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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
This evening Joan and I entertained George and Susan to a Thai meal, chopsticks and all. We had promised to do this since we got back and as we had bought a new Thai cookery book whilst on holiday we could come up with some different dishes. We struggled a bit getting some of the ingredients here and had to improvise but it was a great success and we all enjoyed it immensely. Afterwards we were looking at the holiday photos via the medium of CD and the DVD player when we had one of our power cuts and as our new generator has to be wired up yet we had to resort to candles and another bottle or two.
Never mind, we all enjoyed the evening.
Busy little start to the month for me as there were lots of houses coming up for completion with air conditioners and kitchens to go in and it looks like it is going to persist for a little while yet. Have been talking to some of the Estate Agents this week and it seems as if things are picking up a little on the sales side after the recent slump. Strangely this time of the year seems to be the best for them as the holiday periods are winding down and anybody looking now is probably a serious buyer. All very encouraging except that we still haven't found a buyer for ours, but no real problem as we have always said sooner or later somebody is going to love and want what we designed.This evening, Joan and I went out to The Silver Grill with Michael and Barbara. The girls where trying to read the menu and make up their minds when the smell of garlic came out of the kitchen so there we go, Chicken Kiev for them again
A surprise visit to Henson's Restaurant this evening for Joan and I. Gloria Tattersal is over here trying to kick her builder towards a firm completion date and she rang and said that as she was on her own she would love some company, so we picked her up and had a chance to find out how things where down at Henson's. Bob and Maggie have sold to a couple called John and Lindsey who have just come over from the UK. We had known for some time that this was going to happen as Maggie has been having some quite serious back problems and was finding it all too much. Bob is working this month in parallel with the new owners and they have been very busy so should get to know the regular customers and the staff very quickly. Lets hope it all works out for them.
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There has been lots in the newspapers this week about the commencement of EU entry talks for Turkey, after a lot of political to and fro as usual. A sort of will they, won't they situation. I don't think anybody believes that it is going to be an easy ride and the feeling seems to be for a 10 year period before they get in, or maybe even more years than that.
A couple of things have however come to light. First the Greek Cypriot veto is still in place against the EU financial and trade assistance to Northern Cyprus, promised after the referendum. That's not really a big surprise and only what we expect from them. The Greek Cypriots are still trying to use the EU to find a solution to the Cyprus problem, mainly because they have a vote and some control. Strange how 350,000 people can hold 100 million in the EU to ransom by just the power of the veto. On the positive side, the President of the EU has been on a visit to Cyprus, guess which side he visited ( no prizes for the right answer) and he made it very plain in his closing speech that the opening of negotiations with Turkey was going to play an important part in ensuring a lasting solution to the Cyprus problem. He likened the problem to a "family dispute" which was no longer sustainable and said that the unification of the island was now indispensable. Probably much to the disgust of the south, he did go on to reiterate the role of the EU and reconfirmed that the united nations was the sole and only platform on which the two communities could sit together and resolve their issues. He also announced a new contact group in the European Parliament was going to deal with the issue of direct trade and financial aid promised to the Turkish Cypriots to lift the Turkish Cypriots out of isolation. Don't hold your breath folks. Cynical or what?
As a result of all this, an article by the editor of Cyprus Times should be of interest to all. As a result of the failure by the Greek Cypriots to divert the problem of the divided island to the EU and having to accept that the UN is the guide to settlement, the Annan Plan is back on the table as being the basis of negotiation. Under the Annan plan it quite clearly states that if you have acquired property after 1974 and have improved it from its original condition, the new occupier has the right to buy from the original owner or sell on. The Annan plan guarantees that no one will lose their investment. The article goes on in more detail about mortgages for the locals etc, but should make people feel much more secure in their beds and maybe start to lift the property market again.
This one is a special request for Caron, Michael and Barbara's daughter. Take a look at what they are spending your inheritance on Caron. One of a pair now.
On the basis that I am nothing, if not fair, I have to include this e-mail received this week and no Lewis, you don't have to suggest that I would not dare put this in the site and anyway you just lost your bet. How much was it......and unlike "anorak" you are happy to declare your identity, thank you for that.
" Hello Frank, I felt I had to respond to your comments regarding "Anorak" The whole mess actually started in 1570 when the Ottomans invaded Cyprus. The island was promised independence by Churchill during WW11 but Britain reneged its promise and the independence struggle started in 1955. The Greek Cypriots said they wanted ENOSIS and the Turkish Cypriots partition. In fact the demand for union with Greece was to most (but not all) Greek Cypriots little more than a rallying cry. Cyprus ended up with the most complex and undemocratic constitution of any former British colony. The Greeks were told to accept it or face partition, they had no choice but were determined not to be dominated by the 18% minority who used their veto in government to block important legislation. You must remember that Greeks have lived on Cyprus for more than 3000 years and the Turks turned up uninvited 400 years ago. This does not mean that the individual Turkish Cypriot has fewer rights than his Greek neighbour - but neither should he have any more. For the Turkish Cypriot leadership, in particular Denktash, it was important that they were seen as, and became, victims of the Greeks in order to provoke intervention from the mainland. I clearly remember after the 1974 invasion seeing Denktash on TV admitting that he was responsible for the bombing of a Turkish Cypriot building in Nicosia in the 1950s that had resulted in riots between the two sides. Outnumbered four to one and with the help of extreme elements from both sides on the island the Turkish Cypriots withdrew into enclaves - although in many mixed villages like my father's (Komi Kebir) they stayed despite the attempts of bribery. Your reference to genocide does not help, we can exchange horror stories about who did what to who until the cows come home. Have you ever heard of the Guenyeli massacre in 1958. Did you know that more than 100 abortions were carried out on the rape victims of the Turkish army after the invasion. Did you know that many of the Greek Cypriot POWs seen and filmed in Turkey were never seen again. There seems to be a feeling in the north that the Greeks deserved what they got and the punishment of throwing them out of their homes and selling surplus land to carpetbaggers is fair. The Turkish authorities refer to "exchange" land, but how can 40,000 Turkish Cypriots exchange their land with 180,000 Greek Cypriots? Eighteen percent of the population now occupy 36% of the land, how is that fair? The Greek Cypriots did not think the Annan Plan was fair so they rejected it, would it be acceptable for the Turks to keep 15% of the island? I'm afraid that the British desire to support the underdog often clouds their capacity for objectivity. May I refer you to a couple of books which you may find of interest - "Cyprus" by Christopher Hitchens and "An International Relations Debacle" by Claire Palley. Regards, Lewis Gerolemou P.S. I think you are a fair man but I bet you don't post this on your site! " At the end of the day, anything I put on the site in my own words, is clearly a personal opinion and nothing more, just as the opinion stated above is based on teachings in the south. I just find it very sad that two Cypriot peoples, whether they have been here 400 or 4,000 years can't sit down and have a civil conversation to resolve the issue. They speak two different languages and have two different religions, there are rights and wrongs on both sides, but they are human beings who should respect each others cultural differences etc and live in peace. Suggestion. Throw out the bloody politicians and let 20 ordinary people from each side sit down and come up with a solution. We all know that would never work as they would end up fighting about which 20 should represent each side. That is the first time I have ever been referred to as a carpetbagger and who knows we might have even bought in the south, if I had not been insulted by a Greek Cypriot at a property exhibition in London.
This evening, Joan and I went to Larnaca to collect Arie from a flight that came in from Amsterdam. It is a year now since we last saw this guy, whom we have known since he was 10 years old and is a little like a son to us. This was him at 13 years old, when he and some of the other kids in the village built their own canoes, with a little help from a club leader. We have seen him grow in to an adult, get married, have children of his own, get divorced and we have always had a close contact right from our early days in Holland together. Great to see him again and a lot of catching up to do. On our way home we stopped off at Ezic Chicken, as Arie remembered it from last year, but he was surprised when we where accosted as being the owners of frankandjoan.com in the restaurant. It is great that people still look and recall everything we put on the site, makes it all worth while.
Quiet day around the pool as Arie wanted to recover from the journey and it is still warm enough to get in there, although now down to 25 degrees and it feels a lot colder. Some time ago, George and Susan bought us a swimming pool duck that is in fact a pool thermometer and I think that the thing has sent Joan a little "quackers" as she has now started to talk to it. Guess I had better keep a close eye on things.... Later in the early evening we all went out to Karsiyaka beach for a couple of beers. Arie looks a little more mature than in the earlier picture.Quick belated look at what was in the newspapers:- Finally a deal has been signed whereby water will be piped direct from Turkey to Northern Cyprus via underwater pipes. It would appear that we will be able to receive 75 million cubic metres of water annually. There is also a suggestion that we may also be seeing schemes to supply electricity and natural gas by a similar process. Sad to record that two friends, aged 62 and 65, living in a flat in central Kyrenia have been beaten and stabbed during the course of a robbery. We never used to here this sort of thing a couple of years ago, but it seems to have occurred occasionally over the last 12 months, sad but maybe a sign of the times as the island changes. At least the two men where treated at the local hospital and then released, which is good news, but they have lost a lot of money and some jewellery.Kib-Tek, the local electricity company have introduced a get tough policy on non payment of outstanding electricity accounts. They have cut off more than 600 homes and businesses this last week, so if you have a house here and have not paid your bill then maybe some sort of action is needed to ensure that it happens regularly
If you remember that I have said that we should organise an evening at Silver Grill to eat their kleftiko lamb, well as Arie was here, it seemed like a good idea to get the Layabouts together and including Richard and Paul, we managed to gather 11 together and give Ali and Iyse a full evening. As expected the food was tremendous and the meet just fell off the bones. Thoroughly enjoyed by us all. George was seen to be trying to get the last drop out of his beer bottle which Arie captured for us to see, then he somehow caught me at the same trick and telling George that I got just that little bit more !!! Another great social evening with friends, but then aren't they all.
Despite Arie being here, it was still a working week for me and unfortunately I had been forced in to buying in some non standard stainless steel extractors for the new Secondary school. These did not come with engineering support so there was only one thing to do, hang them myself. Lucky Arie gets to work on his holidays as this was definitely a two man job and a rush job as well. The school officially opens on Friday.
This afternoon we all three went for a walk across the border to the Greek side. This gave Arie a chance to see around some of the older parts of Nicosia and to do some shopping for presents to take home to the family. In the evening, as it was Roger B's evening at the Mediterranean Breeze restaurant we all decided to go down there and sample their Thursday special, fish and chips. We collected Gill on the way down and alter George and Susan joined us for a drink. The reason that Roger is the only one eating, is it is his evening break time and the rest of us gannets had already finished.
Opening day for the brand new secondary school building at Sunny Lane. There has been lots of very hard work put in over the last few days to conform to all the regulations laid down by the Ministry of Education here and the Minister herself was to perform the official opening ceremony, but alas, at the very last minute she was unable to attend. I call that nothing short of a bitter disappointment for all involved and stronger than that, I think it is a disgrace and a bad reflection on the government here.At the end of the day, the Mayor of Alsancak, who was to attend anyway, agreed to perform the official opening ceremony. Does anybody remember my first report on this school around two and a half years ago, with only 22 pupils, well now there are 145 and they are having to turn pupils away in some classes, as they are full. How's that for a success story. The pupils gave us one of their dance and gymnastic performances as part of the opening ceremony and the dancers in traditional dress stole the show. I have to say also that the kitchen equipment from my Italian kitchen equipment supplier looks really good in situ. There are 4 sets of hob, cooker and extractor and one large fridge freezer so maybe we can expect some nice cakes etc to come out of there soon.This evening, Arie took Joan and myself out for a meal. We all went down to Serenada Court in Lapta and have to say it was most enjoyable. Before going down there we actually went up to the Tai restaurant in the village but they are not starting their winter menu until next week sometime, so we just had a quick beer and drove back down the mountain. No doubt I will have to report on The Tai later in the month.
Arie's penultimate day so after a quick trip down to Kyrenia for him to finish some shopping we all went off to Horseshoe Bay, beach and restaurant area for a swim. Joan does not look totally convinced that the sea is warmer than our pool. In the end we all went in and found that it was quite pleasant in there, but clearly coming to the end of the swimming season now.
We decided that Arie needed to experience the traditional Sunday lunch at Henson's and as Brian and Gloria Tattersal are also her at the moment, we joined their party for lunch. Surprise, surprise, the rest of the Lapta Layabouts also came wandering in, in dribs and drabs. The first Sunday lunch of the winter season and we all have to experience it for ourselves again. Remember that Bob & Maggie have actually sold out to a new couple, John & Linzi and they did very well considering that the weather suddenly changed and they had to panic and get everybody inside.
Now for any news.
So you think you have problems with immigrants. This week, the coastguard caught a speedboat off the Karpaz peninsular with 15 Syrians on board trying to get on to the island and probably over to the south for work. Two weeks ago a boat capsized off the same coast and 30 people died, guess some people will do anything for money.
This week the deputy chief warden of Nicosia prison was suspended for stealing £70,000 out of the payroll fund. Guess he might be joining his inmates shortly!!
The new homebuyers pressure group is supposedly growing and now they have a website " target="_blank">www.homebuyerspressuregroup.com"> www.homebuyerspressuregroup.com . Can't say I have looked yet but will do this week and as I have said before I only hope that they don't get caught out in the trap of reporting rumours.
Lots of other info about bird flu and things but then that is probably in all your newspapers also.
Tomorrow morning Arie heads off back to Amsterdam and work, so this evening by special request, he and I went out to the Corner House bar for a drink. There we met Michael and Barbara and their daughter Caron. Seems that Arie and Caron wanted to continue their conversation of lunchtime and that's why I had to drive through the pouring rain. Interesting !!!!
5 a.m. start to get Arie to the airport in Larnaca on time and then armed with a shopping list from Joan I had to go to the hypermarket on the way back. Guess that's why when I started to catch up on some of my admin work this afternoon I started to nod in front of the screen, hey -ho must be getting old
This evening, Joan and I, had Liz and David, the original owners of that wonderful BBQ built around the wooden pergola,; and Barbara and Bruce from Karaman around for dinner. The real excuse was that they all wanted to see our pictures from the trip to Australia etc. It is always a little embarrassing showing people your photos, but they did ask so got exactly what they asked for, about 2 hours of digital photos played back on the TV. Anyway we had had a good dinner and about 3 bottles of wine between us, so that always helps.
Barbara and Bruce are off on Friday for the next 2/3 months, first to UK, then Berlin and then Poland and then I think they said Slovenia. So it was Happy Xmas, Happy New Year all rolled in to one. Maybe when they come back they will be able to get their own back on the photos.
The end of another week and now that Arie has gone back we kept it fairly quiet. Friday evening Joan and I went down to The Cabin for a couple of drinks only to find that the rest of the layabouts had hibernated. You see what happens when we get a little rain and it goes a little colder, they all hide away. Michael did turn up by himself for a couple of beers, so we didn't feel quite so ostracised. Saturday evening we went out with Michael, Barbara and their daughter Caron to the Chinese restaurant down near the Denizkizi hotel. This restaurant has improved immensely since they first opened up and we had an excellent meal with lots of variety, served up nowadays on those table with the rotating centre piece. An enjoyable meal in good company. Toady was the big cut the hedges day for us. The weather has gone much cooler, down to around 22 degrees in the middle of the day so it is good to work in and we achieved lots before succumbing to old age and the need for a swim around 2 o'clock.What the papers say time:- An interesting article in the Cyprus Times, only a small bi-line on page three. Feasibility studies have been going on to build a second runway at Ercan airport to make it possible for big aeroplanes to land. The government says that a decision will be made and the second runway realised in 2006. Guess it doesn't need me to point out that they are not doing this without good reason.The Homebuyers Pressure Group who I mentioned last week again have printed an important notice in The Cyprus Times. The Homebuyers Pressure Group where apparently informed by the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry that no one should enter into any property sales contract or pay any deposits on properties until such time as they have received their permission to purchase from the Interior Ministry. The Undersecretary also advised that potential purchasers should submit and expedite their own application and that the services of an estate agent or lawyer are not required for this process. This service is provided free of charge by the TRNC government. Now this is not new, the rule has always applied and in fact we did exactly that, but, in 1999 it only took three to four months to get permission now it takes two to three years and if you are 3,000 miles away then how do you get this work completed because as sure as hell the ministry don't reply to phone calls and probably never look at their e-mails. Add to this the mislaid files and lost papers and you have the impossible task. This is the very reason why estate agents and lawyers started to do this work on behalf of their clients, so guess the ministry needs to get it's act together before issuing these sort of statements. Our builder did not start the actual build until all permissions where in place and therefore we only paid a small initial deposit until such time work commenced and that gave us lots of peace of mind. So maybe that's the way to go.Lots in the papers about Aga Developments and their site at Amaranta Valley. It appears that the government has frozen bank accounts and work on the site has stopped but the lawyer for the company and the directors are denying any wrong doing and that they are negotiating with the government to free up the funds and complete the work. The message seems to be don't panic the problem will be resolved. Doubtless there will be lots more legal action and we will have to wait to see the results of all this. But at the moment there seems to be a big internal fight between the two directors, Gary Robb ands Tahir Soycan, with each blaming the other for the mess. Personally I think the government is going to have to step and soon, the effect on the building industry and the economy would be too great if they don't resolve this issue. Don't suppose we will ever learn the truth but think that the development will get finished for the reason stated above.President Mehmet Ali Talat is going to a invitation meeting with the US Secretary of State next Friday. Is this another sign of progress towards recognition from somewhere?Finally Joan and I are trying to get tickets to come over to the UK at the end of the month. Joan has this notion to do some Xmas shopping, but at this time we only seem to have stand-by tickets to get off the island on 27th with confirmed return flights on 6th November. Interesting, if we can't get off them what's the point of confirmed returns ? We will await developments early in the week.
Just a quick note to say that this evening, just before Caron went back to UK, we helped celebrate the sale of her house on Michael and Barbara's terrace. Michael and I had found a couple of bottles of real English ale whilst the girls enjoyed some bubbly stuff
Still awaiting confirmation of possible flights but we decided anyway to go out with George, Susan, Roger and Gill to the Tai Restaurant here in Lapta, because if we do get out then we will overlap almost with Roger and Gills trip to UK. Also they have now started opening in the winter in their new indoor area with a special winter menu. Very nice, choice of steak and kidney or chicken and mushroom pies cooked by Sarah or Lasagne cooked by Savaş. It also gave us a chance to go and see young Sophie now that she is just over 6 months old and take a few pictures for them.
Well we made it. Yesterday evening we heard that we had been booked on the 5 a.m. flight today, so it was a case of, what shall I take with me and do I really need to get up at 1.30 in the morning. I managed to use the internet to organise a hire car pick up at Stanstead, from the company we use when we come over here, so we were all set.We actually landed at 8.30 a.m. English time and it then took a further two hours to get out of the airport. Passport control was packed solid with only about 4 desks open at that time in the morning and then it still took another 45 minutes, once we had got passed that hurdle, just to get our luggage. The drive down to New Romney was quite good, despite the rain, so we were with Jill and Les by midday, or soon after. We both have to admit that by 9.30 p.m., UK time, we where ready for our bed. It's only when you realise that with a 2 hour time difference, it is really 22 hours since you got out of bed and not really much sleep on the plane, that you feel what is politely known as knackered. It's great to see our friends Les and Jill again and no doubt we will here all about the local scandals over the next couple of days, but right now we need our beauty sleep. No comments, such as, "what a waste of time", please
A nice leisurely start today and as Jill is not working on Fridays, we were able to go out to Ashford to start to get some of the things on our shopping list. This evening we had arranged for Peter and Ann, our other local friends, to come round and join us in the evening and to make things easy Jill suggested that we used a new local takeaway restaurant who do Thai food. A real fun evening for Joan and I, as we also had plenty of catching up to do and have to admit that the food was really superb.
Sunday and what else can you do when on holiday in UK, but go round to the pub at lunchtime. The Prince Inn, just round the corner from Les and Jill's house, serves up a few lovely real ales so I was more than delighted to enjoy a few. As always a few of our old friends, from the days when we lived here, kept turning up, so we took a little while to get home in the late afternoon, in fact I think it was 5 p.m. before we got back home.
One thing for certain, I'll sleep like a log tonight.
Last day of the month folks and as I'm over here, in cold and wet Kent, no newspapers to read this week to give you the local Cyprus news.
Joan and Jill dragged me screaming and kicking, to the local Ashford outlet shopping centre. At least as the whole is under cover we managed to stay dry. Don't think that it has stopped raining since we arrived and I'm so glad that we packed a couple of sweaters each in the cases, it sure is colder over here.
I guess I will try to update this a.s.a.p. and then make a start on the November things when we get back to Cyprus on the 7th of next month.
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