NICOSIA: Turkish Cypriots vote Sunday in a presidential election upended by a controversial move sanctioned by Ankara restoring access to a beach resort sealed off since its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled in 1974.
The reopening of the ghost town of Varosha gave an 11th-hour boost to nationalist challenger Ersin Tatar in his bid to unseat dovish incumbent Mustafa Akinci.
But the return of the one-time holiday destination of Hollywood stars to its former inhabitants has been a part of every plan to end the island’s decades-long division and the reopening of its ruins drew condemnation from the island’s internationally recognized government and from the European Union.
Sunday’s vote is the only Turkish Cypriot election that has any standing with the international community, which deals with the president as leader of the island’s minority community.
The breakaway state which Turkish Cypriot leaders declared in the north of the island in 1983 remains unrecognized, except by Ankara, whose role in its affairs has again been thrown into the spotlight by Thursday’s reopening of Varosha.
The Turkish Cypriot economy was already beset with problems when the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing the postponement of the election from April.
The virus has dealt a heavy blow to two of the private sector’s mainstays, tourism and higher education.
Budget support from Ankara provides a vital lifeline for the large state sector but many Turkish Cypriots resent what they see as the erosion of their identity by creeping annexation.
“Since the president will be the leader in charge of protecting our rights, interests and future, they must have strong, sincere relations with Ankara,” said graphic designer Cagin Nevruz Ozsoy.
“But it must be on a political level, in line with the interests of the Cypriot people and not in their own interests,” the 24-year-old said.
Akinci won election in 2015 on a promise to relaunch UN-backed talks on ending the island’s long division.
Despite the collapse of those talks in Switzerland in July 2017, he is standing for re-election on a similarly dovish platform.
While his role in promoting the island’s reunification as a bizonal federation earned him international plaudits, his commitment to preserving a separate Turkish Cypriot identity has led to sometimes frosty relations with Ankara.
When earlier this year he described the prospect of Turkish annexation as “horrible,” Ankara called him “dishonest.”
In contrast, his main challenger Tatar, who currently serves as the breakaway state’s prime minister, higlighted his influence in Ankara with the reopening of Varosha, which he announced on Tuesday after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
But political scientist Bilge Azgin said the strategy could backfire because it “mobilized people who weren’t even going to vote.”
“They turned it into a referendum on respecting the people’s will,” Azgin told AFP.
Student Berke Cevik, 21, agreed, calling the decision “selfish and provocative.”
It is “a mistake which cannot be rectified,” he told AFP.
Before troops reopened Varosha, the campaign had been dominated by Turkey’s hunt for natural gas, which has pushed it into waters claimed by Cyprus and Greece.
Last weekend, Turkey pulled a drill ship away from Cyprus after being threatened with economic sanctions by EU leaders, who welcomed the move.
But Turkey’s move to reopen Varosha is likely to revive the sanctions threat.
Both Cyprus and Greece said they would make a new push for the bloc to impose sanctions next week.
No candidate is expected to win Sunday’s election outright. The field of 11, all of them men, will be whittled down to two for a second-round runoff the following Sunday.
Competing with Akinci for the votes of Turkish Cypriots eager to see reunification is former prime ministrer Tufan Erhurman, of the center-left Turkish Republican Party.
Also in the fray is the breakaway state’s former foreign minister Kudret Ozersay, who resigned on Tuesday in protest at Varosha’s reopening.
“There are at least three to four serious candidates,” said Ahmet Sozen, political science chair at the Eastern Mediterranean University in Famagusta, predicting that the runoff would be won by a candidate from the pro-reunification camp.
Ghost town reopening upends Turkish Cypriot election
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Ghost town reopening upends Turkish Cypriot election
- The reopening of the ghost town of Varosha has given an 11th-hour boost to nationalist challenger Ersin Tatar
- President Mustafa Akinci’s commitment to preserving a separate Turkish Cypriot identity has led to sometimes frosty relations with Ankara
Indonesian president inaugurates Hajj and Umrah airport terminal in Jakarta
- Indonesian Hajj pilgrims have started departing for Saudi Arabia since Friday
- Kingdom’s Makkah Route initiative will be implemented at new Hajj and Umrah terminal
JAKARTA: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated on Sunday a special terminal for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims at Jakarta’s international airport, where travel will also be facilitated under Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route initiative.
Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim-majority population, sends the highest number of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims every year.
As pilgrims around the world have already begun to make their way to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year, about 221,000 people will be coming from Indonesia.
“The government wants to give the best service for our pilgrims. We also understand that many of our pilgrims are seniors, and so we must take very good care of them,” Subianto said during the inauguration ceremony at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
“We understand that our pilgrims have saved up for a long time, and even waited for a long time, and so the government under my leadership will do our very best to give the best services and work hard to lower the cost of Hajj.”
The airport’s 2F terminal area, which has undergone renovations, has been transformed into a dedicated area for Indonesia’s Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. It was developed to serve 6.1 million travelers annually, according to a statement issued by the Cabinet Secretariat.
The launch event was attended by Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Faisal Abdullah Amodi, as well as other Indonesian ministers, including Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.
Special counters for Saudi immigration, which are part of the Kingdom’s Makkah Route initiative, have also been set up at the new terminal.
The program launched in Muslim-majority countries in 2019 allows Hajj pilgrims to fulfill all visa, customs and health requirements in one place, at the airport of origin, and save long hours of waiting before and upon reaching the Kingdom.
In Indonesia, pilgrims departing from the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya and Solo are benefiting from the Makkah Route initiative.
“As President Prabowo said, this is proof of the government’s commitment to give the best service, especially for our senior pilgrims. He is also proud of the modern and comfortable facilities that have been set up,” Umar, the religious affairs minister, said on social media.
Thousands of Indonesian pilgrims have begun to depart for Saudi Arabia, after the first Hajj flights commenced last Friday.
Though the pilgrimage itself can be performed over five or six days, many pilgrims arrive early to make the most of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fulfill their religious duty.
In 2025, the Hajj is expected to take place on June 4 and end on June 9.
Five policemen kidnapped in southwestern Pakistan
QUETTA: A separatist militant group in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday claimed an attack on a prison van in which five police officers were taken hostage.
Between 30 and 40 gunmen blocked a major highway that cuts across Balochistan province overnight on Friday, intercepting a prison van being transported by a police team, a police official said.
“The prisoners were released later but five policemen have been kidnapped,” a senior police official in the area, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on Sunday.
He said a rescue operation was underway.
The gunmen also set fire to government buildings and a bank in the area.
A senior government official, who asked not to be named, said that two gunmen were killed by security forces.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active group in the region, claimed the assault in Kalat district.
The BLA has previously targeted energy projects receiving foreign financing — most notably from China.
In March, the group seized a train, taking hundreds of passengers hostage and killing off-duty security forces in a three-day seige.
Two dead, 31 injured in Croatia bus crash
- he health ministry, cited by state news agency Hina, said several badly hurt people had undergone operations in hospital
ZAGREB: Two people died and 31 people were injured when a Bosnian-registered coach and a car crashed into each other in Croatia on Sunday, police and medical staff said.
The accident occurred at 3:00 am (0100 GMT) on a busy freeway some 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of the capital, Zagreb.
The casualties were taken to nearby hospitals, police spokeswoman Maja Filipovic told AFP, adding that an investigation had been launched to determine the causes.
The health ministry, cited by state news agency Hina, said several badly hurt people had undergone operations in hospital.
Photos published by local media showed a double-decker bus lying on its side in the middle of the freeway with its windows broken.
15 killed in head-on road crash in South Africa
- South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network
- Road accidents claimed more than 11,800 lives in 2023
JOHANNESBURG: A night-time collision between a packed minibus taxi and a pick-up truck has killed 15 people in rural South Africa, a transport official said on Sunday.
Five people were in hospital with serious injuries after the crash at around midnight on Saturday to Sunday near the Eastern Cape town of Maqoma, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of Johannesburg, provincial transport spokesman Unathi Binqose official told broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.
The drivers of both vehicles were among the dead and an inquest would be opened to determine what happened, Binqose said.
The victims included 13 passengers in the minibus, which was reportedly traveling from the town of Qonce to Cape Town, a journey of nearly 1,000 kilometers.
South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network. It also has a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.
Road accidents claimed more than 11,800 lives in 2023, with pedestrians making up around 45 percent of the victims, according to the latest data from the Road Traffic Management Corporation.
Putin says he hopes there will be no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine
- Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in US officials’ thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments broadcast on Sunday said that the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine had not arisen, and that he hoped it would not arise.
In a fragment of an upcoming interview with Russian state television published on Telegram, Putin said that Russia has the strength and the means to bring the conflict in Ukraine to a “logical conclusion.”
Responding to a question about Ukrainian strikes on Russia from a state television reporter, Putin said: “There has been no need to use those (nuclear) weapons ... and I hope they will not be required.”
He said: “We have enough strength and means to bring what was started in 2022 to a logical conclusion with the outcome Russia requires.”
Putin in February 2022 ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine, in what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” against its neighbor.
Though Russian troops were repelled from Kyiv, Moscow’s forces currently control around 20 percent of Ukraine, including much of the south and east.
Putin has in recent weeks expressed willingness to negotiate a peace settlement, as US President Donald Trump has said he wants to end the conflict via diplomatic means.
Fear of nuclear escalation has been a factor in US officials’ thinking since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022. Former CIA Director William Burns has said there was a real risk in late 2022 that Russia could use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.
