zone, will be ruing their wasted chances in the first half. They went in front with first-half goals by Nicolic and Thoma, both of whom spurned chances to double their tally.

Still, Anagennisis remain undefeated in three games, since the 10-1 thrashing by Omonia last month. They dropped one place to 11th, overtaken by Evagoras on goal difference.

Evagoras cruised to their first away victory of the season - their second successive win. Pachtalias put them in front after 14 minutes, but Makafa equalised for Ashia a minute later.

Goals by Kukol and Varnavides before half-time put Evagoras on the way to victory. Bata pulled a goal back for the home side in the 65th minute, but Dragisic restored the two-goal lead, heading in Pachtalias's cross.

Anorthosis's win in Paphos was a straightforward affair after they went two up within the first eight minutes through Engomitis and Okkas. Melanarkitis added a third just before the interval.

Okkas got a second just before the hour to take his tally for the season to 10. The win also reduced Omonia's goal difference advantage from six to two goals.

Finally, in Paralimni, Aek slumped to their third successive defeat. Paralimni, who are undefeated in 1998, climbed to sixth place in the table, just two points behind Aek.

Striker Yiasemakis, now main striker after the departure of Nigerian forward Lakki Isimbor, was the home side's hero, scoring both second-half goals.

Omonia will be hoping to reclaim the top place in the table from Anorthosis today when they take on second-from-bottom Alki, the side with the worst defence in the championship (they have conceded 54 goals). The league's top scorer, German Rainer Rauffman, will probably have a good chance to add to his tally of 28 goals.

In today's other game, Apoel are at home to fourth-placed Ethnikos Achna, while last night, third-placed Apollonas were to meet Ael in the Limassol derby.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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