Standoff continues

A meeting held yesterday between President Nicos Anastasiades and political party leaders seemed to affirm the continuing standoff with Turkey in the hydrocarbons issue, even though Turkey’s NAVTEX advisory expired on December 30 and was not extended.  The Turkish research vessel Barbaros has been anchored off the occupied port of Famagusta ever since, apparently awaiting instructions, according to the Cyprus Mail.

In a written statement issued after the meeting, Anastasiades said that, “As long as Turkey is in violation of the Republic’s sovereignty, it is impossible for me to participate in the designated dialogue on solving the Cyprus problem,” Anastasiades said in a written statement.

He reiterated that the management of the country’s natural resources rests with the internationally recognised government in Cyprus. “Consequently, actions that question the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, on the pretext of protecting the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, are not only incommensurate with international law, but are also groundless.”

In order for Turkish Cypriots to be involved in the management and exploitation of the island’s natural resources, added Anastasiades, the Cyprus problem needed to be solved first.

Anastasiades said natural gas should be the “strongest incentive” for substantive reunification talks. The Greek Cypriot side would not resume talks under threats or blackmail, he said.

Anastasiades has said he would not engage in talks with Turkish Cypriots as long as the Barbaros roamed in Cypriot waters. However, although the Barbaros is currently idle, Turkey could presumably issue a new one at any time.

Barbaros still waiting

The Cyprus News Agency reported on Saturday that the Barbaros will remain anchored in Famagusta awaiting instructions on whether to resume exploration in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or return to Turkey, depending on the UN special envoy’s Espen Barth Eide’s efforts to bring the Greek Cypriot side back to the negotiating table.


Citing sources in Turkey, the CNA refuted reports in the Turkish Cypriot press that the Barbaros would be dispatched for further research in the Cypriot EEZ on January 5, saying no decision has been made yet on any future activity by the Barbaros, as the Turkish government has allowed Eide some time at his request to undertake efforts to resolve the crisis.


The same sources, according to the CNA, said that the marching orders to be issued to the Barbaros would depend on the Greek Cypriot side’s actions – meaning whether it would start new drilling – and noted that if Eide’s efforts bore fruit the vessel would return to Turkey, otherwise a new NavTex (navigational telex) for exploration in Cyprus’ EEZ would be issued by Ankara.

However, official sources told the Sunday Mail that it was the Cyprus government that was awaiting developments early in the week before making its next move. On the strength of information that Turkey plans to engage the Barbaros – on a pre-planned submarine drill – in a different area near the Greek island Kastelorizo off Turkey’s south-western shores from January 12, the Cyprus government is poised to announce its readiness to return to the table as soon as the tip is corroborated.

Eide meanwhile caused a stir on Friday when he was quoted as saying that “the hydrocarbons issue has been linked to the Cyprus problem […] and cannot be unlinked.”

The people are solving the Cyprob themselves             

An article by Loucas Charalambous in the Cyprus Mail says that while our politicians continued to engage in familiar demagoguery, Greek Cypriots with properties in the north seem to have decided to solve the Cyprus problem on their own, by selling their properties to Turkey.

Phileleftheros reported on Tuesday that so far a total of €240 million has been paid out in compensation to Greek Cypriots for properties in the occupied area, related to 619 applications for compensation that had been examined and approved so far and representing 12 million square metres of land. The total number of applications submitted was 6,076. In short, 10 per cent of applications submitted have been settled. Moreover, 80 per cent of applications were submitted in the last two years of the Christofias administration and the first years of president Anastasiades’ term in office.

The writer goes on to say that he doesn’t think these numbers say anything to our illustrious political wizards, or that they are particularly worried about them, as the only thing they are really interested in is their political careers, which for 40 years now have been built on the exploitation of the Cyprus problem. If one day the problem ceases to exist they would have nothing to focus their demagoguery on, deceiving the victims of the Turkish invasion that they were working night and day to restore their rights. Things are that simple, he says.

The huge number of citizens applying to the commission means that they have realised that what they are hearing from our political demagogues about liberation, return of the refugees, etc are nothing more than obscene lies, cheap slogans and cynical populism. Nobody believes them any longer as recent polls seem to indicate – 80 per cent of people consider them corrupt crooks.

Charalambous says the fact that the big wave of applications began in 2011 is especially interesting as up until 2010 many had believed Christofias’ false promise that he would be the president to bring about a settlement. But this myth was exposed when he torpedoed the negotiations for the sake of preserving his alliance with DIKO, paving the way for Mehmet Ali Talat’s defeat to Dervis Eroglu in the elections in the north.

Even the most gullible fool realised that Christofias was no different to his predecessor, Tassos Papadopoulos, and that there was no possibility of a settlement. More or less the same applies to Anastasiades who has greatly disappointed all those who had naively hoped that he would pursue a settlement. He is no different to Christofias, who was no different to Papadopoulos, who was no different to Spyros Kyprianou. They all showed that from the moment they sat in the presidential chair their only concern was to stay in it. A settlement would mean the loss of that chair and none of them was ready for such a big sacrifice.

People have, at long last, realised that partition does not bother our political demagogues who are not prepared to risk their careers to stop it happening.

He concludes by marvelling that the politicians still have the gall to attack those who apply to the Commission, accusing them of committing treason by selling their properties, while ignoring the fact that they have committed the biggest treason of all, that of making partition permanent.

Coffeeshop

Four months was all it took for our politicians to start baying for the blood of the Secretary-General’s special advisor Espen Barth Eide, says the Sunday Mail’s satirical column, Coffeeshop. He was appointed at the start of September and by the start of January all the politicians turned on him.

We showed commendable restraint and avoided making a fuss after he went to the EU and tried to interfere in our efforts to register halloumi as a protected designation of origin. But there was no way our political parties would ignore his devious attempt to put hydrocarbons on the peace talks agenda in order to get the dialogue going again.

Responding to Eide’s provocative and unacceptable statement, Junior said that as long as Turkey did not respect the sovereign rights of the Cyprus Republic, “additional measures must be taken.” These “measures could cause a political cost to Turkey,” he said without specifying them. This was not all he had in mind.

“In addition, it is an imperative to carve a new collective and comprehensive strategy in the Cyprus problem, which would disengage us from the impasse we entered via the Anastasiades-Eroglu agreement and which would utilise the three advantages of the Cyprus Republic that are: a) that fact that we are the only recognised state on the island; b) the fact that we are a member of the EU and the euro-zone; c) the fact that there are hydrocarbons in the Cypriot EEZ.”

He forgot to mention the fourth and most important advantage we have – the biggest concentration of ultra-smart politicians, in absolute numbers, in the world.