Across the Divide News and Language Services

Kyriacos Kiliaris News Across the Dıvıde Geçtiğimiz Perşembe günü adanın iki tarafından iki kayıp yakınları arasında Dayanışma Evi’nde duygusal bir buluşma gerçekleşti. 1974 olayları sırasında amcalarını kaybeden Hristoforos Frantzis ve Yusuf Alkım bir araya gelerek kayıp akrabalarının hikâyelerini anlattılar ve acılarını birbirleriyle paylaştılar. Hristoforos’un her iki tarafın da kayıplarıyla ilgili çektiği belgesel çekimleri çerçevesinde gerçekleşen buluşmayı sizin için izleyip iki kayıp amcanın hikâyelerini dinledik. Söze ilk giren Hristoforos oldu. “Amcam 1974 Ağustos ayının 14’ünde gerçekleşen istilanın ikinci safhasında Çatoz köyüne yakın bir yerde öldürülmüş” diyerek, ailesinin ne Kiriakos amcasından ne de onun ölüm koşullarından bahsettiğini vurguladı. Hristoforos’un bu olaydan sağ kurtulabilen birkaç askerden elde edebildiği bilgilere göre amcası Türk ordusunun adaya çıkmasını engellemek için gönderilen 300 Kıbrıslı Rum genç asker arasındaydı. Askerler yeters...

Γράφει ο Κυριάκος Κοιλιάρης News Across the Divide Μια συγκινητική συνάντηση δυο συγγενών αγνοουμένων απο τις δυο πλευρές του νησιού έλαβε χώρα την Πέμπτη στο Σπίτι της Συνεργασίας. Ο Χριστόφορος Φραντζης και ο Γιουσούφ Αλκιμ που έχασαν τους θείους τους κατά τη διάρκεια του πολέμου του 1974 βρέθηκαν στο πλαίσιο γυρισμάτων ενός ντοκιμαντέρ του Χριστόφορου σχετικά με τους αγνοούμενους των δυο πλευρών. Το News Across the Divide ήταν εκεί για να ακούσει και να μεταφέρει τις ιστορίες τους. Ξεκινώντας ο Χριστόφορος μας διηγήθηκε την ιστορία του θείου που σκοτώθηκε σε μάχες που στην δεύτερη φάση της εισβολής στις 14 Αυγούστου 1974 κοντά στο Τζάος. Ο ίδιος λέει πως η οικογένεια του δεν μιλάει πολύ για το θείο του τον Κυριάκο και το πως σκοτώθηκε. Από πληροφορίες που μπόρεσε να συλλέξει ο θείος του πήρε εντολή μαζί με ακόμη 300 στρατιώτες να αντιμετωπίσουν την απόβαση των Τούρκων. Οι πληροφορίες του λένε ότι στην ουσία οι Ελληνοκύπριοι στρατιώτες αφέθηκαν μόνοι τους να αντιμ...

Photo from Yeniduzen By Kyriacos Kiliaris School students and their families in the north of Cyprus are complaining that the kids' lives are in danger due to the bad conditions prevailing in the public school transportation system. As if the problems faced by the Turkish Cypriot public education were not enough, a Yeniduzen article along with photos making the rounds on social media accounts, reveal that students in the north are being transported under dangerous conditions. Also read Students left without a classroom in Kyrenia schools Photos of children squeezed in rows of the bus, while others are standing in the corridor have caused the reactions of many parents.    Adding to the above an expose by Turkish Cypriot newspaper Yeniduzen claims that a number of old buses which do not have seatbelt nor airconditioning are still being used for transporting school children from and to their schools. Mehmet Avci, the head of the Traffic Accident Pre...

By Kyriacos Kiliaris Turkish Cypriots are unsatisfied with the performance of the ruling coalition in the north and have given all its members a failing grade. An opinion poll conducted by the Center for Migration, Identity and Rights Studies in the north shows that Turkish Cypriots do not give any of the members a passing grade when asked “Which minister, and how much do you trust him/her? The opinion is conducted every three months and asks for the opinion of Turkish Cypriots on various matters concerning their community. According to relevant sector of the poll conducted in July 2017, Turkish Cypriots gave all members of the coalition a grade lower than 5 out of 10. Most trusted by the public is the head of the coalition and president of the National Unity Party (UBP) Huseyin Ozgurgun scoring just 4.16 out of 10. Ozgurgun is followed by three ministers who score just above 4. It's worth noting that the coalitions second in command, and head of the finance office Se...

By Kyriacos Kiliaris Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said that he does not expect a new initiative regarding the Cyprus problem to be made over the next few months leading up to the presidential elections in the south of the island. Speaking at the Ercan (Tymbou) airport before his departure for New York, where he is to have a series of meetings on the sidelines of the UN summit, Akinci said that the Greek Cypriot needs to clarify its thoughts on how they perceive their relationship with the Turkish Cypriots. Akinci added that he is to transfer to the Secretary General that “otherwise we don't believe that an open ended negotiation will lead anywhere”. Akinci, who is accompanied by the Turkish Cypriot chief negotiator Ozdil Nami, is to meet with Antonio Guterres on Friday. He added that his trip to New York is important for two reasons. Firstly as it the meeting will take place after the collapse of the Conference on Cyprus in the Swiss resort of Crans Montana in S...

By Kyriacos Kiliaris The school year in the north of Cyprus was off to a sour start on Monday with KTOS, the Turkish Cypriot elementary teachers' union reporting that a number of children were left without a classroom in public schools in Kyrenia due to the schools being overcrowded. According to Sener Elcil the General Secretary of the union 75 elementary school children, despite being enrolled for the school year, were not able to able to join their classmates as classrooms are overcrowded. Elcil said that the Kyrenia Maarif elementary school was unable to find a classroom to accommodate 40 students while, another 35 students of the Karakum Elementary School were also left without a classroom. He lushed out at the coalition saying that the head of the education office in the north, Ozdemir Berova, had stated a while back that they “had set aside the money for a new school in Kyrenia but are unable to find a field available to build”. ...

The dam in Gecitkoy (Panagra) By Kyriacos Kiliaris   Turkish Cypriots are complaining that they are paying a very high price for the water coming from Turkey with water being sold at a price more than double the old in some councils in the north compared to the old price applicable before the arrival of the Turkish water. Turkish Cypriot Newspaper Havadis, compared the councils' water bills to find that councils in the north paid the authorities 3.2 million Turkish Lira more in August 2017 compared to Augustus 2016. Councils had paid a total of of 3.8 million TL for water from Turkey where as the price they paid for water supply, before the arrival of the Turkish water, in August 2016 was 553,000 TL. Also read  High price for Turkish Cypriot water    As estimated by the paper the councils were paying on average 20-30,000 TL per month, with the cost rising to an average 100,000 TL after the arrival of the water from Turkey. The Turkish ...