Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 98-10-21

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

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

CONTENTS

[01] Nikiforos swings into action

[02] Syllouris: I've got a drawer full of allegations

[03] Alpha chairman vows to expand

[04] Officials rubbish port spy camera claim

[05] Water boss faces 29 charges of abuse of power

[06] Blair rejects Denktash confederation plan

[07] Turk jailed for illegal entry

[08] Water shortage knows no boundaries

[09] Students blockade institute

[10] Turkey has one week to pay up

[11] Stolen icons returned

[01] Nikiforos swings into action

ANNUAL joint military exercises between Greece and Cyprus got under way yesterday with the participation of some 10,000 Greek Cypriot troops and reservists.

Greek war planes and navy vessels are expected to take part in the six-day exercises, codenamed Nikiforos, which are being staged in conjunction with the Greek Toxotis manoeuvres in the Cyprus-Crete-Rhodes triangle.

Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou told CyBC radio yesterday that "every aspect" of the newly-built Paphos air base would be tested during the exercises, as would new armaments purchased by the National Guard.

"All installations that will need to be used will be used," Omirou said.

Tension rose on the island earlier in the year when Greek military planes landed at the controversial base.

The base, completed at the beginning of the year, is part of the joint defence pact signed between Greece and Cyprus in 1993.

The landing of Greek fighter planes in Paphos prompted Turkey to send its own planes and navy vessels to the north of the island in a tit-for-tat manoeuvre.

Omirou said that the aim of the annual Nikiforos exercises was to test the readiness of the island's weaponry and the National Guard forces and reservists.

He repeated that the Cyprus government's upgrading of its defence systems would continue until progress has been made on UN-backed political talks to reunite the island as a bizonal, bicommunal federation.

"The message is that the armed forces are ready to defend our country against any threat," Omirou said.

He said political negotiations are currently at a critical stage, and stressed that the Greek Cypriots only wanted peace and security on the island and in the region.

The government's order for Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles for delivery by November has also raised tension on the island in the past 18 months.

Turkey and western countries, including the United States, have voiced strong opposition to the deployment. Ankara says the missiles are a threat to both the Turkish Cypriots and to mainland Turkey.

A new round of UN-led shuttle talks began last Friday with the hope of kick- starting the stalled intercommunal negotiations.

Unficyp chief of mission Dame Ann Hercus has already met President Glafcos Clerides, and she will meet Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash today and Clerides again tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[02] Syllouris: I've got a drawer full of allegations

DISY deputy Demetris Syllouris said yesterday he was ready to blow the lid on the corruption he claimed was rife in semi-government organisations if the state failed to stem the problem.

Syllouris claims to have a "drawer full" of allegations, mainly concerning board members of semi-government organisations, although he refuses to go into detail.

"I've clearly stated the main problem with semi-government organisations: that close relatives of board members, such as fathers, brothers, etc, have professional links with semi-government organisations," Syllouris said yesterday.

The deputy said the allegations he had received concerned unlawful enrichment, abuse of public funds and violating tender procedures.

However, the deputy - who met President Clerides for a second time yesterday to discuss the issue - wants the government to take up the anti- corruption gauntlet and introduce tougher laws.

"I am facing a real dilemma and will meet with colleagues who have similar information to see how to go about things."

The politician said the government's proposal to introduce a bill amending current semi-government regulations and establish an independent tenders' commission would go some way towards resolving the matter.

Syllouris said he would study the bill when it was submitted before deciding what action to take.

"I don't subscribe to the theory that deputies should become detectives, but (I will have) to submit my allegations, which the state has an obligation to solve."

The Disy deputy said his aim was greater transparency in public administration; tighter legislation would go some way towards achieving this, he said.

According to Syllouris, Clerides has, ironically, accepted that "miracles" are being achieved by semi-government tender procedures.

Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides yesterday called on the Disy politician to submit his evidence on corruption and waste of public funds.

"The government is willing to stamp out any scandals and the president has his door open to any such allegations," said Stylianides.

He said one of the anti-corruption measures planned by the government was the "initiative, with support from the parties, to push for amending the way semi-government organisations operate."

The spokesman also disclosed that Clerides - along with his cabinet - would give a statement of his personal of wealth for the Auditor-general to examine.

But Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades was less than pleased with another deputy from his party raising the corruption issue - he has already reprimanded Christos Pourgourides for going public with allegations against Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides.

Anastassiades has reportedly sent a letter to Syllouris requesting him to divulge his information before a meeting of Disy's executive committee.

The Disy boss said that if Syllouris could not prove his allegations, then he would be the guilty party.

"He (Syllouris) is obliged to verify his allegations and not just make accusations," Anastassiades said.

Semi-government board members are purely political appointees, the majority of whom now are Disy men, so any corruption allegations could only harm the party's standing.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[03] Alpha chairman vows to expand

ALPHA Credit Bank, Greece's second largest privately-owned financial institution, yesterday served notice of its intention to be a major player on the island.

A month after its takeover of the island's Lombard NatWest Bank, Alpha Chairman and Managing Director Yannis Costopoulos yesterday told reporters in Nicosia that his bank's move into Cyprus was a "natural step" after its expansion in the European Union and the Balkans.

Citing some of Alpha's successful products in the Greek market, Costopoulos appeared confident of his bank's prospects in the highly competitive Cyprus market.

"When you have five per cent of the market you are bound to grow, no matter how powerful the opposition is," he said, alluding to the size of Lombard NatWest's market share in Cyprus.

Alpha in September bought a 75 per cent stake that had been held by Britain's NatWest Group in the island's Lombard Natwest Bank. No price was officially given for the transaction, but various press reports have put it at between �35 million and �40 million. The remaining 25 per cent stake in the bank is held by Cypriot investors.

Lombard Natwest had 24 branches and posted pre-tax profits of 3.2 million pounds in the year ending September 1997.

It has also been known to be particularly strong in the areas of corporate banking and foreign currency management and to be active in the island's lucrative offshore sector.

Alpha boss Costopoulos, accompanied on his current visit to Cyprus by a small army of Greek journalists and the bank's top brass, conceded that, while the bank's competitiveness would help it capture a bigger slice of the Cyprus market, expansion would not be easy.

The bank of Cyprus and the Cyprus Popular Bank, both with rapidly expanding and profitable operations in Greece and Britain, have between them 70 per cent of the Cyprus market in terms of deposits. The two are also major players in, among other things, insurance, factoring and leasing.

"This is the first serious Greek investment in Cyprus," said Costopoulos, the Alpha chairman. It took Alpha three years of careful efforts and planning before NatWest's share in Lombard NatWest Bank was clinched, he added.

NatWest's policy of withdrawing from retail banking outside the United Kingdom, he said, provided Alpha Bank with an opportunity to break into the Cyprus market that might not have been readily available otherwise.

Alpha officially began operations in Cyprus on October 1.

He said the bank could seek a listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, but he would not give a date. "We must be here for a year and show some results before we can attract investors," he said. Alpha and its subsidiaries are listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Alpha has no plans to bring Greek nationals to work at the bank in Cyprus, Costopoulos said. "On the contrary, we have enough good people here that we could use elsewhere in the bank."

Lombard Natwest Bank employed 300 people on the island. Director of the Board Michael Colocassides told yesterday's news conference that the bank's top management, its structure and staff would remain unchanged.

Colocassides, who held an identical position in Lombard NatWest, is among the top shareholders of the 25 per cent stake retained by Cypriot investors after Alpha's takeover.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[04] Officials rubbish port spy camera claim

OFFICIALS of the Cyprus Ports Authority (CPA) and of the British Forces yesterday denied reports that Britain had spy cameras in Limassol Port capable of keeping tabs on military deliveries there, but the defence minister gave weight to the claims, saying they should be investigated in full.

Alithia said yesterday that three closed-circuit video cameras, "which have the power to control the whole Limassol Port area," were installed about four months ago by the British Sovereign Bases Areas (SBA) on warehouse #2 without government permission.

The story said one camera was perched on the east side, with the other two on the west side of warehouse #2, which it noted the SBA rented from the Limassol Port to hold goods imported and exported for Bases personnel.

Alerted by port security personnel, Cyprus authorities ordered a police investigation, during which SBA personnel claimed the cameras were there to ensure the security of the warehouse and the belongings stored there, the newspaper reported.

"Because the explanation was not satisfactory, a higher police officer (not identified in the story) later ordered that the cameras should be immobilised," the story said.

Alithia added, confusingly, that a CPA official - also not identified - had said the cameras were operating in compliance with government regulations, but acknowledged suspicions that they were installed to keep track of Greek ships and incoming war materiel.

The accusation comes at a sensitive time, as Cyprus has postponed - but not cancelled - delivery of Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles. Any third country's ability to monitor the movement of goods through Limassol Port could enable that power to learn if any missile parts or components were ever delivered to Cyprus.

Defence Minister Yiannakis Omirou said yesterday the authorites would investigate whether the British indeed had any cameras capable of monitoring the possible arrival of the S-300s, warning the "necessary steps" would be taken if there was any truth to the reports.

But SBA spokesman Capt. Jon Brown yesterday categorically denied the Alithia story: "The cameras in question are your normal, security cameras that are used for the security and protection of property. They are not - I repeat: not - for the use of spying or any other such nonsense."

Warehouse #2 "is used to bring in people's personal belongings when they are posted over here... (or) posted from Cyprus," Brown said. The three cameras mounted there are merely "making sure that the building is not interefered with," he said.

Brown said one camera "monitors the (outside) port area that is immediately adjacent to the building, itself," but cannot monitor the entire port. The other two are inside the warehouse.

And Capt. Chris David, head of the SBA's Port Unit, yesterday also dismissed the allegations.

"The Bases have been completely open about their use of this warehouse and the requirement to install security cameras" to protect it and SBA property, David said.

"We informed the Cypriot Port Authorities of our intention to install these security cameras as early as April of this year, and they were checked by the Port security officer and Port manager in July," he said, adding: "They are monitored by a locally employed Cypriot guard."

Dinos Erotocritou, Ports Authority chairman, yestereday also dismissed the suggestion the three cameras were part of any British spy operation or were operating illegally.

"We have looked into the matter, both from the Ports Authority as well as with the police... and there is nothing against the law" going on with the cameras, Erotocritou said.

"If these cameras were there for spying, we would not have allowed them to be there," he said, adding: "I was told by the people who are in charge of the port" they are not even spy-capable devices.

"The position (of the cameras) is not as it is described," by Alithia, he said. "Two of them are installed inside the #2 warehouse... and the other one, which is outside, is placed in an area which again is leased to the British for storing various articles belonging to servicemen. So the area that these operate in is very limited," and in no case covers the total port.

A senior CPA official, who requested anonymity, echoed Erotocritou, noting the Bases rent part of warehouse #2 "for around �70,000 per year" to hold the kit of SBA personnel.

"They have two or three cameras installed on the store, but they are not for spying," the official said; "they are there in order to make sure there is no property being stolen or anybody intruding into the property."

On first learning of the cameras, "we called the Cyrpus Police in. The police inspected the place and told us there is no problem," the CPA official said.

"We know for a fact that these cameras are not of a long-range capability," the CPA official said. "The maximum range is 65 to 70 metres, (and) they are located in a place where they cannot cover long distances."

"So, to conclude: There is nothing to worry about. There is nothing true in the report in Alithia where it talks about spying on Greek ships. This is nonsense," the CPA official said.

"As far as I know," the CPA official said, no SBA cameras were ever ordered immobilised, and the three cameras now attached to warehouse #2 are the only ones the SBA ever installed in Limassol Port.

Rob Need, the new SBA Spokesman said of the flap: "If only media outlets would verify information with us in the Media Operations Department, they could avoid any erroneous reporting."

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[05] Water boss faces 29 charges of abuse of power

Christodoulou was officially charged before a Nicosia District court yesterday and pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Among the various charges, Christodoulou is accused of employing civil servants and using state-owned equipment to build his luxury home in Nicosia.

The top civil servant has been suspended from his duties pending the outcome of the legal proceedings, which will get under way on December 4.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[06] Blair rejects Denktash confederation plan

Blair also said the Cyprus problem could only be solved through peaceful dialogue and stressed that Britain would continue to work actively for a resumption of the UN-led intercommunal talks.

"The British government is committed to using the UK's unique position as a guarantor power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and as a member of the European Union to do all it can to assist the people of Cyprus to achieve a just settlement on the island," Blair said in a latter to Haris Sophoclides, President of the World Federation of Overseas Cypriots.

"It is only through peaceful dialogue that the division of the island can be ended," Blair said, urging all sides to "refrain from acts of violence and aggression and to co-operate fully with the UN".

Referring to the Turkish Cypriot proposal for a confederation in Cyprus, Blair said: "We have made it clear that a confederation of separate sovereign states is not consistent with the objective of a bicommunal bizonal federation agreed by both communities in the 1977 and 1979 High Level Agreements and set out in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions."

He said both the UN Security Council and the international community "have repeatedly endorsed the UN Secretary-general's efforts to promote negotiations aiming at a bizonal, bicommunal federation".

"The UK continues to work actively in conjunction with the international partners in support of UN efforts to bring about a resumption of negotiations between the two parties on that basis," Blair said.

The British Prime Minister also said his government and its EU partners had made it clear that the accession of Cyprus to the EU should benefit both communities, reinforce efforts towards a settlement and help bring about peace and reconciliation.

He also expressed Britain's desire to see a reduction of tensions in the Aegean between Greece and Turkey.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[07] Turk jailed for illegal entry

Twenty-six-year-old Sonmes Suleyman was convicted by the Larnaca district court of illegal entry and sentenced to 20 days' imprisonment.

Suleyman had admitted to entering the occupied areas through Kyrenia harbour and crossing over to the free areas on October 16. He managed to slip past Turkish sentry posts and was found wandering between Oroklini and Pyla.

A second man, Turkish soldier Ali Yuce, was remanded in custody for two days after being spotted wandering in the centre of Troulli at around midnight on Monday. He was later arrested in neighbouring Athienou at the village coffeeshop.

The Turkish soldier was found in possession of photographs of other soldiers, and a Turkish identity card showing that he was a resident of Diyarbakir. Asked if he was a Kurd, Yuce replied 'no'.

Both men said that they had crossed over to the free areas in search for a better life.

Suleyman said that he did not know that it was forbidden to cross over to the free areas.

"I was on my way to surrender to the police and on my way I found a police patrol and surrendered," he told the court. "I gave them my identity card and I told them who I was. I apologise to your government for the offence I am supposed to have had committed and I would like to live with the Greek Cypriots in the free areas. If my proposal is not accepted, then do not send me back to Turkey, but anywhere else except Turkey."

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[08] Water shortage knows no boundaries

Some 80 representatives from European and Mediterranean countries, including Turkey, Israel, Egypt and Tunisia, are expected to participate in the forum, along with delegates from the Republic and from Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.

"The water problem will be the most serious problem Cyprus will have to tackle, barring the division and continuing Turkish occupation of part of the island," House deputy Takis Hadjidemetriou said yesterday.

The drought, approaching its fourth straight year, "concerns all the people of Cyprus, as it knows no boundaries and tolerates no dividing walls," the deputy said, in his capacity as vice-chairman of the Sub-Committee on Food of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

The two-day forum is being conducted in collaboration with the Mediterranean Committee of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.

Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous is to address the gathering, as may also Interior Minister Dinos Michaelides.

The regional forum will present its conclusions to the plenary of the CoE's Parliamentary Assembly.

Hadjidemetriou said the delegates from Turkey were most welcome to attend, provided they entered Cyprus through its legal ports of entry, and not through any entry point touching on the Turkish-occupied northern part of the island.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[09] Students blockade institute

The students set up the 7am blockade claiming they had been let down by Finance Minister Christodoulos Christodoulou over promises regarding their demands.

HTI Student Union president Emilios Rotsides said the students were annoyed because the minister had not kept promises he supposedly made to answer the students' demands after a series of meetings earlier in the year.

He said Christodoulou was trying to make out that his statements had been misinterpreted, but the students would not accept this and expected promises to be kept.

If their demands were not addressed, he warned, further action would be taken. The students are to meet with Labour Minister Andreas Moushiouttas today to discuss their problems.

But Christodoulou said yesterday the government was doing its best for the students, and pointed to statements he had made after the earlier meetings as evidence of this.

The students, he said, should put their opinions through graduate representatives who were now working in the civil service and were members of civil servants union Pasydy - another point on which Rotsides attacked him, saying the minister was "trying to kick the ball into Pasydy's court".

Christodoulou also criticised the student leaders, saying they were not giving the students good advice.

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[10] Turkey has one week to pay up

On October 28, one week from today, Turkey is obliged to pay up the amount Europe has ruled as compensation to refugee Loizidou for denial of access to her property in Kyrenia.

The European Court has ruled that Turkey should pay Loizidou �300,000 in pecuniary damages and a further �20,000 in moral damages.

The ruling has been hailed as a "landmark decision" in Cyprus, but has been described as "unfortunate" by Turkey.

There is no precedent of a member state failing to comply with a Court decision, but Turkey has tried to divert the discussion to an earlier decision by the European Commission on Human Rights, which is contrary to the court's decision.

Ankara also claims it has no responsibility for the so-called 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus', saying the Court should address its complaints to the unrecognised authorities in the occupied areas.

But the court ruling makes quite clear that it holds Ankara responsible for matters in the occupied areas, whose authorities it describes as a "subordinated local administration."

Wednesday, October 21, 1998

[11] Stolen icons returned

At a ceremony yesterday evening at the village, the icons were presented by Koshis and senior members of the police force to Bishop Neophytou of Morphou.

The 18 icons had been stolen from a church in Peristerona on the night of September 17 and 18.

On October 5, the icons were found wrapped in dustbin liners in a dried up pond in a field between Dhali and Lymbia.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1998

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