Current Events

A Turkish Imam has declared his “demand” for invading Cyprus.

İhsan Şenocak, one of Turkey’s most popular imams, has aggressively endorsed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s foreign policy, publicly urging the country’s military to invade and occupy Greek Cyprus, just as it has once what is now Turkish Cyprus.

He went on to say that the activity should be done in the name of the prophet Mohammed and his Umm Haram (also known as Hala Sultan). The latter’s tomb is currently within the Greek Cypriot territory.

Imam Şenocak tweeted how the time for the Turkish to greet Hala Sultan in person must come very soon.

The statements have attracted immense uproar and condemnation from communities the world over, many of whom have openly claimed the statements as undermining human rights.

Famed international law firm Ince has opened a brand-new office in Cyprus.

Having merged with local law firm LG Zambartas, Ince has opened its 6^th European office in the location of the form.

The office, which is focused on maritime issues, will be headed by George Zambartas, who up until recently was the head of shipping and corporate law in LG Zambartas. He will have the support of a premium staff supplied by Ince.

The Ince office will have 6 Cypriot and English lawyers, all of whom have been working for the 14-year-old LG Zambartas.

As mentioned earlier, this office will serve to handle maritime issues such as yachting transactions and shipping funds, along with other common law topics such as immigration, private wealth, energy and financial litigation. This office will also work in a consultancy capacity, offering business corporate support services such as trust management, project management, and other management services.

Acquired company Zambartas specialized in offering consultancy services to shipping companies in Ukraine and Russia and helped them find ship finance from other banks in Western Europe. They further offered legal opinions to international banks on Cyprus law, and even drafted security documents.

BirdLife Cyprus has revealed the killing of dozens of birds in mass animal shooting.

The non-government organization released photos of several birds, which were slaughtered by hunters near Larnaca Salt Lake in the Meneou region.

The highly cruel act of violence against animals led to the death of over a hundred birds, along with at least a few dozen bee-eating birds.

According to Tassos Shialis, the campaigns coordinator of BirdLife Cyprus, this hasn’t been the only incident – or even the first. As a matter of fact, the area has been notorious for hunters going on illegal bird killing sprees. Despite incidents being reported time and again, the criminal activity has not ceased at all. Birds belonging to several protected birds and even many migratory species birds have been killed in this year already.

This is quite ironic, given as there is virtually no chance for the area in question to be anywhere close to a designated hunting area. Such areas much meet a number of criteria, not least of them being that they must be located a minimum of 500 meters from any residence. The Meneou lake completely fails this criterion, seeing as the near residential property is as little as 150 meters away, along with a plethora of coastal properties.

The slaughter incident has been reported to the relevant authorities, while the bodies of the birds have been handed to the Game Fund.

The latest results of a Europol study on Cyprus tourism has revealed that the as much 95% of the revenue earned from travel comes from foreign visitors.

It is therefore no wonder that the island nation’s tourism sector has been completely battered as the Covid-19 pandemic has almost halted international travel. According to various hoteliers on the island, the worst-case scenario of only a fraction of non-resident arrivals have already rung true.

This has been a sharp contrast from 2019, which had welcomed over 4 million tourists. While a target of meeting at least 20% of those figures have been set this year, fulfilling them is difficult at best, seeing as Israel, Russia and the UK – Cyprus’ biggest sources of visitors, have either been excluded or shrouded in complicated safety-related paperwork.

To meet these numbers, the government is currently making an effort to encourage as much local tourism as possible. A number of schemes have been introduced to this end.

Cyprus’ position comes next only to Malta and Crete, both of which attribute 96% of their revenue to non-resident tourists. Other major destinations that follow the same trend include the Austrian mountainous regions of Vorarlberg and Tirol, as well as the cities of Budapest, Brussels, Vienna and Prague.

In the middle of ongoing tensions between Turkey and Greece, the former has made a sudden announcement to hold a military exercise off of Cyprus’ northwestern coast for 2 weeks.

This announcement comes right in the middle conflicts between Turkey and Greece, over the multiple claims of exploratory rights in the eastern Mediterranean region.

The dispute between NATO members Turkey and Greece arose after both countries signed clashing accords regarding their maritime boundaries with Egypt and Libya. Turkey took matters into its own hands and sent a survey vessel, which sparked off the confrontation.

Both countries have conducted military exercises thus far, with Greece conducting a joint naval exercise with Italy and Cyprus only recently.

Not much time after that, Turkey has issued its own Navtex notice explaining how it will conduct its own “gunnery exercise.”

The University of Cyprus has been ranked in the 601 to 700 range for the third year in a row. The ranking system, known as Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), ranks the 1000 best universities in the whole world.

Popularly called the Shanghai Ranking, these three years are the only instance that a university from the island nation has been featured on the list. Therefore, it goes without saying that the University of Cyprus is only Cypriot university to have made the rankings thus far.

Notably, the Shanghai list is one of the world’s three most important worldwide university ranking systems. It also holds the distinction to be the first system that uses several indicators to evaluate universities.

The model itself was developed by the Shanghai Jiaotong University (hence the name). It monitors 6 different indicators for evaluating universities – the overall performance in relation to the institution’s soze, number of articles featured in the Science Citation Index, number of articles in other scientific journals, the number of researchers that have been selected by Thomson Scientific, and finally, the number of Nobel graduates in the faculty and student population.

In what is being considered bad news for the banking sector, Yiannis Matsis the CEO of Hellenic Bank has suddenly turned in his resignation.

Mr. Matsis will be replaced by Constantinos Loizides, who is currently serving as the CEO of AstroBank.

The news broke out via a notice that was placed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange’s Regulatory News wire. The notice clearly stated the event, but did not state any underlying text, as it was not available.

Mr. Matsis had been serving as CEO since April 2017. He had already been serving as a member of the board of directors since December 2013 and held the position of being a member of the board’s internal governance committee, as well as the chairman of the risk management committee.

The COVID-19 pandemic has sent the world into a flurry, with countries scrambling for funds to deal with the emergency and run the nation. Cyprus, of course, is no exception. The rising coronavirus case numbers have left many in doubt of the capability of the government to maintain fiscal balance.

The country’s top economist, however, does not agree. Fiona Mullen, who works for Sapienta Economics claims that the Cypriot government is far from being in danger; in fact, it has enough reserve to last for at least 2 years.

Her statement was confirmed by the Finance Ministry, who’s spokesperson declared that the bank has reserves worth €4.2 billion.

Mullen further explained that while the government may have issued a lot of debt in the last year, it has more than enough funds to cover this debt. She stated how the during December 2019, the public debt was at €20.96 billion, which is 95.5 per cent of island country’s GDP. While this is a lot, the good news is that this time around, the 100 per cent mark has not been crossed.

As of May 2020, the amount of public debt stood at €24.4 billion.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several casualties – both direct and indirect, and the Cyprus tourism industry is clearly one of them.

The novel coronavirus has been instrumental in the plummeting of what was once the island’s top economic performer to go down to almost zero, as the entire world has gone into various modes and phases of lockdown.

According to Harry Kyrillou, the owner of the travel agency Planet Holidays, not a single booking was made for Cyprus in the month of July. He further expressed his frustration at the situation, saying how they have practically lost the entire year, and that any travel bookings, if made, will be very few. He explained how this has and will continue to affect hoteliers and anyone else who is in the tourism industry.

According to the National Statistical Service (Cystat), the first 6 months of 2020 saw tourism revenue plummeting to €122 million from last year’s €1billion.

It is, therefore. No cliché that the local economy is – and will be bearing the brunt of the loss of tourism revenue. Not only will the GDP be significantly lower, but the level of unemployment for those working in hospitality will continue to be on the rise.

The partial lifting of travel bans haven’t been as much of a help, since there are still strict lockdowns in effect in other countries. Add to that the fact that people are reluctant to move around as freely given the threat of the virus.

In a bid to salvage the situation, the tourist season has been furthered till the end of October. However, there still isn’t much hope for the numbers to dramatically improve.

The whole world has been doing its best to help Lebanon cope with the effects of the deadly Beirut blast, and Cyprus is no exception. The island nation will be donating shipping an additional 170 tons of humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

According to a statement by the volunteerism commissioner’s office, the aid, which has been collected by NGOs. companies, local government authorities, and the Church and has been sent to be distributed in Lebanon.

The office expressed their pride, saying it has been incredible how a country as small as Cyprus has managed to collect such a large number of things through cooperation.

They praised the efforts of the volunteers, who took the mammoth effort to receive every individual package, sort out all the packages, and finally packaging all the items.

The total package will be loaded on containers at the port of Limassol.

Isabelle Dumont, the ambassador of France to Cyprus, is about to end her term. She was received by Cypriot president Nikos Anastasiadis for this occasion.

After her meeting with the President, Dumont reflected on several events. One of these was the rising level of tensions in the Mediterranean region.

She remarked how the region, which has been known to be a place of peace, has become a site of conflict. So much so that she feels that the EU must now have a larger presence in the Eastern Mediterranean to maintain harmony.

In particular, she expressed her concerns on the activities of Turkey.

Notably, France has maintained an active presence in the Eastern Mediterranean after the escalation of tensions. Their navy also recently participated in an aeronautical exercise along with their Cypriot, Greek and Italian counterparts.

The rising case of COVID-19 cases in various parts of Europe has brought considerable changes to Cyprus’ safe list.

The island nation has edited its list once again, having removed Croatia, France and the Netherlands. Cyprus has also the non-EU countries Tunisia and Andorra from the list.

All the three EU countries in question have been bumped down from Category C (i.e. the safe list) to Category B. The latter category mandates restricted entry, even with a COVID-19 test.

Category C countries allow exclusive entry to Cypriot nationals and residents, and those who have special permits. Those cleared under this category must have a coronavirus negative test with them, get a test once they arrive on the island. Then, they must go under self-isolation for 14 days. They also need to take a test again 48 hours before the end of the 14-day isolation period.

Other European Union countries that have received a downgrade in status – from category B from A – are Ireland, Austria, Iceland, Denmark and Switzerland.

Meanwhile, Sweden’s status was upgraded to category B from category C.

Category B countries have more relaxation – all they require is a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of boarding the flight to Cyprus.

Environmental consciousness has become the norm, and companies are increasingly swaying towards making eco-friendliness products.

In the latest such initiative, Lidl Cyprus has just launched its own shoes that have be made with recycled waste.

Named the Ocean Bound Plastic Crivit Shoes, these are made from 25 percent PET bottles that have been collected from the coastal areas and islands, along with 75 percent recycled polyester. This concoction will help both clear and protect the ocean, while protecting first-hand materials.

These new trainers are available for all ranges – children, men, and women. Plus, they are just as comfortable and durable as their conventional counterparts, while maintaining an affordable price.

This shows come as part of the REset Plastic, an initiative by the Schwarz Group, which aims to reduce the impact of plastic waste by reducing plastic wastage as much as possible.

Lidl Cyprus is a participant within this initiative. The company has 5 areas of action – Reduce (i.e. reducing plastic use as much as possible), Redesign (i.e. redesigning plastic to make them recyclable and prolong their life cycle), Recycle (i.e. collecting and sorting recyclable materials and close the life cycle of raw materials), Remove (i.e. supporting campaigns that advocate plastic waste removal); and Research (Looking for ways to develop innovative solutions recycling used materials and protecting new ones.

Lidl aims to reduce the use of new plastic to at least 20% by the year 2025.

In what is being considered in new step in military cooperation, a joint exercise between Cypriot, Italian, French and Greek naval forces will be held near the west of Cyprus.

The preparations for the exercise, which comes in the middle of continuing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean region, have already begun. 3 Greek F-16 jets and 3 French Rafael fighter jets have already arrived the Paphos’ Andreas Papandreou airbase.

They will be participating with the Cyprus National Guard.

The joint naval drill comes after repeated claims by both Cyprus and Greece of Turkey violating their respective exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Turkey had sent the Oruc Reis, its seismic research vessel, along with several naval escort vessels the EEZ regions.

Both Turkey as well as Turkish Cyprus have expressed their outrage at the “Islamophobic” act of the hanging of a Byzantine flag on a mosque in the Greek Cyprus region.

Fuat Oktay, the vice-president of Turkey, took to Twitter to express his disapproval, saying how the Greek Cypriot administration must end the encouragement of anti-Islam and anti-Turkish activities. They must take measures and see to it that the “diseased mentality,” should be put to an end.

The move was further criticized by Omer Celik, a spokesman of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party. He also took to Twitter to express how the Greece must end its hostility towards Islam with immediate effect.

“We strongly condemn the hanging of a Byzantine flag on a mosque in Tuzla village in Southern Cyprus. The Greek administration should stop hostility toward Islam,” he said in a tweet.

Greek Cyprus has seen a series of attacks in the recent days. The most prominent of these has been the hanging of the Byzantine flag on a mosque in Southern Cyprus’ Tuzia village.

Another incident includes an arson attempt on another mosque in the region.

Vassilis Demetriades has taken the post of the new shipping minister of Cyprus. He has replaced outgoing minister Natasa Pilides, who herself is taking up a new post as the Energy Minister.

In his handover ceremony, Demetriades expressed his happiness at taking over the new role. He explained how it has been a long 22-year-journey since he first entered the premises of what was then the Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS).

He described himself as a bright-eyed employee with great ambitions to grow the shipping sector of the island nation.

He further explained how he, along with the Deputy Ministry will be working as a single unit to work towards the growth of development of the sector.

Shipping has historically been a major part of Cyprus’ economy, and is said to contribute over 7% to the island nation’s GDP.

Prior to his new position, Demetriades serves as a maritime policy expert at the Directorate-General’s office for Mobility and Transport at the European Commission.

Outgoing minister Pilides, who was the first shipping minister of Cyprus, praised Demetriades, saying she was happy to see the junior ministry in the safest hands.

Crime has been on the rise in Cyprus, and the latest incident proves how serious the situation is.

In the last series of happenings, 2 criminals were expedited from the island nation. One of these was a suspect in the theft of thousands of Bitcoin, while the other was a notorious money launderer with Hezbollah links.

The Cypriot Department of Justice (DOJ) explained how one of the suspects is in fact wanted in the US states of Arizona and Georgia for extortion and cybercrimes. The other is a wanted man in Florida for conducting money-laundering activities on behalf of Hezbollah.

The first man, Joshua Polloso Epifaniou, is a Cypriot national. He has been charged with wire fraud, along with conspiracy to commit computer fraud. He is also wanted for extortion and identity theft. According to the DOJ, Mr. Epifaniou along with his accomplices had stolen personal information from a variety of people including a New York-based hardware company, a California-based an online game publisher, a an online sports site owned by Turner, and an employment website based out of in Virginia. He has been accused of stealing over $56,850 in Bitcoin through his fraudulent activities.

The second extradited man,  Ghassan Diab is a Lebanese citizen, who has allegedly laundered over $100,000. He has also been identifies as a potential Hezbollah member.

In what is being called a very symbolic move that shows the solidarity between France and Cyprus, French President Emmanuel Macron posted a very important message in Greek language, as opposed to the standard French and English.

The message, which was posted on Facebook, said how President Macron supports the plight of the island nation as well as Greece, which have recently come under distress due to Turkey’s aggressive maritime tactics.

The statement added how said tactics were nothing short of a human right violation, and that such threatening treatment with an EU member state shall not be tolerated.

Macron went on to explain how the mounting security and energy issues in the Mediterranean area are being caused by other powers, over whom the EU itself has little to no influence.

That being said, a solution must be made to settle the issue. To that end, a meeting of the EU’s southern members will soon be called.

According to a report by the Pancyprian Association of Cancer Patients and Friends (Pasykaf), as many as 78 new cases of head and neck cancer get reported annually.

Most of the recorded cases have been known to occur in the laryngeal area. Most of the patients constitute men, with the male to female ratio lying between 2:1 to 4:1.

Pasykaf says that most of these cases have their cause in health-risking activities alcoholism and smoking, and pre-existing conditions such as EBV (Epstain-Barr virus), HPV (human papillomavirus).

The report further mentioned the various symptoms of head and neck cancer, which include change in voice, hoarseness, ear pain, persistent nasal congestion, nosebleeds, and issues with swallowing.

Pasykaf advised that if people experiencing these symptoms must contact their physician immediately.

The term ‘head and neck cancer’ defines a specific set of cancer types which strictly develop in the nose, throat, mouth, salivary glands, and other places in the neck or head.

Currently, these are over 550,000 recorded cases of these with over 380,000 deaths.

In what is being considered alarming news, an amber alert has been issued in observance of the sudden and sharp rise in temperatures.

The alert, issued by the Cyprus meteorological service, has been issued for what is the 49th temperature warning for 2020. According to the alert, the temperatures are set to go as high as 43 degrees Celsius in the plains, and over 35C in the mountainous areas during the peak period of 11am to 5pm.

According to the weather forecast, the rise in temperature has happened due to a heated atmospheric mass that has been affecting the area, effectively raising the temperature by several degrees.

The Met Office further declared said that while it will be considerably breezy in the coastal, the inland areas would remain hot and dry.

Temperatures in the night time, however, should cool down to around 25C inland, 23C in the coasts other coastal areas.