Finland:"50-50 chance" of Cyprus deal, EU accession staying on track
A 50-50 chance remains of clinching a deal over Cyprus and allowing Turkey’s EU membership bid to stay on track following cancellation of talks due to take place in Helsinki this weekend.
European Union president Finland was forced on Thursday to drop plans for talks Turkey and the Greek and Turkish Cypriots intended to break a deadlock which could derail Turkey’s EU accession.
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said it had not been possible to broker a meeting to discuss a trade and ports deal before the European Commission publishes a progress report on Ankara’s EU candidacy next Wednesday.
However, he said Finland believed it still had a 50-50 chance of clinching a deal by mid-December, when EU leaders decide what consequences the dispute have for entry talks.
“Our aim has been to find a solution that enables the uninterrupted continuation of Turkey’s accession negotiations and improves the situation of both communities in Cyprus,” Mr Tuomioja said in a statement after days of intensive diplomatic activity trying to set up the talks in Helsinki.
The Greek Cypriots blamed Ankara for the cancellation of the Helsinki meeting. “We understand that this development is due to the positions and conditions set by the Turkish side, which with its stance made the convening of such proximity talks not possible,” a Nicosia government statement said.
Turkish bond prices fell on the news. Traders said market hopes of a deal that would keep Ankara’s accession negotiations on track appeared to have been dashed for now.
Mr Tuomioja, who was due to go ahead with a separate meeting with Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat in Brussels yesterday, said in a web log that questions of form had hindered progress even before the substance could be addressed with the parties.
Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan, who heads Ankara’s EU negotiations,said Greece would have to be included in talks. “What we told (Finland) is either continue with the shuttle diplomacy or let’s have all the relevant sides around the table, which means Greece,Turkey, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” Mr Babacan told reporters during a visit to Dublin.
Greece said it had not been invited to the talks. “Greece was never invited to this informal meeting. There was no reason to [be invited],” Greek Foreign Minister Dore Bakoyanni said in a statement.
Turkey has been unhappy with Greek Cypriot efforts to involve the EU, questioning the bloc’s objectivity. Ankara maintains the United Nations is the best place for trying to reach a Cyprus settlement.
The EU executive is expected to report this week that Turkey had not yet met a treaty obligation to open ports to shipping from Cyprus under its customs union with the 25-nation bloc, which Turkey is refusing to do until the EU makes good on a pledge to end the economic isolation of Turkish Cypriot northern Cyprus.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has urged Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to accept the Finnish initiative as best way to avid a “train crash” in Ankara’s EU bid.
Both sides have demanded changes to the initiative.
President Talat, said his side was prepared to discuss all proposals to try to avoid a derailment. “We see the proposals of Finland as a genuine and good-willed attempt to avoid this train crash that is anticipated by some circles in the European Union,” he said.
Robb in jail
GARY Robb and his former Aga Developments partner Tahir Soycan were remanded in custody yesterday for three days after allegations that they faked documents so Mr Robb could avoid military service.
The two men were arrested on Thursday and appeared yesterday at Lefkoşa District Court where they were remanded pending further investigations which could lead to Mr Robb eventually facing a military court.
According to reliable legal sources, Mr Robb is alleged to have paid £5,000 to Tahir Soycan for the preparation of a document in December 2002 “so he could avoid military service.”
Mr Robb needed to present a document to the military stating that he had completed military service in the UK and Mr Soycan is alleged to have told Mr Robb that such a document could be prepared for a suitable sum.
According to sources close to Mr Soycan, Mr Robb obtained a document from a friend who often visited the TRNC indicating that he had done his military service in the UK. Mr Robb is alleged to have forged this document, changed the name, and presented it to the Army Recruitment Branch for him to be exempted from military service.
“If he didn’t do this, he couldn’t become a TRNC citizen,” said the legal source.
He claimed the reason for the arrest of Mr Soycan was because police found a copy of the “forged” document in his possession.
Mr Robb and Mr Soycan are now being held in cells at the central police station in the old quarter of Lefkoşa. They will reappear in court on Monday.
The source said it was possible Mr Robb could be tried by a military court.
However, it is believed the TRNC Cabinet,when it meets on Tuesday, will determine Mr Robb’s fate. A source told Cyprus Today that authorities were concerned that Mr Robb might be preparing to “snatch and run.”
“The Cabinet could put Gary Robb on a plane or in a car and give him to the British authorities-or they might accept a guarantee that he will return the money he took [to Thailand] and finish the building projects he started but left-completed,” the source said.
Another reliable source also told Cyprus Today it was believed the intention of the government was for Gary Robb to be handed over to the British authorities once problems surrounding Aga Development were solved.
According to the source, some of Gary Robb’s developments were “built on land belonging to other people”,adding: “They are waiting for this problem to be solved. Then they will hand him over to the British authorities.”
The source claimed Mr Robb and Mr Soycan used the money paid to them by prospective homeowners and then attempted to squeeze an additional £15,000 out of each home buyer on the basis that, once Robb had fled with the money, it was impossible to finish the building work.
All was going well until Mr Robb was stripped of his citizenship. “When Robb’s citizenship was taken away, Mr Soycan “benefited”from the opportunity presented to him.”
Daughter’s desperate bid to get dad’s body released
THE daughter of a British accountant who died in Lefkoşa State Hospital is applying for a loan to cover unpaid medical bills of £5,000 in a desperate bid to have his body released.
John Hamer,57, fell ill soon after arriving in North Cyprus on holiday with his wife and daughter and spent 24 days in hospital until he died of a heart attack on October 9.Nearly four weeks later, his body remains in the hospital morgue because the bill has not been cleared- despite claims that a mystery benefactor had paid the outstanding costs.
It emerged last week that an unnamed Turkish Cypriot cafe owner not only failed to hand over any cash to the hospital as promised, but had also pocketed more than £1,000 collected by the Hamer family towards the cost of a coffin, Christian blessing and flying the body home.
Mr Hamer’s daughter Samantha,25, told Cyprus Today she had given up hope of getting any money back from the person she believed to be a good samaritan.
“We may as well call that dead money,” she said. “We didn’t get a receipt because we trusted the man who said he would help us.”
“I have applied for loan to pay the hospital bill because we have to get the money together somehow.”
Samantha, an office administrator from Derby, added: “We thought we were getting everything sorted out but the nightmare just gets worse.”
“We handed over money for the coffin, cargo ticket and for a priest to bless the coffin, but my dad is still in the hospital.”
“We are trying our best to get him back to England.”
Her mother Cilla said she is “bearing up” after the grief of losing her husband and the
series of setbacks in getting his body home.
She said Mr Hamer had been given the all-clear to fly by his GP despite suffering from a minor lung infection before leaving, but he was not eligible for travel insurance.
The women’s passports were seized by the hospital after Mr Hamer’s death and they were informed these would not be returned until the medical bill had been paid.
These were eventually released, and it was understood the mystery benefactor had up the hospital costs so that Mr Hamer’s body could be discharged and flown to England for burial.
But after this week’s distressing developments, the Hamers have been forced to put plans for his funeral in Derby on hold.
Family friend Mike Clearke, of Çatalköy, said: “This needs to be sorted out.”
“We are in limbo until the body is leseased.”
Lefkoşa State Hospital has confirmed the body is still in its morgue.
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