Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-11-15

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cyprus-mail.com/>

CONTENTS

[01] Patriarchs and Bishops start deliberations into Athanassios case

[02] Annan to present draft settlement by June

[03] Christmas in Istanbul? Nicosia travel agent has the package

[04] Not enough anaesthetists to go round

[05] Cash-strapped CyBC struggling to raise cash for 2002 World Cup

[01] Patriarchs and Bishops start deliberations into Athanassios case

"The primary problem before us is that concerning the accusations that have been made against His Holiness Athanassios of Limassol," said Bishop Anthemos of Alexandria, acting as spokesman for the Major Synod.

Anthemos said the Major Synod had been presented with all the relevant evidence gathered by two earlier inquiries into the gay claims ordered by the Cyprus Holy Synod. The Major Synod, which met at the Archbishopric both in the morning and in the evening yesterday, is expected to continue its deliberations under the chairmanship of the Patriarch of Antioch, Petros, today. The Major Synod is made up of 20 visiting Bishops, two Patriarchs, and members of the Cyprus Holy Synod.

The last time a Major Synod met in Cyprus was in 1973, when it convened to defrock a group of Bishops for conspiring against the late Archbishop Makarios.

Athanassios flatly denies the gay claims, and his supporters insist he is the victim of a conspiracy to knock him off his perch as favourite to succeed Chrysostomos.

They say the soft-spoken monk, who has a large following among young people, is viewed as a threat by the more established and worldly bishops that Cyprus is accustomed to.

"This pits the old guard of bishops associated more with business against bishops like Athanassios, who is bringing the Church closer to the people," his lawyer Christos Clerides said yesterday.

Five people, including two local archimandrites, have been charged by police with conspiring to defame Athanassios.

Bishop Anthemos said the conspiracy issue had not been examined yesterday, but added that the Major Synod would be "looking at other issues later". The Major Synod yesterday appointed a sub-committee made up of six of its members to go deeper into the Athanassios affair and report back to the whole body.

It is expected that the Major Synod's deliberations could last all week.

Local Bishops have objected strongly to Archbishop Chrysostomos' decision to all a Major Synod, accusing Chrysostomos of going beyond their heads on the issue.

There were conflicting reports yesterday about whether the Major Synod had been asked to examine the rights and wrongs of the Archbishop's move. There were no official statements on the matter. The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople - first among equals in the Orthodox world - has declined to send a representative to Cyprus, suggesting Archbishop Chrysostomos did not have the right to summon a Major Synod.

The homosexuality saga has been dragging on for months, keeping the Church in the headlines on a daily basis.

[02] Annan to present draft settlement by June

Speaking on his return from Greece, Clerides said once Annan receives the views of both sides on the draft settlement, face to face talks could begin. Commenting on the recent round of talks in Geneva, Clerides said they had been the best so far, with many positive points.

Athens and Nicosia yesterday gave their full backing to the UN led proximity talks.

Speaking after meeting Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, Clerides expressed satisfaction that Greece and Cyprus shared the same policy and the same positions on Cyprus, as well as on other issues. During their one hour meeting, Clerides and Simits discussed developments in the Cyprus talks, as well as increased co operation between Cyprus and Greece in the defence sector, and relations between the European Union and both Cyprus and Turkey. Both leaders agreed that the UN talks, the fifth round of which ended in Geneva last week, were generally positive and useful.

"A solution on Cyprus has to be found integrating United Nations decisions which foresee one country, one nationality, one character and a bizonal federation," Simitis told a news conference. He said both Athens and Nicosia agreed the UN talks were evolving positively and were useful in the effort for a solution.

"They have generally gone well and seem to work towards a solution to the Cyprus problem," Simitis said.

He said Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash remained negative about the talks because they were heading in a direction that did not serve his interests. Those rejecting the talks were those who did not want a solution to the Cyprus problem, Simitis added. "We must continue this hard negotiation in order to have a positive result," he said.

Earlier yesterday before his departure for Athens, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said the Greek Cypriot side would not accept the notion of a rotating presidency as part of a comprehensive settlement.

He said the National Council would study a UN non paper given to the two sides at the recent Geneva talks and decide what to do.

"We will study the non paper and then take a decision. Our reply will be conveyed in January, if we return to the negotiating table," Cassou lides said. "But we are not going to accept a rotating presidency." The UN is suggesting through the ideas it presents to the two sides in the negotiations to accept the proposal of a rotating presidency, giving the Greek Cypriot community two terms in office and the Turkish Cypriot community one.

[03] Christmas in Istanbul? Nicosia travel agent has the package

"I think people are bored with all the propaganda, and they're now looking for friendship with Turkey. Others are interested in the religious sites there. Basically, I think people want to find out if what they hear is true. They want to see for themselves," he told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

He visited the Turkish Embassy in Athens four times to seek permission for the trip, but was told they could only approve it after he had made all the arrangements.

A seven-day itinerary costing &pound;450 per person has been booked for December 23 to 29. Some 40 people have signed up. Tsangaris said he'd had to turn people away because there were not enough places for all those who wanted to go.

He expects to dispatch all the relevant documents to the Embassy in Athens by November 25. The Embassy told Tsangaris it would take up to 10 days to process the visa applications.

"'Who told you you're not allowed to go there? Make all the arrangements,' they said, 'and then come again'," Tsangaris said of his visit to the Turkish Embassy.

The visa costs &pound;12 and a representative from the Turkish Embassy in Athens yesterday confirmed that Cypriots could be issued with a visa. Greek nationals do not need a visa, while British passport holders can buy a visa on arrival. Travel from Cyprus has to take place through a third country, usually Greece, which has regular connections to Istanbul.

If all goes according to plan and the visas are granted, then Tsangaris hopes to organise another trip in March or April 2001.

He told the Mail he had wanted to organise a visit to Turkey for some time, and that he had gone ahead with the idea this year after several people came forward to say how much they would like to go. Academic Andreas Theophanous said Turkey, backed by the United States had often tried to improve the ground-level "psychology" behind fraught Greco-Turkish relations.

But while conceding that such efforts could have certain benefits, he was sceptical of this particular initiative: "How can you have a good time with people who violate human rights? So far it hasn't been fruitful," he said.

Ambassador Michalis Attalides, permanent secretary at the Foreign Ministry in Nicosia, was unaware of the planned trip.

"But I'm surprised," he said. "Turkey does not allow people with Cyprus Republic passports to enter. The conditions under which we have been able to go in the past have been situations such as international meetings, like the Council of Europe, when Turkey has an obligation to the Council to allow everyone to attend," he told the Cyprus Mail.

He added that the Cyprus government was not in the business of restricting the movements of its citizens. The tour was advertised in Phileleftheros and Haravghi. The travellers are of all ages.

The trip is to include a Christmas Day service at the Patriarchate of Constantinople, officiated by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the first service for centuries at St Sophia of Nicaea - the modern day Iznik, south of Istanbul -- on Boxing Day, as well as a cruise on the Bosphorus and visits to all the major sites.

[04] Not enough anaesthetists to go round

HEALTH Minister Frixos Savvides yesterday admitted that the country's hospitals suffered a shortage of anaesthetists, but blamed the problem on shortages of qualified staff.

"Yes there is a problem and the reason is that there aren't enough anaesthetists around," he told the Cyprus Mail.

Speaking from London, he said he was unable to elaborate on the matter before returning to Cyprus. An estimated 23,000 operations a year in all the state hospitals are covered by just 31 anaesthetists, making an average of two operations per anaesthetist per day, every day of the year.

The biggest pressure is in Limassol, where just six anaesthetists handled 5, 000 operations last year. The Chairman of the Pancyprian Union of State Doctors, Stavros Stavrou, said the shortage had serious consequences for the smooth running of surgical operations.

He has branded the situation unacceptable and said it cannot continue.

[05] Cash-strapped CyBC struggling to raise cash for 2002 World Cup

Director-general Michael Stylianou was, however, yesterday unwilling to comment on reports in Athilia that it was impossible for CyBC to meet the astronomical costs demanded by the private company with the transmission rights for the championship, to be held in Korea and Japan.

He told the Cyprus Mail that no budget decisions had yet been taken, but admitted that the World Cup was more expensive than transmitting the 2000 Olympic Games from Sydney, which cornered up to 48 per cent of night-time television audiences.

CyBC sources are reported to have said that some 2002 World Cup matches are up to 20 times more expensive than those for the 1998 Cup held in France.

CyBC has long suffered from depleting budgets and increasingly fierce competition from private channels, financed by heavy advertising.

Last year, CyBC lost the transmission rights for Formula One motor racing to Antenna. Average viewing figures for the contest this year were 29.7 per cent, with 14.1 per cent of the entire population catching at least a minute of each race.

Asked about long-term strategies to fend of the corporation's mounting financial difficulties, Stylianou said it was something they were working at. "We're trying to sell before we buy, in the sense of predicting how much income we can make before choosing what we want," he said.

Antenna sources yesterday told the Cyprus Mail they were unaware that CyBC may not be able to broadcast the World Cup. Should that prove the case, they affirmed that Antenna would be extremely interested in bidding for the rights.

Cyprus Mail 2000

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