Frank and Joan's news for 19 October 2008 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....

For those of you who have been waiting for the latest news, I'm sorry but my feet have not touched the ground since we got back. Anyway the rest of our French adventures are recorded in the September diary, plus a week early on here in October.

Now I also have been able to get the Cyprus Today and try to see what news is being reported.

First the bypass. Once again there is a small snag with cash to finish this off. The TRNC government says it will finish off the existing bit, if there is no more money coming from Turkey, but that it will not have the money to complete the link onto the existing Lefkosa/Girne road.

The North Cyprus Tourism Centre is demanding £70,000 from the Greek Cypriot government

. This is to compensate for the expenses incurred when the Greek Cypriots succeeded in getting an exhibition cancelled at the Bull Ring in Birmingham, by lobbying the owners of the Ring. Clearly these things help relationships at this time.

There is considerable unrest about Central Bank statements concerning loans made to builders on land and property which has been sold to expats and others. We all know that things have slowed down, so builders are struggling to repay loans and the banks have issued a warning that suggests that homeowners could lose their homes if the banks are holding the deeds against these loans. Akan Gurkan, one of the leading solicitors here, says that it would not be easy for home buyers to lose their property and they could take the issue to court. He blamed the banks for allowing mortgages on land that they already knew had been sold on to home buyers.

Last Saturday, our first day back, we went to the BRS blood donor session at Girne hospital. Today the paper reports that the number of donors reached a record total of 111. The first time they have ever exceeded the 100 mark.

Well now it's back to the regular things for us. Last night we had Atay and Akille, Turkish Cypriot friends, for dinner. Guess they enjoyed it because it was 1 a.m. when they went home after a lovely evening together. Today we are off to have dinner at Anne Lloyd's and after last nights late one a welcome invitation.