Search
/ Britain to step up diplomatic efforts
/
YESTERDAY'S papers divided their front page attention between a variety of
subjects.
_Phileleftheros
_ said British foreign secretary Robin Cook and his Greek counterpart
Yiannis Kranidiotis would be meeting shortly to discuss the Cyprus problem.
The paper also said British envoy Sir David Hannay would be visiting the
island soon. Phileleftheros said Sir David had asked both the Greek and
Turkish Cypriot side when he could pay them visits.
The paper said that President Glafcos Clerides and Foreign Minister
Yiannakis Cassoulides had answered they would be available in the first
fortnight of September while no answer had yet been received from Turkish
Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
_Haravghi
_ said Turkey was still counting its dead while reporting that Turkish
papers had been condemning their government for not being prepared for the
disaster.
The paper quoted press agencies as putting the number of fatalities at 5,
300 with 30,000 injuries, while its own sources said more than 7,000 people
had died.
The paper also said that Akel secretary-general Demetris Christofias felt
renewed following his kidney transplant operation in London.
_Haravghi
_ said Christofias had thanked all the people that had supported him
through his ordeal, in particular his sister Despina who donated her kidney
to Christofias and his wife Elsi.
He said that he would not have come through his ordeal without Elsi's help
and called her his guardian angel.
_Alithia
_ also reported on the "chaos in Turkey" saying that besides the country's
devastating deaths and injuries, Turkey had also suffered a lot of damage
to its economy.
_Alithia
_ said that many costly construction projects had been flattened in the
earthquake. The paper said various countries had already promised to give
Turkey financial aid going into hundreds of millions of pounds.
The paper also reported on rumours that the United Democrats vice president
was up for the position of government spokesman.
_Alithia
_ said Michaelis Papapetrou was "widely acknowledged by Cyprus society for
his seriousness and political beliefs."
_Simerini
_ had a headline saying that Diko had formed a separate company in order to
buy shares on the Stock Exchange.
The paper said that a month before Louise Cruise Lines went on the market,
the political party created a company called MTE.
The paper also reported that Turkey had thanked Cyprus for the first time
since 1974.
The paper said that Turkey had answered Cyprus' offer for aid for the
earthquake victims with, "Cyprus thank you very much, our people are in a
very difficult position. Help us as much as you can."
_Machi
_ said that thousands of people had been trapped in the ruins of fallen
buildings: "Four days after the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey the
number of dead people has risen dramatically."
The paper said that the cemeteries in the area worst hit by the quake were
already full and that a large number of the dead were being kept in ice-
filled room such as skating rinks.
_Machi
_ also said that dead bodies still trapped in the ruins had begun to smell
in the summer heat and unidentifiable bodies were being buried immediately
to avoid even more serious health risks to the living.
© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999
