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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
 
This evening we met up with Hans & Trix and went out together to the archway restaurant. As usual we had not seen these friends for a couple of months then all of a sudden we all decide that its time to catch up on the goings on. It also means that Joan and I get to practice our Dutch a bit as now we don't make regular visits to Holland we could easily get a bit rusty.The Archway restaurant is a fairly new one built at the top of a ravine near Zeytinlik village. The views are absolutely glorious and the new building has been beautifully done in an old traditional style. Hans & Trix had been there a few times as they where friends of the owners, having lived in Zeytinlik village for a few months when they first came over. The restaurant is definitely worth a visit, traditional Turkish and Cypriot food, a little bit pricey on the drinks but very nice.
Saturday is newspaper day, so lets see if there is anything that might interest you all out there.
Anybody remember the shooting of Stan Rankin over here about 2 years ago. An Englishman who was acquitted of murder on the grounds of it being an accident has suddenly been jailed for 6 years. The case went back to the high court and on a three to one majority the judges ruled that the original verdict was incorrect, hence the 6 year sentence. One of the judges said, if it was an accident then why did Mr Boak not go to get help for the victim and why did he clean his gun before the police arrived.....hmmmmm
The new centralised work permit centre has opened today, which is designed to ensure a speedy response to applications as the new get-tough era starts. This era has caused major problems fro builders who mostly employed a labour force from the mainland. Some 6,000 of them have hurriedly left the island and now have to await the processing of passports etc before coming back. So if you are desperately waiting for you house to be built there is now a new excuse.
Apparently there has been a small victory in the EU for the TRNC. Remember that when the north said YES to the referendum the EU proposed a direct trade agreement linked to 259 million Euros aid package for the north as a sort of thank you for the Yes vote. The south have been, within the EU, trying to separate these two things saying that they should control and monitor the 259 million and that direct trade is definitely not on. Well Brussels has said that the two things go together so now the fight is to get the EU to approve the terms and award the TRNC as promised.
I have had masses of mail about the Trevor Macdonald program on ITV. A copy is incidentally is on its way to me as I write. It is very strange that when I got the telephone call from a Rosalind Kestner, his chief researcher some many weeks ago I distinctly remember this lady saying that this was Sir Trevor and he would only ever be involved in totally unbiased journalism. What a load of rubbish, guess that they where got at by some Greek Cypriots in London and bought off. Cannot be proven I know but why the excessive bias.. The general opinion is that this program was very poorly researched, full of generalisations and with disgraceful reporting. Maybe the lady needs to be moved out to a job that she is capable of doing properly. Hey ho when are we going to hear somebody telling the truth as it actually is in programs like this.
Now for the evening, which we spent in the company of Barbara and Bruce, friends who now live sometimes in Karaman but used to live in Canterbury when we where in Kent. Barbara was in fact a cashier in the Barclays bank that Joan used to go in to. We met at The Allah Kerim restaurant in Alsancak. Cheap, cheerful and excellent quality, service a bit slow, but this is Cyprus so who hurries. Afterwards, Joan and I nipped in to The Green Coast hotel complex on our way home as it was Roger B's first night of the season there and he went down very well so guess we will have to organise the gang for one Saturday night.
Bit of a busy week with some kitchen goods installations again. It seems that groups of houses are all coming together at the same time, so much so that yesterday I even had to travel to Nicosia twice in one day and when I made it home I said to Joan, to hell with it lets go down to The Silver Grill. Good food, cheap and cheerful with no pretentious pink check table cloths and inflated tourist prices. We mentioned this to George and Susan and they said OK lets join you we have never been there yet.Before going out I had a quick look at my e-mails and low and behold another nasty, this time about the Eupro organisation. Not of course signed by anybody and using one of these general e-mail servers that make things untraceable. Why do people who write this rubbish not have the courage to say who they are and then be able to substantiate there accusations. Below is the original mail, followed by the response to me from Eupro, as I of course passed it on.Subject: Eupro
Has Eupro gone bust or the self appointed directors have vanished with
thousands of pounds. Many members have their cheques cashed and have heard
nothing. Their London address is an accommodation address and they know
nothing about this company........do I sense another conman amongst the
British expats in the occupied areas........You have been warned ......do
not fall victims of this scum.Response.Frank
Sorry it has taken me a few days to respond to this, I seem to have little
time to myself these days.
One has to question the motivation and source of the original e-mail that
has apparently been well and truly circulated. Eupro likes to think that it
is a mark of our success, and that perhaps it originated south of the green
line. Eupro is very much in the front line. Read its website at
www.eupro.co.uk" target="_blank">www.eupro.co.uk">www.eupro.co.uk
We did of course offer our members a meeting at the Colony in May, and it
was extremely well attended; I forget the exact numbers now, but it was in
excess of 450 squeezed into the three downstairs rooms. At that meeting
members were given a clear and concise up-to-date financial appraisal.
In terms of activity, we are working on several fronts: the UK director was
featured on the Trevor MacDonald Tonight programme last Monday; the company
is also preparing a formal complaint to the UK Press Complaints Commission
about an article by Helena Smith in last Monday's Guardian. Eupro also had a
full-page advert on Northern Cyprus running in last month's, and this
month's edition of Parliamentary Brief, the magazine goes to every member
of Parliament, senior civil servants, political journalists and embassies in
London; Eupro is preparing PR for the expected ruling this week by the High
Court judge, on the Transport for London advertising ban - the court action
having been initiated by Eupro through its City lawyers Addleshaw Goddard, -
with Michael Beloff QC, representing the case. In Northern Cyprus the
government last week passed a law criminalising Greek Cypriot bailiffs and
lawyers who attempt to serve summons unlawfully on property owners in the
North, a move which adopts the proposals made to the president and prime
minister in May.
In many ways one of our most successful ventures has been in motivating
Turkish Cypriots into constructive action. Recognising that there was a
cultural gap in persuading TC's to join Eupro in large numbers, Eupro
spawned ICNC, even preparing their draft articles and terms of association
for them. Ergun Olgun is the Chair of ICNC, and Ian Betts is a member of
Council representing Eupro's interests. ICNC is effectively a carbon copy
of Eupro and has a stated objective to support Eupro and Embargoed, as well
as working alone its own initiative. The Council has indicated that ICNC
will help fund Eupro's many and expensive activities in the UK. It will be
appreciated that top quality Legal, PR and Lobbying activity is not cheap, and that
Eupro membership subscriptions will not in themselves defray all of Eupro's
expense. Eupro has also initiated a demand to the British authorities for
information about any - or any potential - European Arrest Warrants issued
against individuals. In the event that acceptable information is not
forthcoming, it is anticipated that this will culminate in a judicial review
in London. Eupro also sought and received advice from Addleshaw Goddard re
the Orams case and has passed this information onto the TRNC government
pending the next step in that case.
ICNC are staging a major event in Girne and Lefkosa on July 15th; this will
recognise the day, self styled by Greek Cypriots, as Greek Day of Shame,
when the Greek Junta inspired a coup against the self appointed Greek Cypriot
government of the day, in an attempt to topple Makarios. In the outcome
many Greek Cypriots were killed by their fellow countrymen because they held a
different point of view. The intention of the action is to remind the world
of the reasons behind Turkey's intervention five days later on July 20th
1974.
Incidentally it would be nice to receive some support from the various
recipients of the original email, many of whom seem to have a significant
interest in the well being of the TRNC.At the moment, our neighbours Stewart and Barbara are enjoying themselves in UK and we are doing a bit of house watching and cat feeding. They have two cats, Felix who we see occasionally wandering the garden, but he is not too user friendly and Lucky who is around the same age as our Smudge. Those two play together often and are seen resting in the cool evening air before their next boxing match.
Joan and I have our names in lights, well anyway an article about our reasons for buying a property here and the pleasures we have in the company of our many friends here. A fairly new property magazine " Property NC" was introduced some three months ago and we where asked if we would contribute an article about our reasons for coming here and why we like it so much. An opportunity for the positive we thought, especially in the light of such wonderful one sided journalism as the Trevor Macdonald show. So if you get offered a copy then read all about it and you can even see a picture of me in that penguin outfit again and a magnificent full page picture which includes our banana crop.On a sad note, I have been watching the internet reports and the Euro news reports about the bombs in London. What sad minds could perpetuate such a thing and how dreadful for all those families who must be grieving today. In the days when I worked in London I used to train up to Charing Cross then take a tube ride to Aldgate East, it seems hard to imagine that one day you would just go to work normally and then never come home because some stupid fanatic believes that what he does is for the benefit of the world. Evil beyond comprehension.On Saturday our friend David is going back to Nairobi so this evening he came round and we all three sat out on the terrace with a simple dinner and a bottle of wine. Bon Voyage David, see you late September maybe.
For a little while now the Lapta Layabouts club has been struggling to find a Friday night watering hole, well we have now started to go back to The Cabin, which used to be Dean's place. It's a pleasant place to sit and the beer quality is good and we all finally agreed that whatever happened between Dean and his Turkish Cypriot partner Ur, was between two grown up men and really no reason for us to stay away. So there we areback again for you all to see. On this occasion minus George and Susan, so I can't extract the Michael this time and I know he loves it so much.
A quick look at the papers shows lots of coverage about the London bombings which is only to be expected.
The only item that could be of interest to potential home owners here is the mass exodus of Turkish mainland workers because of the get tough measures on residency and work permits. It would appear that foreigners, mostly Turks, have been leaving at a rate of 2,000 per day. Most of these of course are in the construction industry so that will be a formal excuse for the late delivery of your property. They say that as soon as these mainlanders have a formal passport they may come back in and apply for a work permit.
The Lapta Layabouts Club day out. For the last couple of years, since my 65th birthday bash we have traditionally had a day out on one of the harbour boats. If we can gather a party of minimum 15 people then we can get the boat to ourselves so can usually go east out of the harbour and away from the other tour boats and all the jet skis that buzz around. So we all duly set off around 10.30 a.m. to eventually drop anchor at Turtle beach in Alagadi, where swimming was to be the main order of the day. The water was beautifully warm and very buoyant,but some of the ladies took some persuading to go in, even Gill who is really frightened when out of her depth eventually wasvery brave, with a little help from Roger. George was trying to convince all and sundry that it was impossible to sink in such salty water but proof was needed thata little buoyancy aid comes in useful. You see George, when you are not watching I can get you every time. The boat we always use has new owners this year but we still had a very enjoyable day out and a superb lunch on board and one or two of us managed towash it down with something suitable. Richard was with us also and commented that he had not been on the website so much of late, so I pointed out to him that if he wasn't so damned busy and came to visit he might get on there now and again. Anyway the situation is now corrected as witnessed by the picture ofhim with the editor....A good day out again and one which we should try to repeat before the end of the season
Starting to panic a bit about our holiday coming up and trying to make sure that all possible kitchen installations can be done whilst I am away. It is all very well trying to make lists for everybody on the computer when you are aided by four consecutive power cuts in one day. The problem here seems to be that they are working hard on all the utilities, but there is never any warning of cuts in electric, telephone, or water, it just simply happens and we never know for how long. Back to my favourite term "This is Cyprus" but it does sometimes get a bit frustrating.
Quick nip to Nicosia this a.m. then back for my stint on BBC Radio Kent. There is a program on there known as the Pat Marsh morning program and recently he started a Pat's - Ex-Pats slot. Les in his infinite wisdom put me forward and I was called up at the pre-arranged time, of 11.35 a.m. UK time, to get my 10 minutes of fame on Radio Kent. Apparently he has 3 or 4 people in various parts of the world who he calls up for a little chat every few weeks, so next time with advance warning I will put a note on the site and anybody who lives in Kent can listen in live should they wish. Great fun and he even gave me a chance to promote this site.
To listen in to Radio Kent on the internet just log on towww.bbc.co.uk/england/radiokent/" target="_blank">www.bbc.co.uk/england/radiokent/">www.bbc.co.uk/england/radiokent/
Joan and I took a day out to go to Governors Beach, which is on the way to Limassol, across the border. We have been there before with Michael and Barbara and found that there where some nice spots to get a lunch snack and a beach with sun beds to relax on. On the way back we nipped in to Orphanides Hypermarket for a little shopping and then crossed back over the border.
When we went to the BRS Summer Ball, all decked out in our finery, we won a dinner for two at The Mirage restaurant in Nicosia. This restaurant is on the road from the Kermia border crossing point towards the main exit roads back to Kyrenia, so we decided to take advantage of this win, as we had passed by many times and said lets try it and now we had the chance for free. Only one thing to say, excellent quality and superb service, definitely to be repeated. The restaurant interior is very tastefully done in what seems to be two levels of service. The main ground floor room is open and airy and serves up a large variety of foods from Chinese, through Indian dishes, Pizzas and local dishes. Upstairs appears to be a silver service restaurant which may be worth a visit in the cooler weather. We in fact sat outside on the open terrace as it was quite warm. We where so impressed that we spoken to the owner and asked him for his logo details so that I can put a link on this site for you all to be able to try it out.
Lots in the papers still about the London bombs and the search for those guilty of this atrocity and about a "Day of Shame" action organised by the International Council for Northern Cyprus to protest the 31st anniversary of the 1974 Greek inspired coup in Cyprus. A positive action by many Turkish Cypriot people who now at last are rising against their isolation and the deprivation of their rights.
Lots more about the new immigration laws. The BRS are strongly advising that anybody with either as permanent or temporary home here should comply with the law and get those residency stamps in your passport and don't forget the annual renewals. The daily fine for overstaying your tourist visa is YTL 66.4 and one fine of £250 has already been paid at the airport. I have always said on this site that I fail to understand why people come over here to enjoy the life style and then ignore the regulations. The regulations have always been there, just not enforced too vigorously, now things have changed and it is paramount that you get organised, if you have lived here for many years, as I believe many have and not registered, then if you get caught its self inflicted and deserved.
There is a strong possibility that direct flights will commence from Azerbaijan to TRNC. It only needs one or two smaller countries to start moves like this and the door could be open for carriers from other countries to commence direct flights. Another move in the general direction of world recognition.
A night out at The Green Coast holiday resort for the Lapta Layabouts and some of their visitors. Roger plays there on Saturday nights now for the summer season so we thought some moral support was needed. If we keep this up we will become known as Roger's groupies, heaven forbid. The Green Coast is actually owned byDr Kemal's family and we have been there as their guests on previous occasions and it is always a good evening with a BBQ being prepared out on the jetty over the water.
Young Daniel is three years old today and just as in other years we where invited to the birthday party. This coincides with the fact that it is also three years since we flew out here on our one way ticket and Daniel was born that same night.
Party time out here means lots of time spent in the swimming pool and new party games devised. This one was a sort of variation on walk the plank, but has anybody tried to walk along a raft of blown up sun beds floating on the surface of the pool,the result is fairly inevitable. At the end of it all Daniel had to be declaredthe winner and got to stand on Derek's head.
Mark had done a superb BBQ with spare ribs, lamb chops, sausages etc and the the party food culminated in a Bob the Builderbirthday cake. Daniel was very funny because he didn't want anybody to have any cake as he declared it was all his and not to be shared.
Joan and I finally bailed out about 9.30 p.m. as by this time she was feeling fairly shattered and had had enough soda water. A great party though.
Another trip to the blood testing place for Joan this morning and then with the results back to the specialist in Nicosia. Things are looking far more positive now as her blood sugar level is back to normal and hopefully after the next suggested tests at the end of the week, we might see her coming off the steroids. Not before time really as I am sure I saw two hairs on her chest this week.
Peace and Freedom day today, the 31st anniversary marking the day of Turkeys intervention in 1974. Parades by farmers, students, military and of course the annual fly past by the Turkish equivalent of the Red Arrows. Many speeches of course calling for the end to the isolation and Mr Talat repeating his call to the Greek Cypriots, "Our hand of peace is extended, we are still waiting for you to take it".
This evening we where the guests of Dave and Liz at the Veranda restaurant. This was an advance anniversary present from them, as we won't actually be here on our 25th and when we get back will probably be having a couple of weekend BBQs to celebrate with our friends here.
The Veranda is a nice restaurant, but it is a long time since we where last there as it falls in the class of a tourist restaurant, with prices in sterling and a menu that is to some extent geared up to attracting holiday makers. The quality is always superb though, so you can't fault them on that, but regular readers know our feeling about prices in sterling on menus and I did think that £9.00 for garlic prawns as a starter was a bit steep. Even Dave and Liz said that it was a sort of special occasion restaurant, but well worth and odd visit because of the standard of food.
Good news from the specialist today. All Joan's blood tests came out as normal so now they can wean her off the steroids over the next two weeks. This means she will be able to eat normally and enjoy an odd glass of wine whilst we are on our holidays. Brilliant news.
Richard has had a week on his own so has also spent a couple of evenings with us taking advantage of the pool in this hot weather. Guess he is looking forward to August when we will be away and he is house sitting for us. Gets to use the pool every day then.
Because it was a quiet day all round we all three decided to go over to the south, do a little shopping and then eat out. Quick in and out of M & S, because they had their sales on and surprise, surprise, Joan did not spend a thing, maybe she thinks I'll catch him in Australia and in Bangkok. Oh yes almost forgot to tell you all, I have found a brilliant place to get trousers and shorts made to measure. I had two pair of trousers made of a material that does not crease and can just be thrown in the washing machine, perfect fit and only £20 per pair, cheaper than M & S sales, so now they are making some shorts ready for my holidays.
We came back to the north and went to a restaurant called "El Sabor Latino", which is in the grounds of the big mosque in Nicosia old town. Joan and I have been there before and we told Richard about it so decided that it was time he got an opportunity also. As the name suggests they do Spanish and Italian style cooking and it is really brilliant and also very popular with the locals. The one thing that also stands out is that if you make the effort to go over to Nicosia, away from the tourist spots, then the prices are just like they used to be on this side of the mountain before some of the restaurants started to get greedy.
Early morning start to get some hedge cutting done before the sun got too fierce because by midday the temperatures are getting to 40 and above. Then a chance to get some newspaper reading done and look see if there is anything of interest to you.
A plan to build four new power stations that will serve as peak load back up has been approved. Don't know how long to get them on-line but we have had numerous power cuts this last week so it would be a relief if they eventually get built.
The first direct flight, from Azerbaijan and TRNC will take place next Wednesday, this is a prelude to weekly schedule flights by a private airline, starting in 2/3 weeks time. Interesting! Azerbaijan has in fact formally recognised the TRNC and this decision will open up new doors in world politics for the Turkish Cypriots.
There is a big article about the residency permit saga from the BRS chairman which is intended to clarify the situation and the article was written after consultation with the Immigration Police Chief.
First you can enter the country on a three months visitors permit, but it was made clear that crossing the border to the south does not mean that the three month permit is renewed, it is necessary to leave the island completely in order to renew this status and by law you are required to do exactly that, or get fined at the airport for every day you exceed your time.
After that there are annual renewable options, the most significant for those of us who live here, or come regularly are:-
Residents permit - a permit for which applicants have to prove they meet certain criteria: ie that they can sustain there living in North Cyprus.
Work permit - Allows the entrant to extend his/her stay in the country and take employment. The application is supported by the employer. An applicant also requires a residents permit in this instance.
Business permit - for foreigners who decide to set up business in TRNC. You still require a Residency to go with this, but being self employed require no employer back up.
On a more amusing note, a language school owner accidentally left his brief case propped up at one of the passport cabins at the Metehan crossing point. The police closed the border then came along and blew it up. It was found to contain business papers, £1,300 in sterling and 213.50 YTL. The guy was lucky as the money survived.
So far this week I have been continuing my quest to get all those kitchen installations organised whilst Joan has been using the time to research the internet for things to do in Singapore and Perth. looks like lots to keep us amused and to be tourists for a few weeks and not least of which is a big boat show in Perth whilst we are there, guess we might be spending a day or two there as those things remain the love of our life, maybe next year after we have solved the house sale and new build problem we will buy one for ourselves again, providing we can find a mooring here.
This evening we met up with Frank & Wynn Harrison who are house hunting here. They have been in touch on the mail system for a little while from their current home in Moscow. Frank was born about 4 miles away from me in Liverpool so logically supports the right team so I have to encourage them to come and live here. Both of them are also qualified teachers, which is the job they are doing in Moscow and so they might be interesting for Sunny Lane, who knows. We introduced them to The Green Valley restaurant and purely by chance it was Turkish night, so they experienced the delights of local dancing and a belly dancer.
Friday night so up with the gang to the Cabin for a couple of drinks. George and Susan where noticeably absent this evening, because George has got himself a big swollen leg and is feeling a little sorry for himself. Would you believe it but he was in fact bitten by an incy wincey spider, poor George just the ideal situation to have the mickey taken out of him, knocked down by a tiny spider!
Good news in the papers, but then you may already have read it in the UK daily's. The court battle against that lovely man Red Ken was won and advertising of North Cyprus holidays, on London Transport is to go ahead. Nice to see a positive result for the TRNC and that silly man getting a kick in the butt and it must have been one in the eye for those Greek Cypriots also.
The direct flight from Azerbaijan took place on Wednesday. The plane this time was full of business men and officials, but with luck is a prelude of more to come and more countries flying direct without protest from the rest of the world.
A 15% increase on the price of diesel and cigarettes was awarded by the government this week, so you see it's not only in the UK that you get price hikes.
Looks like Turkey signed the EU protocol, which they needed to do in order to be allowed to continue negotiations to join the EU. They very carefully worded their acceptance to include the comment that that the signature, ratification and implementation of the protocol does not amount to any form of recognition of the Republic of Cyprus in the South. I suppose the next thing is we are going to find our southern neighbours stamping their little feet again.
I received the following item from Jim Barnes this week. My sentiments exactly so I am reprinting it in full for you:-
I believe that the lands in the north should be returned to the owners in the south
This should be timed to coincide with the Australians handing over Australia back to the aborigines, America back to the red Indians, The Falklands back to Argentina. And Israel back to the Arabs, Oh I nearly forgot, and Gibraltar back to Spain.
This divided Island has lived in a state of comparative peace now for over 20 years, the political leaders and businessmen from both sides of the border continue to make fists in pockets at each other. The grumbling in the corridors of power always seems to be present. Yet on both sides of the border the ordinary people seem to just keep getting on with their lives.
Some people in the south in positions of power have a vested interest in keeping the Cyprus issue simmering, they will obstruct the development of the North simply because they don’t want the competition, but they are already too late, the exodus of tourists attracted by the lower cost of holidays has already started. Once direct flights begin, the floodgates will open and as the tourist population of the north increases, the north will have an even louder voice in Europe.
I am planning to move to north Cyprus within the next two or three months, My UK house is up for sale so this is a one way trip for us , I will buy a lump of land and have a villa built and no one sided sensationalised inaccurate piece of reporting from T McDonald will dissuade me.
I am going to North Cyprus so I can give my wife a better standard of living in a warm safe place, I plan to live out the rest of my life in peace and harmony with a host country whose natural religion is Islam. But I believe they are true Muslims, They respect other religious beliefs, and they live in peace and apply the Koran rules of hospitality to everyone no matter their differing creed or affiliations. The natural greeting from a northern Cypriot to any foreigner, is a sincere warm smile.
Maybe a united Cyprus will happen one day, but the price in the north maybe a higher crime rate, and the more hectic life style of the south, I believe the government in the north has its priorities right in many respects, Vandalism and graffiti are unknown in the north, Children are safe on the streets. The Law and its officers are respected, If you want to swear or spit at a policeman please don’t come to north Cyprus.
Perhaps those who want to change North Cyprus should stand back and think. Change it to what?
I hope and pray that the north stays as it is, with its own people, Its own government, just as they are, I hope the things that attracted people like Frank and Joan to north Cyprus remain, as an example, of simple values of peace, and beauty.
North Cyprus is still the jewel of the Mediterranean, long may it remain so
Jim Barnes.
Incidentally, I sent this to our daily paper, The Cyprus Times and they reprinted it in full.
Also good news is the fact that our Dutch friend Hans, has had his new map of the north of the island approved. The map is now for sale at a price of £4.99 and is currently available from The Pegasus or you can contact Hans on hansdoeleman@sunnycyprus.net . So next time you come over you can buy something accurate to show you the way around.
This evening Michael decided to try out the new BBQ that he bought, so together with Bruce and Barbara from Karaman, we made up a six pack to enjoy his endeavours. As we started to enjoy his pool around 4 in the afternoon it was time for the girls to get all wrinkly by spending a couple of hours in there, currently the water temperature in our polls is around 32 degrees, probably warmer than a UK summers day. Joan tried to show them the walk on lilo's trick and ended up by just launching herself on top of the damned thing and managing to cling on. The food was good, the beer cold so all in all an enjoyable afternoon and evening.
Well that's it for this month. You will get one week into August and then a big silence whilst we enjoy our holiday.
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