Latest news with #Turkish-occupied
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Turkish Cypriot leader rules out prospect of tripartite meeting
Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday shot down the idea of a tripartite meeting between himself, Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides and UN envoy María Angela Holguín. Following a meeting with Holguín, Tatar lashed out at the authorities of the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus over recent arrests of individuals suspected of selling Greek Cypriot-owned property in the Turkish-occupied north. Referring to the arrests as "terrorist activies", Tatar said he had told Holguín during their meeting in Cyprus that "there was no need for a tripartite meeting." "I said that a meeting with Christodoulides could not be held in such an environment, that there was discomfort on the issue of property, and that it would not be right to create such an environment without resolving these issues,' Tatar told public broadcaster CyBC. The island nation of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded following a coup backed by the Greek junta, which aimed at a union with Greece. The Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence in the island's northern third is recognised only by Turkey, which maintains around 35,000 troops there. The Republic of Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004, but only the Greek Cypriot south, where the island's internationally recognised government is based, enjoys full benefits. A spate of recent arrests targeted people over the illegal development of property in the north which is owned by Greek Cypriot refugees, who fled south during the 1974 invasion. Two Hungarian nationals were the first to be sentenced to prison over the issue earlier this month. Tatar asked Holguín to convey his position to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, adding that "All this must stop," as "the real victims are the Turkish Cypriot people." Christodoulides had met with Holguín on Saturday, after which he indicated the Republic of Cyprus would be "here to respond" in the event of a positive response from Tatar. Referring to the latter's comments on Monday, the Cypriot president said he was "saddened". He insisted that the judiciary was responsible for the arrests, saying "the executive authority of does not interfere in the judicial authority under any circumstances." He also reiterated previous comments that "it would be good for the three of us to sit around a table to discuss and have a free discussion so that we can get closer to the goal of July, so that there are positive developments," adding that he would "definitely" be holding a new meeting with Holguín. Christodoulides added that Holguín's meetings outside Cyprus and especially Turkey would be "decisive". The UN envoy is also scheduled to visit Greece, the UK and Brussels. Christodoulides and Tatar last met in Geneva in mid-March, after which a series of modest confidence-building measures were announced. Guterres announced a similar meeting is to be held at the end of July. He appointed Holguín as his personal envoy on Cyprus in early May. She had previously been in the same role between January and July 2024. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has criticised Israel's plans to take control of Gaza and hold up to 75% of the Strip, stating he "no longer understands" the end goal. "The Israeli government must not do anything that even its best friends are no longer willing to accept," said Merz at the WDR Europaforum in Berlin on Monday. "What the Israeli army is now doing in the Gaza Strip, I frankly no longer understand with what goal," he added. The German chancellor also commented on the fact that Palestinians in the Strip are dependent on international aid deliveries, which Israel had blocked until recently with the argument that Hamas would benefit from them. "To cause such suffering to the civilian population, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified by the fight against Hamas terrorism," Merz said. Merz's words point to a shift in tone in another ally of Israel, after the leaders of France, the United Kingdom and Canada last week condemned what they called Israel's "egregious" military actions in Gaza and warned that they would take "concrete actions" if Netanyahu didn't change course, particularly regarding humanitarian aid. On Friday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the trio of being on the "wrong side of history" and siding with Hamas after they all called for an end to Israel's military operation in Gaza and restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid. "When mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers thank you, you're on the wrong side of justice, you're on the wrong side of humanity and you're on the wrong side of history," he said in remarks on Friday, name-checking Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney. "Now, these leaders may think that they're advancing peace, they're not. They're emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever and they give them hope to establish a second Palestinian state from which Hamas will again seek to destroy the Jewish state - and mind you, it's not going to be a state free of Hamas." After an almost three-month blockade on all aid entering the Strip, dozens of trucks were allowed to enter Gaza again last week, but the UN said that the amount entering was a "drop in the ocean" compared to what was needed. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched a renewed offensive on Hamas in Gaza, codenamed Operation Gideon's Chariots, in mid-May. The major ground offensive in northern and southern Gaza is backed by the Israeli air force and aims to expand "operational control" over the Strip and free the remaining hostages still being held by Hamas.
Hindustan Times
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Erdogan's full speech in English: threatens 'anti-Islamism' protestors in North CyprusGreece
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned protestors in North Cyprus during his visit to the region recently. Erdogan's threats came amid a row over Ankara-backed authorities' decision to lift a ban on Islamic headscarves in schools. Demonstrations have rocked the Turkish-occupied region over concerns of eroding secularism. Watch his full speech in English over here.
The Guardian
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Erdoğan tells protesters against Islamification in northern Cyprus they will fail
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has warned protesters in breakaway northern Cyprus not 'to sow seeds of hatred' amid mounting discord over Ankara's perceived attempts to Islamise one of the world's most secular Muslim societies. In a whirlwind visit to the Turkish-occupied territory on Saturday the leader had tough words for Turkish Cypriots who have stepped up demonstrations against policies he openly endorses, not least a controversial law allowing headscarves to be worn in schools. 'Those who try to disrupt our brotherhood, to create a rift between us, and to sow the seeds of hatred … will not be successful,' he said as he inaugurated a new presidential residence and parliament in the self-styled state. Later, as he addressed a technology festival, he went further telling trade unions that opposed the measure: 'If you try to mess with our girls' headscarves in the Turkish republic of northern Cyprus, I am sorry, you will find us against you.' On Friday thousands of Turkish Cypriots took to the streets of Nicosia, the country's war-split capital, chanting 'hands off our land' as they denounced the legislation. In a speech before a crowd metres away from Turkey's embassy compound, Selma Eylem, who heads the Cyprus Turkish secondary education teachers' trade union, said the regulation was tantamount to imposing political Islam on a society that not only prided itself on its secular identity but inherently secular way of life. 'We say, once again, to the representatives of the AKP [Erdoğan's Islamist-rooted party]: Keep your hands off our children and keep your hands off our society!' Erdoğan had hoped to use the trip to showcase Ankara's continuing support for a community that in 1974 it had sought to rescue when Turkish troops were ordered to invade Cyprus, seizing its northern third. The military operation had followed a rightwing, Athens-backed coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece. In the more than 50 years that have elapsed, the territory, which unilaterally declared independence in 1983, has been recognised by no other country but Turkey. Ahead of his visit officials had said that Erdoğan's focus would be on the opening of the gargantuan government complex, financed by Ankara with the aim of promoting international acceptance for the isolated entity. On Saturday the Turkish president insisted that in the wake of decades of failed peace talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriots only 'a two-state solution' could be discussed to resolve the west's longest running diplomatic dispute. 'The two-state solution is the joint vision of Turkey and northern Cyprus,' he said. 'Any new negotiation process must be between two sovereign states.' Friday's demonstration, which followed almost daily protests over the hijab law, was organised by more than 100 trade unions and civil societies many of which still advocate the island's reunification as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. 'Partly because of Kemalism but also because of eighty-two years of British colonial rule Turkish Cypriots are by far the most secular Muslims in the world,' said Hubert Faustmann, professor of history and political science at the University of Nicosia in the internationally recognised south. For Turkish Cypriots who have long opposed Ankara's ever-expanding influence in the north, the regulation, he said, was further proof of the leader's determination to not only erode long-held secular traditions but ultimately alter their own identity. 'What we are witnessing is a cultural clash,' Faustmann said. 'The legislation on headscarves is seen as part of a package of continuous attempts by Erdoğan to unwind the secular character of the community.' With the backlash showing no sign of abating Turkish Cypriots appear determined to have the measure repealed – even if it has been vigorously defended by the community's leader, Ersin Tatar, a close Erdoğan ally who argues the law protects students from discrimination. 'If we are to save ourselves we have to continue this struggle,' said Şener Elcil, a veteran former trade unionist. Increasingly, he lamented, Turkish Cypriots had been made to feel like a minority 'in our own land' as a result of hundreds of thousands of mainland settlers moving to the north. 'Religion was never a point of division on this island but after years of building mosques that Turkish Cypriots don't even go to, they want to make it one in our schools,' he added. 'Now, more than ever, we need to stand up to Erdoğan and have our voices heard.'
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Costas Simitis, Greek leader who stabilised the economy and paved the way for the 2004 Olympics
Costas Simitis, who has died aged 88, was the prime minister who bolstered Greece's self-esteem by taking it into the eurozone and preparing Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games, sealing the country's reintegration into the international community and removing what remained of the stain of military rule between 1967 and 1974. During his eight years as head of the socialist PASOK government he stabilised an economy which under Andreas Papandreou had suffered from high inflation, a near tripling of public debt and average annual growth of below one per cent. Although Simitis's economic data were questioned by the conservative New Democracy government which took power in 2004, he did succeed in reducing inflation and debt and in boosting growth. With modernisation as its byword, his programme was based on extensive public investment and economic and labour reforms, including part-privatisation, particularly in the banking sector, of a heavily statist economy. These changes enabled the country to fully substitute the euro for the drachma in 2002. The hosting of the Olympics, which took place shortly after Simitis had resigned, was seen as a welcome homecoming in the country of its birthplace and its inaugural revival in 1896. But the legacy of these achievements undid much of the kudos gained from them, and presented the European Union with its greatest crisis to date. Greece was found to have falsified its finances to join the eurozone, with a budget deficit much more than the three per cent of GDP permitted and public debt exceeding 100 per cent, far above the 60 per cent limit. During the global banking crisis of 2009 and its aftermath, the state of Greece's public finances would lead to the reduction of the country's sovereign debt to junk status; repeated bail-outs from the International Monetary fund (IMF) and the European Union, with draconian austerity measures as a quid pro quo; the eruption on to the political scene in 2015 of the Left-wing, anti-austerity party Syriza, breaking the dominance of PASOK and New Democracy; and Greece becoming the first developed nation to default to the IMF. A taste of the suffering to come had already been evident in 2005, when the European Commission put Greece under fiscal monitoring after the state had spent more than €9 billion on the Olympics, pushing the deficit to over six per cent and the debt to more than 110 per cent of GDP. It was also during Simitis's time in office that the Treaty of Accession of Cyprus to the EU was signed, a step which was championed by the Greek government but which virtually destroyed any chance of reunification with the Turkish-occupied north of the island. Both Papandreou and Simitis were academics-turned-politicians who were forced into exile by their opposition to the Greek military junta. Papandreou, an economist, was arrested by the colonels and charged with treason, then released to go into exile in Sweden and Canada. Simitis, who taught law, left for Germany after planting bombs on the streets of Athens. He became a member of the Panhellenic Liberation Movement, founded by Papandreou, and after returning to Greece in 1974 co-founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) with Papandreou. Under Papandreou, Simitis held the portfolio of agriculture from 1981 to 1985, of the economy from 1985 to 1987 and of industry, energy, research and technology from 1993 to 1995. For less than three months, in 1989-90, he was education and religious affairs minister under the interim non-party leadership of Xenophon Zolotas. Simitis's wide ministerial experience made him a leading candidate to succeed Papandreou when the latter resigned due to ill health in January 1996. PASOK MPs elected him prime minister, with Papandreou remaining head of the party until his death in June. Simitis succeeded him in that post before leading PASOK to victory in a general election in September, when it won 162 of the 300 seats. A further victory, by a narrower margin, followed in 2000. When he stepped down in 2004, he had completed the longest continuous term of any modern Greek prime minister, though Papandreou, over three terms, had been longer in power. Despite their shared experience, the two men were very different, and relations between them were strained. Papandreou was part-populist, part-visionary, stirring hearts and minds with his inflammatory rhetoric; he was also capricious and ill-disciplined. By comparison, Simitis was respected as competent but seen as dull. The reputations of both suffered because of corruption within their administrations. The most notorious cases under Simitis, to do with arms purchases, inculpated his defence minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who in 2013 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for money-laundering. In January 2004, with PASOK support collapsing, Simitis announced that he would resign as party leader and not stand for re-election as prime minister in the forthcoming parliamentary poll. He was succeeded in the first post by George Papandreou, the foreign minister and son of Andreas, who lost the elections in March to New Democracy under Kostas Karamanlis. Konstantinos Georghiu Simitis was born on June 23 1936 in Piraeus to Georgios, a professor of economic and commercial sciences in Athens, and Fani Christopoulou, a feminist activist. His elder brother Spiros, who died in 2023 and spent most of his life as a jurist in Germany, was known as 'the father of data protection'. Costas attended the University of Marburg in Germany and the London School of Economics and returned to Greece in 1965. There, he was one of the founding members of a political research group which after the military coup in April 1967 became Democratic Defence, in opposition to the junta. It was then that he was involved in bomb-planting, an activity he would acknowledge much later on Greek television. He served as agriculture minister without being an MP, then was elected to parliament in 1985, for Piraeus, remaining until 2009. He resigned as economy minister in 1987 because he felt that Papandreou was undermining the austerity programme which he, Simitis, had been appointed to implement. Another disagreement with the prime minister in 1995 led to his giving up the industry portfolio. Relations were no easier between Simitis and Papandreou's son, George, with whom he fell out over the latter's wish to hold a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, which gave the EU a full legal personality, enabling it to sign international treaties. Before resigning as an MP, Simitis warned, correctly, that financial profligacy would result in an austerity regime being imposed by the IMF. Simitis is survived by his wife, Daphne, née Arkadiou, like him a student at the LSE, whom he married in 1964. They had two daughters. Costas Simitis, born June 23 1936, died January 5 2025
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Costas Simitis, Greek leader who stabilised the economy and paved the way for the 2004 Olympics
Costas Simitis, who has died aged 88, was the prime minister who bolstered Greece's self-esteem by taking it into the eurozone and preparing Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games, sealing the country's reintegration into the international community and removing what remained of the stain of military rule between 1967 and 1974. During his eight years as head of the socialist PASOK government he stabilised an economy which under Andreas Papandreou had suffered from high inflation, a near tripling of public debt and average annual growth of below one per cent. Although Simitis's economic data were questioned by the conservative New Democracy government which took power in 2004, he did succeed in reducing inflation and debt and in boosting growth. With modernisation as its byword, his programme was based on extensive public investment and economic and labour reforms, including part-privatisation, particularly in the banking sector, of a heavily statist economy. These changes enabled the country to fully substitute the euro for the drachma in 2002. The hosting of the Olympics, which took place shortly after Simitis had resigned, was seen as a welcome homecoming in the country of its birthplace and its inaugural revival in 1896. But the legacy of these achievements undid much of the kudos gained from them, and presented the European Union with its greatest crisis to date. Greece was found to have falsified its finances to join the eurozone, with a budget deficit much more than the three per cent of GDP permitted and public debt exceeding 100 per cent, far above the 60 per cent limit. During the global banking crisis of 2009 and its aftermath, the state of Greece's public finances would lead to the reduction of the country's sovereign debt to junk status; repeated bail-outs from the International Monetary fund (IMF) and the European Union, with draconian austerity measures as a quid pro quo; the eruption on to the political scene in 2015 of the Left-wing, anti-austerity party Syriza, breaking the dominance of PASOK and New Democracy; and Greece becoming the first developed nation to default to the IMF. A taste of the suffering to come had already been evident in 2005, when the European Commission put Greece under fiscal monitoring after the state had spent more than €9 billion on the Olympics, pushing the deficit to over six per cent and the debt to more than 110 per cent of GDP. It was also during Simitis's time in office that the Treaty of Accession of Cyprus to the EU was signed, a step which was championed by the Greek government but which virtually destroyed any chance of reunification with the Turkish-occupied north of the island. Both Papandreou and Simitis were academics-turned-politicians who were forced into exile by their opposition to the Greek military junta. Papandreou, an economist, was arrested by the colonels and charged with treason, then released to go into exile in Sweden and Canada. Simitis, who taught law, left for Germany after planting bombs on the streets of Athens. He became a member of the Panhellenic Liberation Movement, founded by Papandreou, and after returning to Greece in 1974 co-founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) with Papandreou. Under Papandreou, Simitis held the portfolio of agriculture from 1981 to 1985, of the economy from 1985 to 1987 and of industry, energy, research and technology from 1993 to 1995. For less than three months, in 1989-90, he was education and religious affairs minister under the interim non-party leadership of Xenophon Zolotas. Simitis's wide ministerial experience made him a leading candidate to succeed Papandreou when the latter resigned due to ill health in January 1996. PASOK MPs elected him prime minister, with Papandreou remaining head of the party until his death in June. Simitis succeeded him in that post before leading PASOK to victory in a general election in September, when it won 162 of the 300 seats. A further victory, by a narrower margin, followed in 2000. When he stepped down in 2004, he had completed the longest continuous term of any modern Greek prime minister, though Papandreou, over three terms, had been longer in power. Despite their shared experience, the two men were very different, and relations between them were strained. Papandreou was part-populist, part-visionary, stirring hearts and minds with his inflammatory rhetoric; he was also capricious and ill-disciplined. By comparison, Simitis was respected as competent but seen as dull. The reputations of both suffered because of corruption within their administrations. The most notorious cases under Simitis, to do with arms purchases, inculpated his defence minister, Akis Tsochatzopoulos, who in 2013 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for money-laundering. In January 2004, with PASOK support collapsing, Simitis announced that he would resign as party leader and not stand for re-election as prime minister in the forthcoming parliamentary poll. He was succeeded in the first post by George Papandreou, the foreign minister and son of Andreas, who lost the elections in March to New Democracy under Kostas Karamanlis. Konstantinos Georghiu Simitis was born on June 23 1936 in Piraeus to Georgios, a professor of economic and commercial sciences in Athens, and Fani Christopoulou, a feminist activist. His elder brother Spiros, who died in 2023 and spent most of his life as a jurist in Germany, was known as 'the father of data protection'. Costas attended the University of Marburg in Germany and the London School of Economics and returned to Greece in 1965. There, he was one of the founding members of a political research group which after the military coup in April 1967 became Democratic Defence, in opposition to the junta. It was then that he was involved in bomb-planting, an activity he would acknowledge much later on Greek television. He served as agriculture minister without being an MP, then was elected to parliament in 1985, for Piraeus, remaining until 2009. He resigned as economy minister in 1987 because he felt that Papandreou was undermining the austerity programme which he, Simitis, had been appointed to implement. Another disagreement with the prime minister in 1995 led to his giving up the industry portfolio. Relations were no easier between Simitis and Papandreou's son, George, with whom he fell out over the latter's wish to hold a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon, which gave the EU a full legal personality, enabling it to sign international treaties. Before resigning as an MP, Simitis warned, correctly, that financial profligacy would result in an austerity regime being imposed by the IMF. Simitis is survived by his wife, Daphne, née Arkadiou, like him a student at the LSE, whom he married in 1964. They had two daughters. Costas Simitis, born June 23 1936, died January 5 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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