By Jean Christou
The government’s re-definition of ‘transatlantic’ to ‘five-hour flight’, which would allow more state officials to circumvent the ban on business-class travel, was ridiculed at the House Watchdog Committee yesterday as Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides apparently tried to pin the ‘misunderstanding’ on the accountant-general’s office.
Accountant-general Rea Georgiou said the circular, which effectively extended the perk to other officials had come from the Cabinet. Kasoulides said it had been ‘misinterpreted’ and that the state accountant’s office needed to contact the Secretariat of the Cabinet to clarify the issue.
But deputies at the meeting suggested the government was trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes.
The saga began in January 2013, a month before the previous left-wing AKEL government was ousted, when, as part of austerity measures, business class travel was limited to the President and the House Speaker. The president of the Supreme Court was added back in but other state officials were not to travel business class.
Subsequently the troika’s memorandum of understanding with the new government specifically stated: “Reduce certain benefits and privileges for state officials and senior government officials, in particular by: suspending the right to travel first/business class by state officials, senior government officials and employees with the exception of transatlantic travel.”
At the end of last month, daily Politis reported that the Cabinet had recently reinstated business class travel for certain government officials, some 16 months after it was scrapped.
A circular issued earlier that month clarified that the term ‘transatlantic’ would be defined as flights over five hours including stopovers, although by its very definition the term means actually crossing the Atlantic and from Cyprus this would generally take 15-20 hours at a minimum.
But the new circular meant that even flying to Brussels, a frequent destination for state officials, would now be considered ‘transatlantic’ since Cyprus Airways no longer flew there direct.
The circular was addressed to a number of state officials including the attorney-general, auditor-general, ministry permanent secretaries, and the ombudsman but the government said at the time after being quizzed, that the new provision applied only to ministers.
Deputies yesterday had a field day with the issue. Opposition AKEL MP Giorgos Loucaides said the Cabinet’s new decision was an affront to society. He also urged the government to revise its decision and have the provision apply to actual long journeys.
“Now, when there is a stopover for Brussels, it is considered transatlantic,” he said, adding that in the case of the foreign minister himself it might be justified for him to travel business class. However Kasoulides said rules should apply to all ministers or none at all.
Greens MP Giorgos Perdikis, referring to the troika MoU, said when the state is called to change provisions in the document to alleviate the suffering of the masses, the government insists it can’t be changed.
“But when it comes to public service officials, decisions are made outside of the memorandum,” he added.
Kasoulides argued that the term ‘transatlantic’ as defined in the memorandum had meant state officials travelling to Asian countries would not have been covered for business class but he offered no explanation for why as little as five hours was chosen as the threshold.
He said reaction to the change had been “excessive”, especially from AKEL who he said “protested too much”.
“For four years and 10 months the previous government, used business class. Did they not think of the unemployed… because it was then only two per cent less than it is today,” he said.
Kasoulides said he himself preferred to travel with a low-cost airline when there was a direct flight to Brussels. He also said he had been unaware for a whole year that he was allowed to upgrade to business class when the cost was covered by international organisations.

By Karolos Grohmann
Much-fancied Belgium fought back from a goal down to score twice in the final 20 minutes and earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over gutsy Algeria in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.

Substitutes Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens turned the game around after Algeria playmaker Sofiane Feghouli had given them a 25th minute lead with a penalty at the Mineirao stadium.

Belgium, back at the World Cup after a 12-year absence, enjoyed the majority of possession but struggled to break down a disciplined two-line Algerian defence which kept Eden Hazard and forward Romelu Lukaku well in check.

The Algerians, with El Arabi Soudani surprisingly in the starting lineup for key forward Islam Slimani, posed little threat up front with winger Riyad Mahrez firing well wide in their only foray in the Belgian box early in the game.

They were far more successful the second time they ventured forward when left back Jan Vertonghen brought down Feghouli after a fine cross from Faouzi Ghoulam.

Feghouli calmly fired past keeper Thibaut Courtois to end his country’s 28-year wait for a World Cup goal and send the green-white-clad Algerian fans delirious.

Belgium’s Axel Witsel tried his luck with a couple of long-range shots but the Red Devils looked nothing like the menacing team that qualified unbeaten for the tournament.

Coach Marc Wilmots, the last Belgium player to score in a World Cup before Tuesday, took off lacklustre Lukaku early in the second half, bringing on teenager Divock Origi in the hope of breathing new life into his team.

It almost paid off instantly when the 19-year-old raced clear but failed to beat keeper Rais Mbohli with Algeria firmly on the backfoot.

It was Wilmots’ other substitute, Fellaini, who delivered when he rose high to meet a Kevin De Bruyne cross and drill his header off the bar and into goal on 70 minutes.

The Desert Foxes, who had hardly put a foot wrong in defence, were caught napping 10 minutes later when Hazard raced down the left wing, and cut back perfectly for subsititute Mertens to fire in for the win.

Marfin Investment Group (MIG), the investment firm founded and run by failed Laiki Bank’s former strongman Andreas Vgenopoulos, has announced that its motion to the World Bank’s international dispute arbitration centre (ICSID) for “international protection” against the Republic of Cyprus for €824 million has been scheduled for adjudication.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, MIG claimed that following the January 2013 motion it filed, along with 18 Greek individuals who also held equity in Laiki, the Republic of Cyprus ignored all invitations to friendly settlement. Therefore, as of September 2013 the case was listed with the World Bank arbitration body.
MIG – and the 18 claimants – are seeking total damages of €1.1 billion for actions or omissions by the Republic of Cyprus in running Laiki Bank, which they claim have eliminated their investment. A bilateral investment protection treaty between Greece and Cyprus, signed in 1992 and effective since 1993, forms the basis for the claimants’ case.
The timeline set by ICSID provides that the submission of arguments and evidence by each party will be completed on March 6, 2016, while the hearing for the case has been set tentatively for the period May 16 to 27, 2016.

By Angelos Anastasiou
DEADLINES might be tight for the introduction of a National Health Scheme but the government has no choice but to stick to them, health minister Philippos Patsalis told those attending a public consultation on its introduction on Tuesday.
“The timelines are very demanding, we know,” Patsalis acknowledged. “But we have to meet them.”
Patsalis kicked off the session with an overview of the progress made so far and the roadmap to full implementation, as finalised recently after tough negotiations with the Troika.
According to the roadmap, the NHS is to be implemented in three stages over one year – the first stage provides for the implementation of the family doctor in July 2015; the second stage will see the introduction of referrals to specialty doctors and a unified drugs policy in January 2016; the third and final stage calls for full implementation by July 2016.
Patsalis reiterated the government’s “four pillars” approach to the philosophy of the proposed NHS. That is, it has to offer universal coverage, fairness in contributions, the free choice of doctor to patients, and financial sustainability.
But a number of prerequisites need to be in place prior to implementing the scheme, including the self-administration of public healthcare facilities and a new role for the Health Ministry.
Taking the floor, one attendee termed the notion of rendering public hospitals self-sufficient in a single year a “joke.”
Some stakeholders, like the union of private healthcare facilities, asked to be included in the deliberations leading up to the allocation of the governmental Health Insurance Organisation’s ‘spherical budget’ – the money to be collected from contributions and spent annually on the entire health scheme.
This was heavily objected by other interest groups, as well as individuals like Andreas Polinikis, who headed the initial design of the NHS more than two decades ago. “Renegotiating provisions of the system we designed will cause massive delays and destroy the balance we instilled,” he pointed out.
Similarly, the representative of private insurance companies argued against the exclusion of private insurance companies – the envisaged NHS will start off as a ‘closed’ system, meaning health insurance will be provided by state insurer HIO, but the prospect of an ‘open’ system at a later point will remain subject to continuous review.
Jobs will be lost, he warned, and the potential advantages of competition will never materialise. But Pieris Pieri, representative of left-wing union PEO, argued that the window left open for private insurers constitutes an unacceptable diversion from what was initially agreed.
Peripheral opinions were not absent, either. One representative of the Green party urged the minister to consider including alternative therapies in the scope of the NHS, while an elderly gentleman who introduced himself as an economist asked Patsalis to provide for the mega-rich foreign executives of international companies who would be asked to contribute 2.55 per cent of their income to the NHS budget.
“This will cause them to leave Cyprus and hurt our economy,” he warned.
Patsalis said he remains interested in hearing people’s point of view. “I would like to ask each of you to forward any suggestions, questions or concerns to my personal mailbox, minister@moh.gov.cy,” he said. “We want to hear your voice.”

By Pavel Polityuk

Ukraine said on Tuesday it was treating an explosion on a pipeline carrying Russian gas to the rest of Europe as a possible “act of terrorism”, intended to discredit Ukraine as a reliable supplier.

The blast, after Russia cut supplies to Kiev in a price row but continued supplying the European Union, caused no casualties and did not interrupt gas flows but has increased tension as Kiev tries to end an uprising by pro-Russian separatists.

The Interior Ministry issued a statement which described the blast, which sent a plume of dark smoke high into the sky over central Ukraine, as “the latest attempt by the Russian side to discredit Ukraine as a partner in the gas sector”.

“Several theories of what happened are being considered including the key theory – an act of terrorism,” Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in the statement, posted on the ministry’s website.

“According to local residents, they heard two big bangs just before the explosion which could indicate they were deliberate explosions,” he said of the incident in the Ukraine’s Poltava region.

The Energy Ministry also suggested there may have been foul play, saying it was “not the first attempted terrorist attack on the Ukrainian gas transportation system.”

There was no immediate comment from Moscow or the rebels who rose up in eastern Ukraine, many of them hoping Russia would absorb the region following its annexation of Crimea in March.

MUTUAL BLAME
Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk told parliament in Kiev that Moscow had blocked attempts to reach a deal in the long-running dispute over the price Ukraine should pay for Russian natural gas and Kiev’s unpaid bills.

“It is part of a plan that envisages a whole series of measures aimed at destroying Ukrainian independence and statehood,” he said, listing the annexation of Crimea, “destabilising” of eastern Ukraine and backing of the rebels.

“They still cannot understand that Ukraine is an independent state, and it is no matter of Russia to define where we should go. And we are going in the direction of the European Union,” he said.

Moscow has blamed Kiev for the failure to reach agreement, with big differences remaining over the price.

Ukraine has said it will try to restore control of the border with Russia to prevent further violence.

But Tuesday’s explosion was far from the violence in east Ukraine, where border guards said 30 servicemen had been wounded in an overnight mortar attack near the border.

The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline, which was hit by the blast, is the main transit route for Russian gas to the EU via Ukraine. Police said the blast on the pipeline happened about two metres (six feet) below ground.

Ukrainian state-run gas transport monopoly Ukrtransgaz said there was no disruption to the gas flow. Emergency services said the blast was caused by the pipeline becoming depressurised, though it did not say what had caused that to happen.

In Moscow, the Rossiya-24 channel said its Russian reporter Igor Konelyuk and sound engineer Anton Voloshin were killed when their position was shelled in clashes near the eastern city of Luhansk.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the deaths showed the “criminal nature” of a military operation launched against the rebels by the Ukrainian government and urged the authorities in Kiev to investigate.

More than 3,000 people and 870 businesses in Cyprus have benefited from EU funding to combat unemployment, while 1,800 jobs have been created, Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said yesterday.
In addition, around 7,000 jobless people have taken part in training progammes and 82 companies have benefited from programmes in the tourism and agrotourism sectors, he said.
Georgiades was addressing a public consultation on EU funding in Nicosia.
According to the data he presented, Cyprus was allocated €660 million from EU structural funds, the cohesion fund and the European fisheries fund for the period 2007-2013. It has so far used up 74 per cent of total available funds, while the rest will be used in ongoing projects which are due to be completed by the end of 2015, the minister said.
As for the new programming period, 2014-2020, Georgiades said the total reached “after difficult negotiations, and after intervention by the President of the Republic”, approximately €960 million from the European Structural Funds and Investment.
Cyprus will get €788 million from the cohesion funds and the initiative for youth employment, €132 million from the European Agriculture Fund and €40 million from the European maritime and fisheries fund.
Georgiades also said there were large funding opportunities from competitive EU funds. For the period 2007-2013 it is estimated that Cypriot companies, local authorities, NGOs and other organisations and players were able to get up to €200 million in funding, he said, adding that the government’s goal was the funds to exceed €300 million in the next accounting period.
“We must ensure that European funds will be utilised in the best possible way and that they will be directed to the areas where they will have the most positive impact on the economy and society in general,” said the minister.

By Constantinos Psillides
The state expects to receive over 70,000 applications for the Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) when legislation comes in to force, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou said yesterday.
Emilianidou, who wrapped up discussion yesterday with trade unions and employers’ organisations, said the plan would be handed over to the Cabinet today and from there to parliament. The scheme was slated to come into effect on July 1 but is likely to be pushed back a few weeks.
The minster sought to clarify negative reports yesterday that the GMI would be only €480 a month. Emilianidou said this was the minimum allowance designed to cover certain basic needs.
Beyond that there would be rent, municipal taxes and other financial help available, she said. As an example she said a couple with no children would receive €874 and a family with one underage child and one child over 18 would be entitled to a total of €1,328.
“Social reform does not merely have to do with amounts, but rather it is an effort to help those who are in need, by assisting them not only financially, but also through services and the provision of care,” Emilianidou said.
The GMI aims at replacing social welfare benefits by ensuring a minimum income for every citizen, whether a person is unemployed or a low-income earner, following calculations by the government of what constitutes “decent living” in Cyprus.
Emilianidou appealed to the House to conclude discussions on the bill as soon as possible. In the meantime, she is asking deputies to approve the elements that would allow the application process to begin so the ministry can help applicants fill in their forms.
Currently some 20,000 people receive public assistance, 8,500 of whom are disabled. Emilianidou said however the government expected over 70,000 applications, all of which would be examined.
For a person to be eligible they must be a permanent resident and have lived in Cyprus for at least five years before applying.
Referring to the way the ‘consumer’s basket’ was calculated, Emilianidou said it included the cost of basic foodstuffs, clothing, footwear, transport, electricity, heating etc. The mean cost of these items has produced the average cost of decent living in Cyprus.
The second element of the GMI is the cost of rent for non-homeowners, which is also subject to differentiation according to family make-up. Emilianidou had explained that scientific research has determined the cost of rent in each district, and that the cost of loan repayments on primary residences would be calculated similarly.
The final element comprising the GMI reflects municipal taxes and related costs, including water connection charges and immovable property fees.
Emilianidou said the fact that the social dialogue had been completed without any suggestion on the part of employers and unions was a good omen.
“I consider that the provisions [of the GMI] are essentially considered to be satisfactory,” she said.
She also warned that the GMI’s basic €480 should not in any way be confused with the minimum wage. “It has nothing to do with the mimimum wage,” she said.

By Gideon Long
Hosts and World Cup favourites Brazil were held to a 0-0 draw by Mexico on Tuesday in an absorbing Group A match in the deafening cauldron of Fortaleza’s Castelao arena.
Brazil failed time and again to break down a stubborn defence backed up by inspired goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa but the Mexicans also created several decent chances in another entertaining game.
Paulinho, Neymar and Thiago Silva all came close to finding the back of the net but were thwarted by Ochoa. Thiago Silva almost stole the match in the dying minutes but the Mexican keeper parried away his point-blank header.
The draw brought to an end Brazil’s 10-match winning streak, dating back to August.
It also meant that to make the second round of the tournament both teams need points from their final group games on June 23 when Brazil face Cameroon in Brasilia and Mexico meet Croatia in Recife.
Brazil bossed the match from the outset with Marcelo and Oscar causing mischief down the left and Neymar showing the occasional burst of brilliance in the middle.
Neymar’s header from a Dani Alves free kick on 26 minutes forced the first fine save from Ochoa, who beat the ball away at his right hand post as it headed goalwards.
Brazil’s best chance of the half came just before the break. Oscar floated a free kick into the box, Thiago Silva chested it down into the path of Paulinho, who just failed to scoop the ball over the keeper from close range.
At the other end, Mexico were restricted to long-range efforts from Miguel Layun, Jose Vasquez and Hector Herrera, none of which seriously troubled Julio Cesar in the Brazilian goal.
This was the first time that Mexico had held Brazil to a draw at a World Cup. Their previous three clashes ended in comprehensive victories for the Brazilians, 5-0, 4-0 and 2-0.

With Wednesday and Thursday’d temperatures jumping to 39C and possibly 40C in Nicosia, the met office said cooler days were on the way towards the weekend.

On Friday the temperature will fall to 37C inland, and 29C-32C on the coast and drop further by Saturday and Sunday to around 33C or 34C inland with some cloud, which is normal for the month.  On the coast, temperatures will fall to 27C or 28C over the weekend.

According to met office’s Marios Theofilou, the highest temperature ever recorded in June in Nicosia was 43.9C but he was not sure of the year. Theofilou said it was normal to hit a couple of hotter days in the month of June. In 2012 the barometer hit 41C for several days during the month.

The Limassol-Paphos highway was closed to traffic on Wednesday evening due to a fire near Sotira village in the Limassol district, according to police.

Drivers are requested to travel to Papos using the old road connecting the two cities.

Due to thick smoke, police also request drivers to keep their distance, and keep their hazard light on at all times when passing through the area.

The fire broke out at around 3pm and has burned 20 hectares so far. A fire department spokesperson said that putting out the blaze was extremely difficult due to strong winds.

By Richard Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko put a pro-Western and business-friendly stamp on his leadership on Wednesday and made peace proposals for the rebellious east involving a unilateral ceasefire by government forces.

Poroshenko, installed as president 11 days ago, nominated Pavlo Klimkin, a pro-European diplomat now serving as ambassador to Germany, for foreign minister. He also asked parliament to approve Valeria Hontareva, an experienced banker widely respected in business circles, as new central bank chief.

Both nominations, which require parliament’s approval, confirmed Poroshenko’s determination to shift the ex-Soviet republic towards the European Union and attract foreign investment for the cash-starved economy. He may present his nominees to parliament on Thursday.

“We are seeing Poroshenko appoint very credible, pro-western, market and business-friendly people,” said Timothy Ash of Standard Bank in a commentary.

Klimkin is a 47-year-old Moscow-educated physicist who entered the foreign service more than 20 years ago, becoming Ukraine’s envoy to Germany in 2012.

Seen as ardently committed to European integration, he played a key role in negotiating the association and free trade agreements with the EU, which toppled president Viktor Yanukovich spurned, finally provoking the uprising that brought him down.

Hontareva has worked for leading Ukrainian and international financial institutions in Ukraine for 18 years.

She held the post of first deputy chairman of the board and financial markets chief at ING Bank Ukraine from January 2001 to December 2007. Prior to that she served as a member of the board of Societe General Ukraine, where she was responsible for capital market operations.

If approved as head of the central bank, she will figure prominently in future negotiations with the International Monetary Fund which last May signed off on a $17 billion bailout for Ukraine with tough conditions including steep hikes in gas tariffs and floating the national hryvnia currency.

Poroshenko also nominated Vitaly Yarema, currently first deputy prime minister, to be prosecutor general. In that key law-enforcement post, he will be expected to play a role in reforming the country’s corruption-ridden judiciary

TENSIONS, VIOLENCE CONTINUE

Earlier, after a late-night telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Poroshenko outlined a 14-step plan, including an amnesty for separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine who lay down their arms. He also outlined tighter controls over Ukraine’s border with Russia.

“The plan will start with my order for a unilateral ceasefire,” Poroshenko said after speaking to students at a military institute in Kiev. “Immediately after this, we need very quickly to get support for the peace plan … from all participants.”

Acting Defence Minister Mykhailo Koval told journalists in Kiev the ceasefire “will happen in the next few days”.

Fighting continued overnight, however.

A spokesman for government forces, Vladyslav Seleznyov, said more than 30 separatist fighters had been “killed and wounded” in fierce exchanges of fire near the small town of Schastye on the edge of Luhansk. Three soldiers had been killed on the government side and 9 wounded, he said.

The figures for separatist casualties could not be independently confirmed. But a Reuters journalist in rebel-controlled Luhansk saw separatists loading empty pine coffins onto a lorry that then joined a convoy heading to Schastye.

Others swapped their battle fatigues for white coats or taped Red Cross signs to their backs and arms and then went in search of bodies of rebels killed in the last few days.

Mikhail, a rebel fighter who was handing out face masks as protection against the smell of human decay in Schastye, said: “There’s supposed to be a ceasefire, but no-one there trusts them (the government) to keep it … We’ll be on the alert.”

The violence in the east has cost the lives of 147 Ukrainian soldiers and wounded 267 up to now, the defence ministry said on Wednesday. This figure did not include other law enforcement bodies such as the national guard.

Ukraine accuses Russia of backing rebels in the industrial Russian-speaking east who rose up after mass protests in Kiev toppled Yanukovich, who was sympathetic to Moscow. Kiev says the rebels have been bringing in weapons over the long border with Russia.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian government said an explosion on a section of pipeline carrying Russian gas through Ukraine to Europe had been caused by a bomb and that it saw “foreign interference” behind the attack. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk ordered security reinforced at gas pipeline installations to avoid further acts of sabotage.

Russian investigators accused Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Ihor Kolomoisky, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region in the east, of criminal acts in the government’s military push against the separatists.

A spokesman for the federal Investigative Committee said they were under investigation on charges including murder, kidnapping and using illegal methods of warfare – although it was not immediately clear under what jurisdiction.

By Mert Ozkan and Ayla Jean Yackley

Former army chief Kenan Evren, 96, who came to symbolise the military’s dominance over Turkish political life over decades, was sentenced to life in jail on Wednesday for leading a 1980 coup that resulted in widespread torture, arrests and deaths.

The sentencing of general Evren, even if age and sickness spare him from jail, marked a strong symbolic moment in Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s taming of an army that had forced four governments from power in four decades.

Hundreds of officers were convicted in 2012 over the alleged “Sledgehammer” plot to topple him; but Turkey’s top court ruled on Wednesday that the rights of 230 officers were violated in the case, opening the way for their potential retrial.

Evren, who also served as president after three years of military rule, never expressed regret for the coup. He said it saved NATO member Turkey from anarchy after thousands were killed in streetfighting by militant left-wingers and rightists.

“Should we feed them in prison for years instead of hanging them?” he asked in a speech in 1984, defending the hanging of political activists after the army take-over.

Fifty people were executed, some 500,000 were arrested, and many disappeared in a country which, bordering the Soviet Union, was on the front line of the Cold War.

Too frail to attend court sessions, Evren was sentenced to life in prison along with former Air Force chief Tahsin Sahinkaya, 89. Both were accused of setting the stage for an army intervention, then conducting the coup.

Some critics argued nationalist militants or US agencies engineered street clashes to justify army action on September 12, 1980, an scenario echoed in the 2012 Sledgehammer trial. Officers then were accused of plotting to bomb mosques and trigger conflict with Greece to pave the way for a coup against Erdogan, viewed warily by the generals for his Islamist past.

Wednesday’s constitutional court ruling on the Sledgehammer case could help facilitate conciliation between the prime minister – his primacy established – and the generals, nicknamed “Pashas” in a nod to Turkey’s Ottoman past.

Celal Ulgen, a lawyer representing many defendants in the Sledgehammer case, said those convicted should now be released pending a possible retrial. Media reports said their release could begin as soon as Thursday.

‘PASHAS’

Evren and Sahinkaya participated in the hearings via video links from military hospitals in Ankara and Istanbul. Media reports said the two former commanders would be stripped of their ranks as a result of the ruling.

Oral Calislar, a columnist for Radikal newspaper, was jailed for four years and spent another four as a fugitive after his arrest in 1980 for leading a legal left-wing party.

“This is the first time those who have staged a coup have been convicted. We had other coups, but those responsible continued to run the country with impunity,” he said.

The generals were long considered ultimate guarantors of the country’s secular constitution, a constant presence towering above political parties and leaders.

Their last successful intervention was in 1997 when they forced Turkey’s first Islamist-led government from office through a combination of political pressure and display of military power but without seizing power outright.

That government was backed by the man who as prime minister has drawn on huge personal popularity to purge the officer corps and diminish the role of the military in political decision-making bodies. That process now appears irreversible though political enemies argue that having brought the generals to heel he himself is increasingly guilty of authoritarian conduct.

A 2010 amendment to the constitution, drafted by technocrats under Evren,lifted barriers to the trial of Evren and Sahinkaya.

Erdogan, who served a brief prison sentence himself for Islamist activity not long before he took office in 2003, is expected to seek the presidency in an August election in a move which is expected to consolidate his power.

Throughout the trial, Evren largely maintained a silence, watching proceedings by video link from his hospital bed. On Wednesday, he again declined to speak on his own behalf.

“It is not important whether they go to jail. What matters is that those behind the coup are held responsible for all of the uprooted lives and dozens who were executed,” Calislar said.

It is unclear whether Evren and Sahinkaya will serve their sentences in prison due to their poor health.

“These were crimes against humanity but I have little faith they will pay because the coup is alive and well,” said Naciye Babalik, a retired teacher who was arrested and tortured for belonging to a women’s group that taught villagers how to read and write and lobbied for daycare at factories.

Babalik was a 41-year-old mother when, she says, soldiers stormed her home, blindfolded her and dragged her off in front of two small daughters. She spent the first week in a cramped cell where captors used electric shock in a failed bid to force her to confess to crimes such as collaboration with communists.

Erdogan’s dominance of the political landscape and an erosion in freedom of expression and other rights means “our current state is the continuance of the September 12 coup,” said Babalik, who wanted an international tribunal for Evren.

“That way I wouldn’t die in disappointment. This way the wounds never heal. Every day I relive September 12.”

By Angus MacSwan

A long-range strike by substitute Memphis Depay gave the Netherlands a 3-2 win over Australia in a thrilling World Cup Group B game but a brave, hard-charging Socceroos side had threatened to earn a famous victory.

The game was marked by end-to-end action and spectacular goals – notably a stunning volley by Australia’s Tim Cahill which cancelled out a goal by the Netherlands’ Arjen Robben only a minute earlier.

The match belied Australia’s status as underdogs and proved Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal’s warning that they would come out attacking to be correct. But in the end, the mighty Dutch, conquerors of holders Spain in their opening game, prevailed.

It was against the run of play when Robben opened the scoring in the 20th minute. Picking up the ball on the halfway line, he charged towards the goal like a bull to a matador and slammed the ball past Mat Ryan.

Tim Cahill replied immediately, however, by crashing a fantastic 20-metre volley into the roof of the net for what will be a strong contender for goal of the tournament.
“It just felt so right to hit it and I hit it sweetly…This is what it’s all about because everyone dreams of playing on this stage and I want to leave a mark for all the kids back in Australia and around the world to be inspired by this today,” Cahill said.

After that the pace stepped up as the Dutch tried to get more wind in their sails but it was the Australians who looked more threatening. Mark Bresciano missed a good chance in the 30th minutes when good work by Matthew Leckieset him up only for him to blast wide.

Nine minutes into the second half, Australia were awarded a penalty after Oliver Bozanic hammered the ball straight at Daryl Janmaat’s arm.
Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak cooly slotted the penalty past Jasper Cillissen, giving Australia a 2-1 lead and the chance to dream.

But this time it was the Netherlands’ turn to strike back quickly. In the 58th minute Robin Van Persie banged in a well-controlled shot inside the penalty area.
Memphis Depay whacked in what proved to be the winner with a long-range shot 10 minutes later, sealing the game for the Netherlands.

“Heartbreaker mate, I just wanted the players to get a reward,” Australia coach Ange Postecoglou said.
“We went out there and we said we’d have a go and we’ll do that in the last game.”
Cahill got a yellow card for clattering into Bruno Martins Indi just before halftime so will miss Australia’s final group game against Spain.

Dutch striker Robin van Persie will also be suspended for his team’s final group game after picking up a yellow card.
“The World Cup is the greatest tournament in the world, with all the best players and it’s tough, tough agains tAustralia and again next week and the week after. It’s the World Cup,” Van Persie said.
“I’m really pleased with the result, especially as I can’t play the last game.”

By Ghazwan Hassan and Phil Stewart

Iraq has asked the United States for air support in countering Sunni rebels, the top US general said on Wednesday, after the militants seized major cities in a lightning advance that has routed the Shi’ite-led government’s army.

However, General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, gave no direct reply when asked at a Congressional hearing whether Washington would agree to the request.

Baghdad said it wanted US air strikes as the insurgents, led by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), battled their way into the biggest oil refinery in Iraq and the president of neighbouring Iran raised the prospect of intervening in a sectarian war that threatens to sweep across Middle East frontiers.

“We have a request from the Iraqi government for air power,” Dempsey told a Senate hearing in Washington. Asked whether the United States should honour that request, he answered indirectly, saying: “It is in our national security interest to counter ISIL wherever we find them.”

In the Saudi city of Jeddah, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Baghdad had asked for air strikes “to break the morale” of ISIL.

While Iraq’s ally, Shi’ite Muslim power Iran, had so far not intervened to help the Baghdad government, “everything is possible”, he told reporters after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

Sunni fighters were in control of three quarters of the territory of the Baiji refinery north of Baghdad, an official said there, after a morning of heavy fighting at gates defended by elite troops who have been under siege for a week.

ISIL aims to build a Sunni caliphate ruled on mediaeval precepts, but the rebels also include a broad spectrum of more moderate Sunnis furious at what they see as oppression by Baghdad.

Some international oil companies have pulled out foreign workers. The head of Iraq’s southern oil company, Dhiya Jaffar, said Exxon Mobil had conducted a major evacuation and BP had pulled out 20 percent of its staff. He criticised the moves, as the areas where oil is produced for export are mainly in the Shi’ite south and far from the fighting.

Washington and other Western capitals are trying to save Iraq as a united country by leaning hard on Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to reach out to Sunnis. Maliki met Sunni and Kurdish political opponents overnight, concluding with a frosty, carefully staged joint appearance at which an appeal for national unity was read out.

In a televised address on Wednesday Maliki appealed to tribes to renounce “those who are killers and criminals who represent foreign agendas”.

But so far Maliki’s government has relied almost entirely on his fellow Shi’ites for support, with officials denouncing Sunni political leaders as traitors. Shi’ite militia - many believed to be funded and backed by Iran – have mobilised to halt the Sunni advance, as Baghdad’s million-strong army, built by the United States at a cost of $25 billion, crumbles.

Like the civil war in Syria next door, the new fighting threatens to draw in regional neighbours, mustering along sectarian lines in what fighters on both sides depict as an existential struggle for survival based on a religious rift dating to the 7th century.

HOLY SHRINES

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made the clearest declaration yet that the Middle East’s main Shi’ite power, which fought a war against Iraq that killed a million people in the 1980s, was prepared to intervene to protect Iraq’s great shrines of Shi’ite imams, visited by millions of pilgrims each year.

“Regarding the holy Shi’a shrines in Karbala, Najaf, Kadhimiya and Samarra, we announce to the killers and terrorists that the great Iranian nation will not hesitate to protect holy shrines,” Rouhani said in an address to a crowd on live TV.

He said many people had signed up to go to Iraq to fight, although he also said Iraqis of all sects were prepared to defend themselves: “Thanks be to God, I will tell the dear people of Iran that veterans and various forces – Sunnis, Shias and Kurds all over Iraq - are ready for sacrifice.”

Iraqi troops are holding off Sunni fighters outside Samarra north of Baghdad, site of one of the main Shi’ite shrines. The fighters have vowed to carry their offensive south to Najaf and Kerbala, seats of Shi’ite Islam since the Middle Ages.

Saudi Arabia, the region’s main Sunni power, said Iraq was hurtling towards civil war. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in words clearly aimed at Iran and at Baghdad’s Shi’ite rulers, deplored the prospect of “foreign intervention” and said governments need to meet “legitimate demands of the people”.

Maliki’s government has accused Saudi Arabia of promoting “genocide” by backing Sunni militants. Riyadh supports Sunni fighters in Syria but denies aiding ISIL.

The United Arab Emirates, a Saudi ally, recalled its ambassador from Baghdad and criticised what it called the sectarian policies of the Iraqi government.

The Baiji refinery is the fighters’ immediate goal, the biggest source of fuel for domestic consumption in Iraq, which would give them a grip on energy supply in the north where the population has complained of fuel shortages.

The refinery was shut on Tuesday and foreign workers flown out by helicopter.

“The militants have managed to break into the refinery. Now they are in control of the production units, administration building and four watch towers. This is 75 percent of the refinery,” an official speaking from inside the refinery said.

The government denied the refinery had fallen. Counter-terrorism spokesman Sabah Nouri insisted forces were still in control and had killed 50 to 60 fighters and burned six or seven insurgent vehicles after being attacked from three directions.

Oil prices rose on news the refinery was partly in rebel hands

FROSTY MEETING

Last week’s sudden advance by ISIL – a group that declares all Shi’ites to be heretics deserving death and has proudly distributed footage of its fighters gunning down prisoners lying prone in mass graves – is a test for US President Barack Obama, who pulled US troops out of Iraq in 2011.

Obama has ruled out sending back ground troops but is considering other military options to help defend Baghdad, and U.S. officials have even spoken of cooperating with Tehran against the mutual enemy.

But U.S. and other international officials insist Maliki must do more to address the widespread sense of political exclusion among Sunnis, the minority that ran Iraq until US troops deposed dictator Saddam Hussein after the 2003 invasion.

US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he did not back sending US troops into the conflict in Iraq, which he described as a “civil war”, before a meeting with Obama about the crisis.

Reid and three other congressional leaders - Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi - are meeting Obama later on Wednesday.

Western countries fear an ISIL-controlled mini-state in Syria and Iraq could become a haven for militants who could then stage attacks around the globe.

British Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament he disagreed “with those people who think this is nothing to do with us and if they want to have some sort of extreme Islamist regime in the middle of Iraq it won’t affect us. It will.

“The people in that regime, as well as trying to take territory, are also planning to attack us at home in the United Kingdom,” Cameron said.

In a rerun of previous failed efforts at bridging sectarian and ethnic divisions, Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders met late on Tuesday behind closed doors. They later stood frostily before cameras as Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shi’ite politician who held the post of prime minister before Maliki, read a statement.

“No terrorist powers represent any sect or religion,” Jaafari said in the address, which included a broad promise of “reviewing the previous course” of Iraqi politics. Afterwards, most of the leaders, including Maliki and Usama al-Nujaifi, the leading Sunni present, walked away from each other in silence.

Though the joint statement said only those directly employed by the Iraqi state should bear arms, thousands of Shi’ite militiamen have been mobilised to defend Baghdad.

According to one Shi’ite Islamist working in the government, well-trained organisations Asaib Ahl Haq, Khataeb Hezbollah and the Badr Organisation are now being deployed alongside Iraqi military units as the main combat force.

With battles now raging just an hour’s drive north of the capital, Baghdad is on edge. The city of 7 million people saw fierce sectarian street fighting from 2006-2007 and is still divided into Sunni and Shi’ite districts, some protected by razor wire and concrete blast walls.

India said it was worried about 40 Indian construction workers missing in territory seized by ISIL.

By Constantinos Psillides

A TROUBLED man who recently lost custody of his two children murdered his wife and young daughter on Wednesday before taking his own life, while his teenage son is struggling to survive after being shot in the back.

The 41-year old electrician, Andreas Pittis, shot and killed his estranged wife, Margarita, and his 9-year old daughter, while the 14-year old boy was rushed to the Nicosia General Hospital in critical condition. He sustained two gunshot wounds, one in the lung and the second in the leg.

The 35 year old kindergarten teacher had just arrived to drop off the children at Pittis’ parents home on Ariadnis street in Strovolos at around 4pm, when, according to eye witnesses, he rushed out with his army-issue G3 automatic rifle and started shooting, killing his wife as she sat in her car.

Nicosia police commissioner Kypros Michaelides said that the murder was probably due to a family dispute. The couple had recently gone through a custody battle, which was awarded to the wife.

According to the police, Pittis had recently moved back to his paternal home.

Eye witnesses said the couple got into a heated argument after which the husband went for his G3 rifle. He stood in front of the car and shot at his wife through the car’s windshield, killing her instantly.

The children – who were on the back seat – open the doors and tried to run. The father shot and killed the girl a few steps away from the car and ran after the boy who had manage to escape to a nearby empty plot.

The man shot his son in the back, then stood over the body and shot himself.

An eyewitness told the press that the teenage boy got up, sat cross-legged next to his father’s dead body and started crying.

According to neighbours, the man gave no indication of wanting to commit this crime.

“He kept to himself. He didn’t talk to us about his problems. He looked troubled but you know. I saw him last night when he went for his usual walk. He said ‘hi’, we chatted a bit but he didn’t say anything. I don’t know why he would do this,” said a neighbour.

The man’s father and mother were in shock upon seeing what happened and had to receive medical treatment.

The incident once again raised the debate about reservists’ rifles.

On December 16, a man fired warning shots outside a house using a G3 rifle and in September, 32-year old Pantelis Nicolaou from Limassol shot and killed his wife, Georgia Georgiou using his army rifle. Pantelis also shot and injured his 10-year old daughter and then turned the gun on himself.

The programme of issuing firearms to reservists was introduced in 1994.

House Defence Committee chairman, EDEK MP Giorgos Varnava had said last October – following the September 31 incident – that G3-related crimes are not a common occurrence so there was no reason to table a proposal to ban them.

“Would we be considering a ban on hunting shotguns if one had been used?” Varnavas had said at the time.

On October 19, then Defence minister Photis Photiou announced a number of steps to tackle the problem. Photiou had said that police would conduct surprise visits to reservists’ homes to make sure they were storing their guns properly – the National Guard advises that ammo is stored separately and that the gun is dismantled – and asked psychologists to break patient-doctor confidentiality and report violent behaviour of clients, if they suspected of a gun being in their house. Photiou also had asked local authorities and people to report any suspected violent behaviour if they thought the man had a gun in the house.

Photiou made clear that his goal was “to stop the practice of giving anyone an army-issue weapon.”

Criticism over the reservists’ rifles lit up the social media, with some blaming the National Guard and police for lax supervision, while others called for an outright ban. “It won’t be long till some kid takes his daddy’s army rifle to school and starts shooting at his classmates,” said a Facebook user.

By Mike Collett

Holders Spain were eliminated from the World Cup on Wednesday when their 2-0 Group B defeat by Chile brought an end to one of the greatest dynasties of the modern game.

On the day when Spain’s King Carlos also signed his abdication papers, Spain’s footballers left their throne as goals from Eduardo Vargas after 20 minutes and Charles Aranguiz two minutes before half-time earned Chile a stunning victory.
They advanced to the last 16 along with the Netherlands and Australia go out with Spain.

“We cannot complain we did not deserve to go out, they were better than us,” Spain coach Vicente del Bosque told Spanish TV.
“The team showed character, we pressed forward but we had little luck in front of goal.
“We were certainly inferior to our rivals here at the finals. It is not the moment to think about the future. Little by little we will make the necessary assessments.”

The Dutch, who beat Spain 5-1, and Chile each have six points and they play each other in Sao Paulo next Monday. Spain face Australia in Curitiba bidding to avoid finishing bottom.

“I’m happy with the players’ game, the team was up to the challenge, now we have to play against Holland to come first in the group,” Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli said.

Spain became the third champions in the last four World Cups to be eliminated at the first hurdle and their departure will almost certainly end the long international careers of the ageing greats who won the 2008 European Championship and their first World Cup in South Africa four years ago.

Chile, who had never beaten Spain in ten previous meetings, looked sharp, composed and confident from the start and even faster and more fluid in the second half.
Although Spain’s Xabi Alonso had a shot saved in the 15th minute, Chile took the lead five minutes later.
A counter-attack on the right set up Aranguiz to provide the cross for Vargas who danced around goalkeeper Iker Casillas before firing home with defender Sergio Ramos arriving too late to stop him.

Casillas, who had a poor game in Spain’s mauling by the Dutch, was at fault for the second goal, punching an Alexis Sanchez free kick straight back to Aranguiz who swept the ball home with a spinning shot with the outside of his right foot.

“We ask people’s forgiveness,” Casillas said. “We are responsible but also the first ones to feel the pain and the frustration. There is nothing left now but to look to the future.
“We will just try to focus on the good things about this team.”

THE negotiators for the two sides, Andreas Mavroyiannis and Kudret Ozersay, met on Wednesday and discussed citizenship and EU matters, as well as preparations for the next leaders’ meeting on June 23.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides told the Cyprus News Agency: “The Greek Cypriot side submitted a document on the chapter of the economy and the Turkish Cypriot side a document on the issue of citizenship. The next meeting of the negotiators will be held on June 25, with topics for discussion citizenship, the EU and the economy,” he said.

Later, President Nicos Anastasiades told graduates of the Cyprus University of Technology  (TEPAK) in Limassol that  the Greek Cypriot side’s position remained clear in that the two sides should respect the points agreed in the joint declaration that kicked off the current round of talk on February 11.

“Despite the obvious difficulties encountered at the negotiating table, we expect the Turkish side to change its intransigent stance,” said Anastasiades. “We expect the international community to exert its influence on the side that impedes progress so that we can advance to the next phase of talks.”

The Greek Cypriot side says it is waiting for the Turkish Cypriots to table its proposals on all chapters so that the negotiations can proceed to the next stage, but the Turkish side says that although it has expressed its views on how progress can be achieved on some of the outstanding issues, the Greek Cypriot side rejected these suggestions, according to Ozersay.

Commenting on reports in the Greek Cypriot press blaming the Turkish Cypriot side for divergences on several areas in the negotiating chapters, Ozersay added:  “The reason why the Greek Cypriots are blaming us is perhaps because we might have stepped on the foot of some circles opposed to the status quo.”

Osman Ertug, the spokesman for Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu claimed the Turkish Cypriot side was ready to negotiate all chapters on the table and that there was no issue which they were avoiding.

On the contrary, he said, it was the Greek Cypriot side which opposed the creation of a road map, a multilateral conference, timetables and deadlines, and for insisting on conducting open-ended negotiations.

He also said the Turkish Cypriot side had not avoided discussing criteria for territorial adjustments, the internal aspects of security, property, security or guarantees.

“Instead, the Turkish Cypriot side had put forward constructive proposals on all these issues, forcing the Greek Cypriot side to adopt a similar positive approach,” he said.

THE Council of Ministers on Wednesday authorised the unfreezing of managerial positions in the public and broader public sector, as well as all promotions in the police, the fire brigade, the National Guard and the central prisons.

Unfreezing the positions was deemed necessary to ensure the smooth operation of departments and services, a cabinet statement said.

Recent legislation approved by the House stipulated that all promotions will carry no pay increases. The unfreezing proposal will be brought before the House Finance committee for its written consent.

Promotions in the public sector had been frozen in April 2013 as a cost-cutting measure.

By Gulsen Solaker

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday U.S. air strikes on militants in Iraq could cause a high number of civilian deaths and that Washington did not view such a strategy favourably.

The Iraqi government made public on Wednesday its request for U.S. air strikes as its forces battle Sunni militants, but Washington has given no indication it will agree to attack.

Turkey has the second largest armed forces in the NATO military alliance after the United States and also hosts a major U.S. Air Force base at Incirlik in its south. It is seen as a potential participant in any international intervention in Iraq.

“America, with its current stance and the statements it has made, does not view such attacks positively,” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara when asked about the possibility of U.S. air strikes.

“There are (militant) ISIL elements which are mixed in with the people. Such an operation could result in a serious number of deaths among civilians,” he said.

The lightning offensive by militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other Sunni fighters threatens to fragment Iraq and leaves Turkey facing a widening Islamist insurgency in two of its southern neighbours, with ISIL also making territorial gains in Syria near the Turkish border.

The insurgents are holding at least 80 Turkish nationals, 49 of them seized from its consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last week, including special forces soldiers, diplomats and children.

U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Iraqi request had included drone strikes and increased surveillance by U.S. drones, which have been flying over Iraq.

The U.S. Air Force has remotely piloted aircraft stationed at the Incirlik base, which have been used in the past for surveillance along the Turkish-Syrian border.

Where do you live?
I live in Paris with my cat

Best childhood memory?
My grandmother

Most frequented restaurant and absolute favourite dish?
The restautant Zaza and I always order the tartare od beef!

What food would you really turn your nose up to?
Cheese do that

What did you have for breakfast?
I just had a coffee

Would you class yourself as a day or night person? What’s your idea of the perfect night/day out?
A day person ! Work and make love

Best book ever read?
The Little Prince because every time you read it you learn something

Favourite film of all time?
Avatar because every time you watch it you see something new

Favourite holiday destination and why? What’s your dream trip?
In Nicosia in order to create the show Afrodite’s Story. My dream trip is to Madagascar, to help children.

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
I don’t have a car!

What is always in your fridge?
Emptyness

Dream house: rural retreat or urban dwelling? Where would it be, what would it be like?
Rural retreat in my grandmother’s village, because I have wonderful memories there with her.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
God, to ask him why!

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
Make love !

What is your greatest fear?
Not to have projects

Tell me a joke…
I’ m afraid of having a hair in front of my eyes

Bossard will present a work at the end of August and beginning of September inspired by his visit to Cyprus telling the story of Aphrodite. The sound and light event will be accompanied by dancing and music. Bossard will be in Cyprus on June 27 and 28 to cast people to be featured. Anyone interested can find more information on Afrodite’s Story on Facebook