Cyprus Mail: News Articles in English, 00-11-19

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

CONTENTS

[01] Ecevit says Turkey might review EU ties over Cyprus

[02] Extradited Briton remanded for trial

[03] A boom year for holiday homes

[04] Escaped convict may have fled north

[05] Authorities braced for airspace violations

[06] 330,000 tourists in one month

[07] Paphos Bishop says there was never any conspiracy

[01] Ecevit says Turkey might review EU ties over Cyprus

PRIME Minister Bulent Ecevit yesterday said Turkey would review its ties with the European Union if disputes over Cyprus and Aegean Sea borders were left on the list of issues to be addressed before membership talks, Reuters reported from Ankara.

Turkish officials were incensed that a sentence demanding support for UN efforts to reach a settlement on Cyprus was included under Turkey's short term goals when EU guidelines for talks on joining the bloc were unveiled on November 8. The issue of settling Aegean territorial disputes with Greece appeared only in the preamble to the guidelines, but NTV television said Ecevit believed there were also efforts to include it as a condition. "I hope the European Union will assess as required the sensitivity of our government and public. Otherwise it will be inevitable to review our relations with the EU," he said.

Ecevit said he would not elaborate on what he meant by reviewing relations, but added: "Of course we have some preparations and thoughts about this." Asked whether Turkey might give up on its efforts to join the EU, Ecevit said: "It would not be right to say anything on that. We hope that our expectations and warnings will be considered."

[02] Extradited Briton remanded for trial

A BRITISH national suspected of stealing jewellery and watches worth &pound;90,000 from three shops in Paphos in 1998 was yesterday remanded in custody until December 11, when his trial begins at the criminal court.

Robert Talbot, 28, appeared in the Paphos District Court after he was extradited by Britain. According to police, Talbot, while holidaying with his girlfriend in Paphos in 1998, burgled three shops and stole jewellery, watches, and clothing worth around &pound;90,000.

Police who found fingerprints at the crime scene suspected Talbot and sent them to England where they were allegedly matched to the Briton.

Meanwhile Talbot had left the island but was arrested by British police who were seeking him in connection with similar offences.

Talbot was tried and jailed for two years, while authorities here appealed for his extradition, citing a bilateral treaty.

[03] A boom year for holiday homes

FEWER homes were built last year but the number of second houses and holiday homes is on the rise, the latest figures show.

Although there is no indication the second-home boom is a result of stock market millions per se, the phenomenon accounts for 30 per cent of all new homes built last year. Nearly a quarter of those were built in Nicosia while the remainder were built in costal areas, mainly as holiday homes in Paphos and Limassol.

Overall, new dwellings completed in 1999 decreased by 4.1 per cent, dropping to 6,327 compared to 6,599 in 1998 -- 5,900 of which were built for private use. Two thirds of all new houses were built in urban areas and more than 1,200 second homes were built in Nicosia alone.

Nearly 70 per cent of all houses built were single dwellings, some 20 per cent were semi-detached and 10 per cent 'upper floor' houses with a 3.1- bedroom average. According to the figures 71 of the homes built in Nicosia were five-bedroom dwellings and 504 had four bedrooms.

The average cost of buying a home in Nicosia is now more than &pound;90,000 for a house and &pound;43,100 for a flat. Famagusta comes in second with a new house costing &pound;73,000, followed by Larnaca at &pound;63,171, Limassol &pound;69,430 and Paphos &pound;56,229.

[04] Escaped convict may have fled north

POLICE yesterday could not confirm if an escaped Iranian convict had crossed over to the Turkish-occupied north.

Ali Tahayiori, 24, managed to escape police custody on Friday afternoon while he was being transferred to the central prison in Nicosia to begin his sentence. Tahayiori had been sentenced to four years in prison for drug trafficking by the Criminal Court in Limassol. The Iranian was taken to Nicosia along with eight other convicts who were escorted by three unarmed police officers.

Tahayiori had been cuffed together with a Russian man, reports said, but he managed to pick the lock using a small piece of wire.

He subsequently fled towards the buffer zone which borders the prison, despite the best efforts of the prison guards who chased him.

[05] Authorities braced for airspace violations

Turkish military authorities announced on Friday that the exercise would take place between November 21 and 23, and will be held in co-operation with the occupying forces and 'security authorities' in the north. On Friday, the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris said the Turkish army in the north was responsible for co-ordinating the exercise to be held in combination with Turkish naval, air, and ground forces.

Yesterday Hasikos stressed that the National Guard was monitoring the situation and taking "all necessary measures".

He said any landing of Turkish air force planes at Lefkoniko should not be viewed on an equal basis with Greek landings in Paphos, since the latter took place with the permission of the Cypriot government. Kibris said that landings by war planes would be Turkey's answer to the Greek landings in October during the National Guard's annual 'Nikiforos' exercise.

The military authorities are reported to be expecting mass Flight Information Region (FIR) and airspace violations by Turkish aircraft.

[06] 330,000 tourists in one month

TOURISM was up 6.6 per cent in September when the number reached almost 330, 000 -- equivalent to half the population of the Republic.

Since the beginning of the year some 2.16 million tourists have visited the island, compared with 1.9 million over the same period last year, an increase of 10.1 per cent. Estimates predict that by December 31, more than 2.7 million will have holidayed in Cyprus this year.

Britons accounted for 52.8 per cent of tourist arrivals in September, followed by Germany with 8 per cent, Sweden 5.7 per cent, Russia 4.8 per cent, Switzerland 3.6 per cent, Norway 2.8 per cent, and Greece 2.2 per cent.

The overwhelming majority of tourist arrivals -- 79.3 per cent -- was from EU countries.

Cypriots were also on the move in September with 52,967 residents returning from a trip abroad during the month compared with 48,443 to the same period last year.

In the period January-September 2000, 469,876 residents returned from a trip abroad compared to 421,499 in the corresponding period last year, an increase of 11.5 per cent.

[07] Paphos Bishop says there was never any conspiracy

The Major Synod had been summoned by the Archbishop to look into homosexuality charges against Limassol Bishop Athanassios.

On Thursday night the Synod unanimously vindicated Athanassios, who had vehemently denying the accusations against him.

Athanassios, seen as a likely successor to Archbishop Chrysostomos, claimed the accusations were part of a well-orchestrated plot masterminded by the Paphos Bishop to destroy him.

It had been widely expected that the Major Synod would examine the conspiracy charges after dealing with the charges against Athanassios.

But on Friday the Major Synod made it clear it did not intend to delve into the conspiracy allegations. Reports on Friday said the visiting members of the Major Synod had washed their hands of the conspiracy charges, pointing out that the Church of Cyprus alone should deal with the issue. This move was viewed as a matter that would probably perpetuate the Church crisis.

In a written statement issued yesterday, the Bishop of Paphos said that despite rumours that it had discussed the conspiracy charges, the Major Synod had in fact refused to look into them.

He said this meant that such an issue had never existed and furthermore it was never accepted.

Chrysostomos claims the conspiracy theory was created to divert the focus from procedural violations. He has insisted all along that the Archbishop's unilateral decision to summon a Major Synod violated Church procedure.

On Friday the Paphos Bishop said he would respect the Major Synod's decision to clear Athanassios, despite considering the decision to summon the convocation to be in breach of Church law. Athanassios' detractors, led by the Paphos Bishop, charged that the Major Synod had been 'fixed' to clear Athanassios.

Suspended Limassol Archimandrite Andreas Constantinides, who is currently being investigated by police for allegedly conspiring to defame Athanassios, went as far to suggest that members of the Major Synod had been bribed.

But Alexandria Patriarch Petros, who presided over the Synod, rejected the allegations.

Speaking at Larnaca Airport before his departure, Petros ruled out bribery, saying the clergy who took part did not know if they were going to participate from the beginning.

"How then was it set up?" Petros asked. "These are fairy tales and I am sorry they are being told. No one should think that the Major Synod was fixed."

Cyprus Mail 2000

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