KAPOUTI HELLENIC Online

By predicting likely stumbling blocks, I do not wish to be seen as a doomsayer. On the contrary, there is nothing more than I want to see a united, peaceful and prosperous Cyprus. The new initiative announced by the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities in Cyprus to reunify their island is, indeed, very good news. The joint statement agreed by the two Cypriot leaders, Nicos Anastasiades and Derviş Eroğlu is a significant step forward. The revived negotiations will still be under the auspices of the United Nations but this time, the United States will play an important role. The American involvement may prove to be decisive in this process. The UN Secretary General’s Good Offices missions alone have not managed to broker an agreement in Cyprus so far. The role played by the European Union has been somewhat divisive rather than unifying since the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union on the 1st May 2004. Far from being a catalyst for solving the Cyp

It was the second time that Kasoulines had called on Peres in an eleven months period. President Shimon Peres with Cypriot FM Ioannis Kasoulide. Israel and Cyprus are at an unprecedented level of cooperation and have been developing fast, Ioannis Kasoulines, the Foreign Minister of Cyprus said on Wednesday in the course of a visit with President Shimon Peres at the president’s official residence. It was the second time that Kasoulines had called on Peres in an eleven-month period. In welcoming him to the residence, Peres said that Israel has been following Cyprus’s struggle with its economic crisis and was impressed with the manner in which it was extricating itself. President Shimon Peres with Cypriot FM Ioannis Kasoulide. Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO Relations between

Turkish Cypriot President says Turkish troops' presence on divided island is red line for Turkey LEFKOSA (NICOSIA - LEFKOSIA) At the end of Wednesday's preliminary talks on the Cyprus issue, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Dervis Eroglu refuted earlier rumors that Turkish troops will leave the island. "The presence of Turkish troops in Cyprus is a red line for Turkey and it will never approve their withdrawal," Eroglu stressed. Their presence complies with the agreement between Turkey, the United Kingdom and Greece, which appoints the three states as guarantors of the island’s two communities, Eroglu told the Anadolu Agency.

FBi U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a lengthy phone conversation Feb. 18 to discuss developments in Syria and the launch of talks to reach a solution in Cyprus. In their first phone conversation in six months, Obama and Erdoğan talked for nearly one-and-a-half hours and exchanged views on strategic issues. The two sides mutually decided to hold the phone call in the wake of the launch of the new round of unification negotiations in Cyprus, according to diplomatic sources. Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources said the two leaders’ agenda did not include the ongoing corruption operation or the government’s legal amendments on key issues, such as the bills on the Internet and the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK). Obama's call was the first phone conversation between the two leaders in the past six months.

IF  you know of Famagusta, the city on the eastern seaboard of the small island of Cyprus, located beneath Turkey in the Mediterranean Sea, it is probably because you have heard about a beautiful ghost town within it called Varosha, frozen in time for 40 years now. You may have heard about its once-regal status as the Middle East's Mayan Riviera, of its crescent white sand beach that lured 10,000 tourists at a time, from all over the world. Movie stars like Elizabeth Taylor and pop groups like ABBA. You may have heard that the region's waterfront hotels are now empty and rotting, crawling with snakes, fenced off at each end of the beach and guarded by young conscripts of the Turkish army who whistle sharply at tourists daring to flaunt the signs that ban anyone from aiming even a camera into the ghost city, much less stepping on the wrong side of the fence. You may have seen haunting photographs on the Internet, and maybe you thought, Wow, I wonder what it's like in the

  Nikosia (dpa) - Nach zwei Jahren Blockade haben heute neue Gespräche über eine Wiedervereinigung Zyperns begonnen. Die Führer der griechischen und der türkischen Zyprer, Nikos Anastasiades und Dervis Eroglu, kamen unter der Schirmherrschaft der Vereinten Nationen am alten Flughafen von Nikosia zusammen, wie Bilder des zyprischen Fernsehens zeigten. Gesucht wird nach einer Lösung in Form einer Föderation von zwei Bundesstaaten auf der Grundlage von politischer Gleichheit der beiden Volksgruppen. Die Mittelmeerinsel ist seit fast 40 Jahren geteilt - Folge eines griechischen Putsches und einer türkischen Militärintervention im Juli 1974. Im Norden gibt es seit 1983 die nur von der Türkei anerkannte Türkische Republik Nordzypern. Die Republik Zypern, die den Südteil der Insel kontrolliert, ist seit 2004 EU-Mitglied. Gesperrter Grenzübergang in der Ledrastraße mitten in Nikosia. Foto: Katia Christodoulou borkenerzeitung.de

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, For Immediate Release February 11, 2014 Statement by the Press Secretary on Cyprus President Obama and the United States welcome the meeting today of the two Cypriot leaders, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades and Mr. Dervish Eroglu, and the renewal of negotiations on a Cyprus settlement under the auspices of the United Nations.  The Joint Statement agreed by the two leaders reflects a spirit of compromise and lays a solid foundation for results-oriented talks. The United States congratulates the two leaders for the courage and vision that enabled them to reach agreement on this important statement, which embodies key principles to guide their further work.  The United States also welcomes the constructive role played in this effort by Turkey and Greece, led by Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister Samaras, as well as other international parties.  The division of Cyprus has endured for far too long.  Through a settlement, both communities c

CPI deflation in services is most likely buoyed by “state services” . 13 February 2014 fortheisland.wordpress.com A bit more detail on the disinflation. All categories of services are in deflation or disinflation, except for star services, which are increasing quite drastically under MoU conditions. Impressive decline on rents, partially due to legislative intervention that forced reductions. We are also noting Health and Education, two of the main drivers of inflation in previous periods/years. Overall Services are deflating by 1.7%, versus the overall CPI decline of 2.9%, y-o-y for January (chart below). ServicesCPIJan14 12 February 2014 More adjustment, continuing. With even deeper y-o-y CPI declines, the economy is still moving fast towards “internal devaluation”. Note that “core CPI”, which excludes fuel and edibles (the latter not on the chart) is even deeper in negative territory. Also note that domestic goods are showing deeper deflation than imports. The “tra

collaboristablog.com It’s not a good day for Bitcoin . Over on Japan-based Mt. Gox, one of the major exchanges for trading the virtual currency, withdrawals have been halted and the price has dropped . Several thousand miles away on the tiny island of Cyprus, the central bank has weighed in on the virtual currency too, and it’s not happy. Throughout this year, Cyprus has been touted in the media as fertile ground for Bitcoin growth. Remember that, since March, it’s had capital controls in place, leaving residents cash-restricted. That left Bitcoin with a potentially starring-role.   In November the University of Nicosia in Cyprus said it would accept bitcoin  as payment for everything from tuition to rent to books at the bookstore and meals in the cafeteria. It even started offering a Master’s course in virtual currencies. Bitcoin  has been gaining popularity in Cyprus.   Reuters

* UNic accepts payment, ‘Bee’ card wallet soon * Love it or hate it, the age of the Bitcoin is upon us. Valued at $840 or 620 euros on the open market, it is gradually creeping into more services and establishments in Cyprus, while the authorities are still pondering whether to regulate the virtual currency as a form of legal tender for equities, forex, futures or other products, but not necessarily the trade of the Bitcoin itself. To begin with, Neo & Bee LMB Subsidiaries bit-banking.eu will be opening a shop (a real one) in Nicosia later this month and gradually branching out across the island to promote the virtues of the Bitcoin. CEO Danny Brewster told the Financial Mirror that the first branch will open on February 24 and will be branded as a ‘Neo public information store’. The company already employs 35 people and has hired services from a further 25 software developers. The University of Nicosia that announced late last year that it, too, would accept fee paymen

Presenting a very complex chart outlining the various options for selling Israeli natural gas at the Frankfurt Gas Forum , Gina Cohen, Energy Expert, considered the technical, commercial or political aspects of each option. “What trumps what?” she asked. One option was pipelines - to the Palestinian Authority, to Jordan or Egypt, about which she commented: “These are in Israel's immediate neighborhood. Very short distance pipelines.” In the order of complexity, politically she said the Palestinians were the easiest customers, Jordanians second and then the Egyptians. Any complications, she said, only emerged on the buyers' side. “Israel is very keen on being able to influence our immediate neighbors. It's very difficult for the buyers to be able to agree to buy Israeli gas,” she explained. frankfurtgasforum.com

CNA - Athena Arsalidou - Nicosia 11/02/2014 13:44 Negotiations aiming at a settlement of the problem of Cyprus, divided since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, resume this week. This has been agreed by Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu who agreed on a joint declaration by which they express their determination to resume structured negotiations in a results-oriented manner. The joint declaration was read out by the UN Chief of Mission Lisa Buttenheim, after a meeting between Anastasiades and Eroglu held in the UN Protected Area, in the now defunct Nicosia international airport. Buttenheim also announced that the two leaders have instructed their negotiators – Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and Turkish Cypriot negotiator Kudret Ozersay  - to have their first meeting this week. According to the joint statement “the negotiations are based on the principle that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

Egg donations thrive off the young and desperate. For years, US college campuses have been plastered with signs imploring young women to “donate” their eggs—for $8,000. More recently, the number of women selling their eggs (and men their sperm) soared amid the recession and high unemployment. Now, because of permissive laws and cash-strapped young women, Cyprus and Spain have become booming centers of egg donation and in vitro fertilization. Countries elsewhere in Europe more closely restrict the business of fertility. So hopeful mothers turn to donors in Spain and Cyprus, heralded as destinations for IVF because of lower costs and quicker turnaround times. According to a 2010 story in Fast Company, prospective parents can receive an egg two weeks after request in Spain versus two years in the UK because of restrictions. In the US, the entire procedure can cost upwards of $40,000 compared to $8,000 in Cyprus. IVF drugs that must be injected in an egg donor every day for t

Map of Cyprus Talks on the reunification of Cyprus are to resume following agreement between Turkish and Greek Cypriots on a negotiations roadmap. UN mediators said the leaders of both sides will meet at a UN compound in the capital Nicosia on 11 February. A roadmap for talks was agreed on Friday after several months of talks. Cyprus split after a coup in 1974 that was aimed at uniting the island with Greece, sparking a Turkish invasion of the island's north. The island was effectively partitioned, with the northern third inhabited by Turkish Cypriots and the southern two-thirds by Greek Cypriots. The Turkish-held area declared itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983. It is only recognised by Turkey. The resort of Varosha - abandoned after the 1974 division

A COMPANY dealing in bitcoin exchange will soon open stores in Cyprus, according to a statement issued by the company yesterday. Neo Easycoin said they plan to operate bitcoin transaction shops “to better inform people on what is bitcoin, why it’s the future in monetary transactions and how people can gain access to it”. The company also plans to operate an online transaction server designed for bitcoin users in Cyprus. The company’s site is neo-easy.com but is currently not operational. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency that functions without a central authority and was first introduced in January 2009 by a person known only as “Satoshi Nakatomo”. Bitcoins are stored in anonymous “electronic wallets,” or code, and can travel from one wallet to another by means of an online peer-to-peer network transaction.

Nicosia — Banks in recession-hit Cyprus, reeling from a financial crisis, are struggling with non-performing loans that make up nearly half their lending and are hampering efforts to finance a cash-starved economy. The central bank says banks' liquidity is sufficient to absorb NPLs up to a certain point, but fast action is needed as the figure is rising. So government, lenders and borrowers are seeking ways to reverse the trend without further damaging an economy forecast to contract by 8.7 percent in 2013 and another 3.9 percent this year. The total of NPLs -- defined as loans more than three months in arrears or rescheduled several times -- was 23 billion euros ($31 billion) at the end of September, according to the latest central bank figures. That is well in excess of GDP that stands at only 17 billion euros, and represents 42.3 percent of total lending. Fiona Mullen, a director at research consultancy Sapienta Economics Ltd, said they could soon reach 50 percent, be

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Cyprus will complain to the United Nations , it said on Monday, after the Turkish navy expelled a ship looking for gas in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkey disputes Cyprus's rights to a swathe of sea to the island's south and southeast that are rich in natural gas reserves, adding to long-standing tensions between the neighbours. Turkey lies to Cyprus's north. The Turkish military said that one of its ships radioed a Norwegian vessel sailing in what it described as its maritime zone, ordering it to leave the area on Saturday night. There was no further incident. The ship was carrying out research for Total, one of three hydrocarbon companies licenced by Cyprus to seach for gas, Cypriot authorities said. "We will continue to monitor the area very closely," a Turkish official said.

Government Requests to Remove Online Material Increase at Google. Governments, led by the United States, are increasingly demanding that Google remove information from the Web. The company received 3,846 such requests to remove 24,737 items in the first half of 2013, an increase of 68 percent over the second half of 2012, according to an update to Google’s transparency report released on Thursday. Google complied with more than a third of all requests. Often, the requests come from judges, police officers and politicians trying to hide information that is critical of them. The most common request cites defamation, often of officials. Others cite local laws governing religion or hate speech, for instance, as when YouTube received requests to remove the “Innocence of Muslims” video clips. “Over the past four years, one worrying trend has remained consistent: governments continue to ask us to remove political content,” Susan Infantino, a legal director at Google, wrote in a compa

Almyra Hotel Pool British Summer Time may often seem to be a contradictory term, but if you're in need of a sprinkling of sunshine while our own thermometers struggle to hit double digits, the island of Cyprus offers a year-round respite only 4 hours away by plane. While the peak temperatures of July and August may be overpowering, Cyprus is an ideal destination for the spring and autumn. Cypriots cite September and October as their preferred time with the water temperature just right for swimming, but a visit in April proved that spring on Cyprus offers beautiful weather, quiet streets and a chance to combine a horizontal holiday with visits to the country's historic and archaeological sights. Anassa Hotel Undoubtedly the grande dame of the island, Anassa has a majestic position on the shore of Asprokremnos Beach, one of Cyprus's most beautiful beaches. Anassa Hotel Cyprus

#Cyprus Going cold on Turkey... IN ANOTHER era, tanks might now be on the streets of Ankara and Istanbul. Over the past year Turkey has seen a crackdown on protests, corruption scandals, a purge of the police and judiciary, paranoid talk of foreign plots and fifth columns, an economic slowdown and more attempts to Islamicise society. Given this turmoil, Turkey’s soldiers would no doubt be tempted to sweep aside the failed politicians (as they have done four times in the past). That the generals have remained in barracks—or, in many cases, in jail—is a sign of democratic progress. But after years of strong growth and political reform, Turkey is sliding backwards, with more than a whiff of authoritarianism about the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Islamist-flavoured AK party has been in power since November 2002. The Economist Gezi olaylarında yayınladığı bir sayıda ise Erdoğan'ı böyle resmetmişti.