It's all a Turkish plot say the media

What exactly happened in the mini-crisis over Ledra street, Alithia wonders. Who exactly took the decision to shut it off? What made Christofias decide to get on the next plane and come right back from London? The paper says the situation was handled amateurishly, there was lack of clear communication with UNFICYP and all in all it was yet another case of “doping” public opinion. Contributing factor was the unclear status of the buffer zone and the vague agreement between Iacovou and Nami concerning the opening. The paper says that UNFICYP confirmed that T/C policemen entered the buffer zone requesting a group of peaceful demonstrators to remove themselves. It didn’t seem that they had orders from above to intervene nor that it was preplanned, but that it was an isolated incident. The paper says that positive things that came out of this crisis was that the T/C press did not connect the incident with Christofias but the blame squarely on Karoyan as acting President. The Turkish press had speculated that Karoyan had ordered the closure without Christofias’ permission and that was why he had cut short his visit to the UK to return to Cyprus. Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday: “I know about the rumours and they are nonsense.” Equally positive, the paper says, was that Christofias did not blame Talat but the Turkish army. However, this hardly contributed to the cultivation of a more positive public climate between the two sides, on the contrary it fuelled the usual prejudices whereby ‘news’ was fabricated out of nothing.

Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis says that the Ledra street crisis was a symptom of the pro-Tassos members of Diko who are lying in wait for Christofias to make a mistake. Some have already expressed themselves publicly eg Nicolas Papadopoulos who accused him of giving everything to the Turks over Ledra Street and ignoring the 8 July agreement, and the vice president of the party, G. Kolocasides who called for all the crossing points to be closed. The dimensions that the Ledra street crisis took are a symptom of this underlying threat, and Christofias’ return was so that he doesn’t lose control of the handlings of the Cyprus problem. According to a well-informed source, Christofias was not aware of the decision to close the crossing point, nor would he have taken such a decision had he been on the island. A government source told the paper that he had handled much more difficult situations than this without creating a crisis or allowing the issues to be made public because the government’s aim is to break the deadlock without compromising on important issues. The writer says Christofias was informed over the closure when he landed in London and although he approved it and covered his colleagues, he wasn’t happy. In truth the appearance in the buffer zone of T/C policemen was a violation of the agreement, but it was preceded by the entrance therein of a group of G/C demonstrators calling for the opening of Limnitis. The UN are convinced that the issue was isolated and that it blew out of proportion due to the massive coverage given to it by the press broadcasting headlines such as: “violation of the buffer zone”. The UN feels while the G/C side may have been justified they overreacted and didn’t even consult with UNFICYP. If they had, and if the press hadn’t blown it up to the extent it did, none of this would have happened. The writer says that Christofias knows full well that there is a section on the Turkish side that does not want to see progress in the Cyprus problem. Likewise there is an equivalent section on the G/C side. Christofias does not want to give these people any ammunition. This is what he means when he talks of a ‘flexible’ policy, ie not to give any excuse to continue the deadlock. It is precisely this flexibility that cause the reactions of Diko with comments from certain quarters that he ‘gave everything’ to the Turks over Ledra Street. It seems, he says, that Nikolas Papadopoulos is trying to pressure Karoyan to take a side, which he is refusing to do because he doesn’t want to create a rift between his party and Akel. On the other hand he is trying to balance things with his rhetoric which is very similar to that of Papadopoulos. The latter’s silence these last few days is indicative.

Loucas Charalambous writing in the Cyprus Mail and Politis says verbal attacks on the Annan plan have been fashionable over the last couple of years. Some people are so fanatically opposed to it, they give the impression they would not accept any settlement plan that included a single sentence from the Annan plan. If this was just the view of the super-patriots of Phileleftheros, it would not be so bad, but the problem is that we hear the same sentiment from official lips. If we genuinely want to solve our problem, there is no other way apart from a brief round of negotiations, aimed at making some changes to this plan. It is the only comprehensive settlement plan ever formulated, and whatever else is proposed would be very similar. Only fools could believe that it is possible for there to be another, substantially different, plan on offer. The entire political leadership accepted this reality after the referendum – even Papadopoulos and EUROKO chief Demetris Syllouris. So how can the very same people who had been discussing “limited changes” until recently, now vilify the UN plan? How does this turnaround affect our trustworthiness? Are we deluding ourselves? Christofias must stop talking about “suffocating” time-frames, as we are the side in a hurry for a settlement. The Cyprus problem could be resolved tomorrow as long as we are prepared to take the necessary, bold decisions. If we are not ready to take the necessary, bold decisions and prefer engaging in word-games and slogans, even the year 3000 would be considered a “suffocating” time-frame.

Coffeeshop in the Sunday Mail says that our Ethnarch may have lost the elections and gone home, but his proud legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of journalists and politicians. Like true disciples, they have made it their sacred mission, now that he has departed from the front-line of politics, to spread his noble message of bad faith, suspicion, mistrust, confrontation, pessimism and pettiness. They did not have a moment’s rest in the last week, as they toiled night and day to keep alive the flame of negativity and in view of the planned opening of Ledra Street, which threatened to reverse the bad climate he had so caringly nurtured over the last five years. They did everything they could to rubbish the opening of the crossing, belittling the importance of the event. The opening was nothing to celebrate, while the Cyprob remained unsolved, they sternly reminded the weak and naive among us, just in case we allowed a positive thought to pass through our mind. The whole thing was a Turkish scam aimed at deflecting attention from the ongoing occupation and TV reporters were constantly spotting Turkish soldiers in the buffer zone before the opening and discovering encroachments on our territory. This orgy of total negativity was too much for former Nicosia mayor Lellos Demetriades, who rounded on the Ethnarch’s pious disciples on a radio show. They sounded like ‘kodjakares’ (old women), constantly moaning about their rheumatism and arthritis and making everyone feel miserable, he said.

Meanwhile Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou announced that the National Council, the top advisory body to the President on the handling of the Cyprus problem, will convene on Wednesday to discuss developments in the Cyprus problem, in what will be its first meeting since Demetris Christofias was elected in February. During the meeting, the President would call on the political parties to submit their views on how the body could be upgraded.