Cyprus The Royal Canadian Regiment

[ranrad]

Their sincerity seems very genuine , so we can all hope that they find the visions needed to get it done.. they have a tough task they have taken on oin the name of the people, so i  have big hopes from a personal perspective, for their collective success, it would be the greatest thing for this beautiful Island..  ranrad

[Mike Blais]

Clinton calls for Cyprus solution soon



WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called on rival leaders in Cyprus to seize momentum and reach a solution soon to reunify the divided island, her spokesman said Thursday.

Clinton met Wednesday with Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of breakaway Turkish Cyprus. She met earlier this month in Prague with Markos Kyprianou, foreign minister of the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus, who will come next week to Washington for further talks.

"She expressed her support for the efforts of both sides to build on the momentum and achieve a solution as soon as possible, which will require courage on all sides," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.

Clinton voiced "her confidence they can meet this challenge," he said.

Talat, who succeeded hardliner Rauf Denktash in 2005, headed to Washington for the talks just days before Turkish Cyprus holds elections. His left-wing Turkish Republican Party has been down in opinion polls.

The State Department said Clinton had a "positive, constructive meeting" with Talat.

"She reaffirmed the support of the United States for a just and lasting settlement that reunifies Cyprus into a bizonal, bicommunal federation," Wood said.

Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines since 1974 when Turkey invaded the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup to unite the island with Greece.

The State Department said Clinton's meeting with Talat did not imply any recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, with which only Ankara maintains diplomatic relations.

Clinton also welcomed the work of the special envoy on Cyprus, former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer.


PACHINO DAY NIAGARA  ---  11 JULY  2009  ---  ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION 479  --- NIAGARA FALLS ONTARIO  --- PACHINO DAY NIAGARA  ---  11 JULY 2009 --- NIAGARA FALLS ONTARIO

[Mike Blais]

One step forward, two steps back.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Turkish-Cypriot win dashes island's hope of unity, EU prospects
In this section

 MICHAEL JANSEN in Nicosia, Cyprus

THE VICTORY by Turkish-Cypriot hardliners in Sunday’s parliamentary election in Cyprus dealt a blow to prospects for reunification of the divided island as well as for Turkey’s bid for EU membership.

The right-wing National Unity Party (UBP) led by Dervis Eroglu took 44 per cent of the vote, while the ruling Republican Turkish Party (CTP) allied to community leader Mehmet Ali Talat took 29 per cent. Mr Talat retains his post as Turkish-Cypriot interlocutor in UN-brokered reunification talks but could find it difficult to pursue a settlement based on a bizonal, bicommunal federation.

The UBP favours a two-state solution and calls for international recognition of the Turkish-Cypriot breakaway state, recognised only by Ankara. The UBP also seeks integration with Ankara rather than EU membership. The UBP is expected to form a coalition with the Democratic Party headed by Sardar Denktash, son of veteran Turkish leader Rauf Denktash.

Mr Eroglu said he would appoint a representative to accompany Mr Talat to negotiating sessions with Cyprus president and Greek-Cypriot negotiator Dimitris Christofias.

The two men are scheduled to meet today in the UN buffer zone to continue talks which, according to UN representative Alexander Downer, have achieved progress.

Frustration over the slow pace of the talks and the slide of the north’s economy have turned Turkish Cypriots against the CTP.

A year ago, when talks resumed, Mr Talat said a deal could be achieved by the end of 2008.

About 161,000 people were eligible to vote, 61,000 native Turkish Cypriots and 100,000 settlers from mainland Turkey. Since Ankara is said to have backed the UBP, Turkish Cypriots claim it is “migrants who will determine” both the election result and the fate of Cyprus. More than 350 candidates from seven political parties and eight independents competed for 50 seats in the assembly.

A UN plan for reunification was accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by Greek Cypriots in 2004 ahead of Cyprus’s EU entry.

Cyprus vows to block Turkey’s EU entry until reunification is achieved.

[ranrad]

Oh geez.. a stalemate at best.. this is not good.. well, maybe smarter brains will eventually prevail, and i do not understand all the intricate details.. but it all comes down to people living in peace..OR NOT...ranrad

[Mike Blais]

Somewhat disheartening, that is for certain.

[Mike Blais]

    
Bildt: Divided Cyprus 'not acceptable '

FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE 24.APR.09

Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt says there is now a unique window of opportunity for settling the Cyprus issue.

Carl Bildt, who paid a one-day official visit in Cyprus, held talks with Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou and later said that twenty years after the fall of the wall in Berlin their is still a divided capital in Europe, Nicosia, and that should not be acceptable to anyone.

He added that the effort now underway in order to overcome this division is of profound importance for Cyprus and the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean, but has European and global significance.

He also said it would not be easy to find a solution, but added that it is important to find one, because a solution brings positive dynamics while a non solution brings negative dynamics for Cyprus and the region.

Mr Bildt said the evaluation of progress in Turkey's EU accession talks will definitely take place during Sweden's presidency of the European Union at the end of this year.

This will include the implementation of the Ankara Protocol which envisages that Turkey opens its ports and airports to Cyprus ships an planes.

He stressed that if by the end of the year Turkey had not met its obligations, there would unavoidably be consequences. - Copyright © Famagusta Gazette 2009

[ranrad]

Well, this offers some good hope.. thanks to all you people negotiating, for your perseverence.. keep it up, and may you find the common ground to get Nicosia, and the country back as one..ranrad

[Mike Blais]

Turkish Cypriot Nationalist Asked To Form Government In N Cyprus


NICOSIA (AFP)--Turkish Cypriot nationalist leader Dervis Eroglu was charged with forming a new government in breakaway north Cyprus Friday after his National Unity Party, or UBP, won April parliamentary elections.

Eroglu has 15 days to form the government but he told reporters that he expected to submit the list of ministers to Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat by next Tuesday.

Talat will remain in charge of peace negotiations with the Mediterranean island's internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government.

But the UBP's victory in the parliamentary vote has raised fears that the Turkish Cypriot leader will now have less political leeway to make the necessary concessions to reach a deal on ending the island's 35-year division.

The center-left Republican Turkish Party which supports Talat won just 15 of the 50 seats in parliament against 26 for the nationalists.

Since last September, Talat has held 26 rounds of U.N.-brokered talks with President Demetris Christofias but with few tangible signs of progress so far.

On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council urged the rival Cypriot leaders to intensify their negotiations.

The council said it looked forward to "decisive progress in the negotiations in the near future."

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece.

[ranrad]

This s not great news, but maybe a necessary step.. i sure hope this beautiful country can become a solid one again...ranrad

[Mike Blais]

Invasion alert!



Bray of the wild: Donkeys overrun village in Cyprus, trample crops

By Menelaos Hadjicostis – 19 hours ago

DIPKARPAZ, Cyprus — Cypriot donkeys are a particularly stubborn lot.

Decades after machines replaced them as the backbone of the farming economy, donkeys just refuse to bow out. Wild herds have overrun a remote part of the island, trampling crops, scaring drivers and giving authorities a headache over what to do.

The invasion has pitted village communities against environmental activists. The donkeys also serve as an unlikely reminder of the violent recent history of Cyprus - split for the past 35 years into a Greek Cypriot South and a Turkish Cypriot north.

Mehmet Demirci, mayor of Dipkarpaz, or Rizokarpaso in Greek, in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, says donkeys outnumber villagers by two to one and should be forcibly sterilized, or even expelled to Turkey.

"The donkeys are a real problem, (authorities) just don't care about us," Demirci told The Associated Press.

Demirci says the last straw was the death last summer of a local youth, who crashed his car trying to avoid a wandering herd.

Although estimates vary widely about the precise number of feral donkeys, Demirci says there are now about 1,000, all officially protected by Turkish Cypriot authorities.

The beasts are a peculiar remnant of war, abandoned in 1974 by Greek Cypriot farmers fleeing an invading Turkish army after an abortive coup by supporters of the union with Greece. The island has since been split along ethnic lines, despite repeated diplomatic efforts for its reunification.

Despite a lack of human care, the animals have multiplied and thrived in the sparsely populated Karpas peninsula, a largely unspoiled sliver of land sticking out of the Mediterranean island's northeastern edge. Over the decades, they have been broadly adopted as a cuddly symbol of the island's agrarian past.

"Donkeys have offered so much," says Maria Nicolaou, manager of a donkey sanctuary near the coastal resort of Limassol, in the island's internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot south. "They are beautiful animals and very smart."

But most Karpas residents just see the long-eared animals as a major pain. Demirci says 1,000 donkeys are far too many for a 300 square kilometre area, and complains that the fiercely territorial animals are encroaching on populated areas in search of food.

Locals say they gobble up wheat and barley crops, ravage fruit and vegetable gardens, trample down vines and wantonly amble across the peninsula's narrow roads.

Demirci says at least three villagers have been convicted of shooting donkeys dead and have each been fined the equivalent of US$1,350. They were fortunate to avoid jail time - intentionally killing the protected animals is punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Hoping to capitalize on the frustration, one Turkish businessman offered to buy several of the donkeys at 1,000 euros per head, and put them to tourism-related work in Antalya, Turkey.

Demirci said the idea "made good sense," but was turned down by Turkish Cypriot authorities.

Word of the rumoured sale drew quick condemnation from environmentalists on either side of the heavily militarized divide that cuts through the island from coast to coast. Kenan Atakol, head of the Turkish Cypriot environmentalist group CEKOVA, says sterilization is a solution officials could consider after careful scientific study.

Turkish Cypriot authorities tried years ago to pen the animals inside a 2,000-hectare, fenced sanctuary at the very tip of the peninsula. Some locals were paid to feed and water the animals.

But over time, donkeys breached the 18-kilometre fence in several places, spilling out to seek food.

Local conservationist Lois Cemal advocates a selective cull while admonishing "armchair environmentalists" for turning a blind eye to the needs of locals.

"I'd like to say to them, 'have a donkey in your backyard, see how you control them," says the 56-year-old Canadian, who has lived in the north with her Turkish Cypriot husband for the last 22 years.

Cemal says a "sustainable" donkey population could be rounded up and placed in two or three smaller sanctuaries that could be converted into moneymaking ecotourism enterprises, such as petting zoos or dairy farms.

"Ecotourism is a solution for sustainable development," she says. "You won't need to build five-star hotels."

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

[ranrad]

Hawhawhaw..heeehaw... well, theres likely a market for the critters all over the middle east.. some one get a grip and start exporting them ..for profit.. sounds like a viable livestock business in the bud.. someone will grab the opportunity... ranrad

[Mike Blais]

Here's a momento sent in by GT Thompson. Snowgoose 27 1977-78

[Mike Blais]

Cyprus has historic chance to heal the division
Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:57pm BST

NICOSIA (Reuters) - The European Commission urged estranged Cypriots Thursday to seize a "historic chance" to reunite their island, split by a conflict spanning decades and troubling Turkey's bid to join the EU.

"The time is now. Do not allow a situation where the younger generation will simply accept the status quo," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.

"There is a historic chance now to end this conflict once and for all," he told journalists on a whistle-stop visit to the island, a member of the European Union since 2004.

Cyprus, divided between its ethnic Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, is a key obstacle in Turkey's chances of joining the European Union.

The Mediterranean island was effectively partitioned in a Turkish invasion in 1974 in response to a brief Greek-inspired coup. Its government-controlled south represents Cyprus in the EU, with the north a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state recognized only by Ankara.

Cyprus's internationally recognized Greek Cypriots say they will never allow Turkey to join the bloc as long as the island is partitioned. Ankara's EU membership talks, which started in October 2005, have been partially frozen because of the situation on the island.

Turkey's progress in membership talks will be assessed later this year.

Greek and Turkish Cypriot community leaders launched peace talks last year, but progress has been slow.

Barroso said the EU Commission was ready to help and support a deal on Cyprus, but said: "We cannot make the deal...it is up to the Cypriots themselves to find a solution."

Cyprus has said it will support Barroso's re-election bid for a second five-year term for the EU Commission presidency.

(Reporting by Sarah Ktisti; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

[ranrad]

Well, may i wish them good thoughts and hopes that unity will be the result.. the time is right..ranrad

[Mike Blais]

Cyprus leaders agree to open new crossing point
Fri Jun 26, 2009 9:57am EDT

* Agreement on new crossing expected to boost peace talks

* EU will finance part of the cost of the new checkpoint

(Adds EU comment)

NICOSIA, June 26 (Reuters) - Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders agreed on Friday to open a new checkpoint linking the two sides of the divided island in a move expected to boost slow-moving peace talks.

The crossing point, in a remote semi-mountainous region in the northwest of the island, had long been demanded by locals living on both sides.

"The two leaders decided to proceed with the opening of the Yesilirmak/Limnitis crossing point under normal rules of existing crossings," Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the United Nations special representative for Cyprus, said.

It was not immediately clear when the checkpoint would open. Cyprus was partitioned in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. The conflict is overshadowing Turkey's attempts to join the European Union.

The checkpoint, known as Yesilirmak in Turkish and Limnitis in Greek, will be the seventh crossing linking the island's estranged Greek and Turkish Cypriots, separated by a U.N.-policed buffer zone splitting the island from east to west.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, on a fleeting visit to Cyprus on Thursday, said the EU would finance part of the cost of the new checkpoint.

"This is very good news and an excellent response to the call I made yesterday to both leaders to agree on confidence-building measures and move forward in the negotiations to reunify the country," Barroso said in a statement. "This agreement shows that when there is a will there is a way."

The opening of the new crossing had been delayed by disagreements over Turkish Cypriot supplies and access to a military outpost in a coastal pocket of territory surrounded by Greek Cypriots.

The dispute hinged on how to get fuel supplies, which the troops needed for a generator and a tractor, to the outpost.

The small enclave would be connected to the nearest electricity grid, which is in Greek Cypriot territory, and non-military supplies would be taken there by road under U.N escort, the UN said.

(Writing by Michele Kambas, editing by Lin Noueihed)