LOCAL CYPRUS NEWS

UNIONS, media outlets and opposition political parties in the north are accusing ‘the government’ of pandering to the Islamist interests of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) after it gave the green light for the building of “theology complex� on the outskirts of Nicosia.

The wave of accusations came after the ‘council of ministers’ rushed through an agreement in which EVKAF, an umbrella organisation for religious foundations, would rent a 200-donum site to the religion-based Cyprus Science, Honour and Aid Foundation (KISAV) on a 30-year contract for a rent of just 100 Turkish Lira per year. (around €50).

One of the first to condemn the move was Teachers Union (KTOS) boss Sener Elcil who said the deal was the work of the AKP, whose aim it was “to fill the north with Sheikhs�.

“They [the government] are taking orders from the AKP and the Turkish Embassy,� he said, adding: “New religious foundations are being formed by the day and we have no idea by whom�.

According to reports in the Turkish Cypriot press, KISAV was formed a mere two months ago by a small group of mainland Turks from Kahramanmaras and Konya, Turkey’s religious capital. Attempts by the Cyprus Mail to contact KISAV resulted in failure. The NGO has no website and is not registered with directory enquiries.

Criticism of the deal also came from the owners of the nearby International Cyprus University (UKU) whose administrators said they had been struggling for 20 years to obtain the land into which they hope to expand their campus. Another company, Turkmall, said it offered the authorities 417,000 pounds sterling and a promise to invest €15 million in a shopping and leisure centre on the site – a proposal which the company said had been looked favourably upon by EVKAF. KISAV’s proposal foresees an €8.5 million investment on a project that will include a theology school, a mosque, accommodation and a swimming pool.

Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Ersin Kucuk sought to play down the accusations by saying, “It is wrong to think only of the economy and trade� and promised the complex would “bring benefits the people�. He added that once the 30-year lease expired, the complex would again become “public property�.

However, his words did not prevent further protest from political parties wary of mainland Turkish investment in the north. Indeed, last week the north was brought to a virtual collapse when electricity and telecommunications workers stopped work angry at plans to sell of currently ‘state-owned’ corporations to mainland Turkish companies.

“The socio-economic invasion of north Cyprus is gaining speed and no one can keep up with it,� head of the left-wing New Cyprus Party (YKP) Murat Kanatli said . In a press statement Kanatli recalled how the previous year ‘state-owned’ Eastern Mediterranean College in Famagusta had, without consultation, been sold off to the Turkish-owned Doga Group, believed by many to be the property of Fetullah Gulen, an influential but moderate religious figure currently in self-imposed exile from Turkey in the US Gulen runs thousands of educational institutions both in Turkey and throughout world.

THE AGREEMENT brokered by Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous to  exempt companies from granting pay rises other than those pegged to inflation through the Cost of Living allowance (CoLA)  could create more problems than it solves, say economists.

While the agreement between the Employers and Industrialists Federation, OEV, and two major trade unions, SEK and PEO eliminates the risk of industrial action, it could add more burdens to the already struggling economy.

"It neither safeguards the robustness of enterprises nor serves the workers as a whole," economist Spyros Episkopou, chief executive officer of Epicentral Consultancy told the Sunday Mail.

The deal would only serve those with jobs and who benefit from inflation compensation, Episkopou added.

Cyprus’s enterprises are not particularly competitive, reflected in the size of the current account deficit, said academic Alexander Michaelides. Maintaining the wage indexation system, also known as the cost of living allowance, does not help, Michaelides said.

"When unemployment rises above 9 per cent and the trend continues, it seems that by insisting on CoLA, unions haven't got it that they are risking more jobs," said Michaelides, director of the Centre of Banking and Finance at the University of Cyprus.

The deficit of Cyprus's current account, which reflects all flows of goods, services and transfers with the rest of the world, is expected to narrow to 5.0 per cent of gross domestic product by 2014 from 7.8 per cent in 2010, a reflection of the slowdown in demand and economic output.  It had peaked at 17 per cent in 2008.

Sotiris Fellas, deputy secretary general at PEO, said that the indexation of wages to inflation is not linked to unemployment. "This is demonstrated in the development of unit labour costs," he said.

In the third quarter of 2011, Cyprus's unit labour costs rose 1.3 per cent compared to a year before, according to the European Central Bank. In the eurozone, unit labour costs rose 1.6 per cent in the same period. This meant that Cyprus's competitiveness improved compared to that of the eurozone in that period.

However, the long-term development of unit labour costs in Cyprus shows an alarming picture. From the fourth quarter of 1998, immediately before the launch of the euro, the single currency bloc's unit labour cost fell 5.5 per cent, while in Cyprus it rose 9.6 per cent.

The increase was nearly 12 per cent in Greece, 9.4 per cent in Ireland and 7.3 per cent in Portugal.

Fast forward more than a decade later, all three countries were, like Cyprus, shut out of financial markets and had to resort to an international bailout in the last two years. In Germany, the eurozone's largest economy which is de facto dictating bailout terms, they fell almost 19 per cent.

As a result, Cyprus is one of the most expensive countries for production in the eurozone; its  unit labour costs index stood in the third quarter of 2011 at 111.6, compared to 107.7 in Greece, 106.6 in Portugal and was close to that of Ireland's 115.8.

A HAND grenade was thrown at the Limassol home of former police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos in the early hours of yesterday.

Police say the attack was connected to Katsounotos’ current duties as the head of Limassol Traffic Police.

According to the head of Limassol Police, Yiannis Georgiou, Katsounotos has a good idea who was behind the attack and a number of people have been summoned to give statements.

Georgiou added that the force would not tolerate such acts against members of the police and it would be “relentless� in investigating the case.

“The throwing of this hand grenade is directly connected to the duties of the police lieutenant and this fact is of great concern to the police,� said Georgiou. “Investigations are heading in a specific direction, which was indicated by Mr Katsounotos,� he added.

Police Chief Michalis Papageorgiou visited Limassol Police Headquarters early yesterday morning to be briefed on the case. He spoke to Katsounotos and gave specific orders on how the case should be investigated.

The military hand grenade detonated at a little before 2am in the front entrance of Katsounotos’ two-storey home, which he shares with his family and in-laws. Katsounotos was on duty at the time of the incident.

The front door, verandah and a family car suffered extensive damage. Evidence was collected from the scene for more tests.

POLICE are investigating the murder of 22-year-old Andreas Papadopoulos from Lakatamia, who was found in his car with a gunshot wound to his head in the early hours of yesterday.

According to the police, Papadopoulos was found crouched over in his car’s passenger seat, parked outside a house on the Kokkinotrimithia – Paliometocho old road, in the Agioi Trimithias village in Nicosia.

The member of the public who found him at 4.20am, immediately notified the police, thinking Papadopoulos was just injured.

Police cordoned off the scene and scoured the area for evidence.

An eye witness yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the victim’s dog, who was in the car with him, was also shot in the snout, but survived.

The hit was reportedly drug-related.

The head of Nicosia Police Headquarters, Kypros Michaelides, said the police found the victim in his car in the early hours of yesterday morning, after being informed by the member of public who came across the scene.

Michaelides clarified that the house outside of which Papadopoulos had parked wasn’t his, nor did he have any connection with it.

“Investigations are underway to determine the conditions under which (Papadopoulos) was found there and the reasons for why he was shot,� said Michaelides. “Preliminary investigations have shown that this person was shot at close range and intensive investigations and examinations are underway so we can figure out the reasons behind his death.�

Police yesterday began gathering statements from people close to the victim, in the hope of getting to the bottom of the murder.

“The specific person is indeed well known to the police, but obviously I can’t say much more on the matter,� said Michaelides.

State Pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous told reporters yesterday he had carried out a preliminary post mortem at the crime scene. A post mortem will also be carried out on the victim’s body to establish the official cause of death.

COMMUNICATIONS ministry and bus companies yesterday continued meeting in a bid to iron out their differences and bring an end to the bus drivers’ strike, which has been inconveniencing the public since last Wednesday.

According to media reports yesterday, the two sides hope to reach an agreement by the time the weekend was over.

Speaking to the CyBC yesterday, Communications Minister Efthymios Flourentzos said the differences between the two sides “are shrinking�.

“I hope a solution is found,� said the minister. “We are awaiting a response from the bus companies regarding our suggestions and alternative proposals that we posed (on Friday night).�

Bus drivers across the island – except the Larnaca District, who stopped striking on Wednesday night after reaching an agreement with the ministry – have been on strike over the companies’ failure to pay them their January wages.

The result was thousands of passengers – old and young – being inconvenienced, with some school children even being unable to turn up to school.