This week in North Cyprus > 21-28 March 2005
Money Scandal at Presidents office
On Thursday the attorney generals office and police began an investigation into a £125.000 hole in the expenses account at the Presidents office. The affair has led to the suspension of 16 members of staff and it is believed that arrests are now likely.
A report by the auditor generals office highlighted irregularities over the first 3 months of 2001 but it is believed the scale of the scandal is much greater. The office which called for action by prosecuters and police has demanded that the missing money be repaid within 90 days.
Mehmet Soykurt the auditor that prepared the 38 page report said that falsified cheques had been issued from the unexpected expenses or social budget in the names of former recipients or their spouses. Cheques totalling the equivalent of 311,900 YTL, were either cashed or deposited into accounts at different banks. The investigation started after Behiç Amcazade a genuine recipient of social aid from the presidency complained his cheque had not arrived. Inquiries uncovered a 'paper trail of alleged embezzlement'. The finance minister Ahmet Uzun said "The auditor general's report contains some very serious accusations." "All the documents have been passed on by the auditors. The rest will be up to the police. There have been consultations with our ministry as well and we have sent personnel to replace those who have been suspended."
New "Daily" English print newspaper launched.
Friday saw the launch of a new english print newspaper. The Cyprus Times was launched as a sister paper to the "Kibrisli". The publications aim is to provide the right blend of news, features, politics and local events and will cover a wide range of topics. The editor-in-chief Angelina Di Fazio is already a well known name to readers of North Cyprus' weekly newspaper 'Cyprus Today'. Other regular features include back page sports news and pages offering advice on where to eat, where to stay, what to see, what to do and even where to gamble! The Cyprus Times costs 1YTL and is to be published seven days a week.
UK papers pull out of TRNC tourism promotion
The publisher of some of Britains biggest national newspapers has pulled the plug on a major promotion of North Cyprus holidays in the wake of Ken Livingstons ban on transport advertising.
News international said the Times and the Sunday Times had decided on Thursday it would not do any "cobranded activity with tour operators promoting holidays to Northern Cyprus as it would cause offence to Greek Cypriots who feel that their land was taken from them unjustly". The decision was taken at the last step in negotiations that the group was holding with London based tour operator Cyprus Paradise owned by Turkish Cypriot Alan Suleyman. Mr Suleyman said on Thursday "We were talking with News International to see if they would put a North Cyprus reader's offer into their paper, they checked us and were veery happy with the results. They adreed to put a cheap holiday offer to the North into their paper on May 14th." He added that "the deal was we were to print 750,000 copies of an eight-page special offer with the name of The Times on it and they were going to promote our product." Cyprus Paradise were to pay £50,000 in advance plus more later as commision. The company were hoping to gain around 2000 new clients and earn around £750,000 in what was to be a great promotion for the North. Mr Suleyman recieved an e-mail on Thursday informing him that after speaking to the managing editors of both newspapers they had decided not to go ahead with the promotion.
Last week the Tranport for London (TFL) authority, headed by Mayor Ken Livingstone, turned down a request by the North Cyprus Tourist Board to advertise holidays to North Cyprus on London buses and tube trains.
Lawyers clash in last 'Orams' case hearing.
April 19th looks set to be the date when a verdict will be delivered on the controversial 'Orams' case hearing. The final hearing before the verdict took place last Thursday. Mrs Orams lawyer Günes Mentes was questioned over the affadavit he had submitted to the court. The court proceedings were often halted because both Mr Mentes and Greek Cypriot lawyer Constantin Candounas, had to have their arguments translated between Turkish and Greek. Center of the cross examination of Mr Mentes was the assertation in his affadavit that the statement of claim by plaintiff Meletis Apostolides was "baseless, concocted and fabricated" citing as an example the claim by Mr Mentes that the plaintiff had not mentioned that a house had been built on the land in question.
Speaking later at his Girne office, Mr Mentes said the issue of translation had hampered the entire proceedings. Mr Mentes had asked for an english translator but was told he was engaged in proceedings in the High court. The whole concept of the 1975 Denktas - Makarios agreement on property exchange and population transfer was included in his affadavit and relevant to the case but was not mentioned due to the lack of an English translator.
Historical 'North' V 'South' Football match
On Saturday, a historic football match took place before approximately four thousand spectators at Larnaca's Famagusta stadium. The Yenicami team from North Cyprus were eventually defeated 4-0 by the Greek Cypriot side Nea Salamina. The match was the first time teams from both sides of the island had met for over 50 years. Spectators were offered free transport from the Ledra palace checkpoint in Lefkosa. In the crowd were officials from both sides including the TRNC Minister of Youth, the mayor of Famagusta and other parliament members and bureaucrats from the TRNC. The south was represented by the speaker of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives and by members of the Greek Cypriot administration. A return leg to be played in North Cyprus is planned for May.
Popular restaurant destroyed by blaze.
A restaurant in Karaoglanoglu was gutted by fire after a pan of cooking oil caught light. The owner of the Dünya restaurant Hasan D ösemecisoy has been running the popular kebab style restaurant for 18 years and has vowed to be back in business again soon. The fire started in the kitchen at around 3.30pm and quickly spread through the wooden interior of the building. Massive traffic tailbacks built up in both directions along the main Girne to Lapta road. Luckily, there were no injuries in the blaze and Fire fighters stayed on the scene for several hours damping down the remains to prevent ashes from re-igniting.
The weather forecast for 28.03.2005 to 01.04.2005
The beginning of the week will see light cloud with temperatures increasing from 21-24°C and reaching 25 - 27°C by the end of the week.
Most days will see moderate cloud with sunny intervals although Wednesday may bring some light rain.
Last week's temperatures
Town/City |
Minimum |
Maximum |
Lefkosa |
7.4C |
24.0C |
Ercan |
4.0C |
24.0C |
Gazi Magusa |
6.4C |
22.1C |
Girne |
10.5C |
20.5C |
Güzelyurt |
3.5C |
22.0C |
This week's exchange rate
STG £ |
2.52 YTL |
USD $ |
1.35 YTL |
EURO € |
1.75 YTL |
CYP £ |
2.90 YTL |
Resources: Cyprus Today
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