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Our
adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
   
First of the month and a bit of a gripe. We just love this island and particularily the TRNC and have lived here now for 6 years, building up friendships with ex-pats and locals alike, but it is changing.
The government here is a total disaster and have messed up the economy in a worse way than the lovely Gordon Brown. The incompetant ministers have a completely free hand to pass any law, price hike etc. that they like, because believe it or not, the main opposition party, lead by Serdar Denktas, have not attended parliament for almost two years. What sort of government is that? The result is now that the local people are very very disillusioned and fear the worst economic crisis is heading there way.
They are now closing down businesses as they are unable to meet the overheads. This week I saw two seafront cafes close near the Dome hotel, due they said to there being no business and no tourists.
One of the sad results of this is that we ex-pats are seen as a target for extra income and have to be very careful. I had a prime example of this only today. My Honda came for some unknown reason without central remote locking. Not a big problem you say to fit. I took my car to a local auto electrical place and they quoted me 250 YTL. A local friend said that is ridiculous, bring the car to my office and my cousin will take it for you. I did just that, got my car back 2 hours later and paid 100 YTL. It is not just the extra possible cost that is so bad, but what I feel really sad about is that the guy saw an opportunity to rip me off for a lot of money. Many friends are experiencing similar situations and we have to exercise extreme care.
Got to bed at 1.30 a.m. this morning, why? We had been invited over to Mike and Tracey Rodds villa in Catalkoy for a BBQ. They are over here on holiday and have friends staying also, so we were invited to join them. A super BBQ and a very pleasant evening was had and as I did not realise that I had a camera in the car, I am going to ask them to e-mail me a couple of shots to include later. Even Mike had to admit that there is big advantage in bringing a professional chef on holiday with you, because we all remember last years slightly charred efforts by Mike.
Great evening guys and thanks.
Boy is it hot here now. We got up again at 6 a.m. to do some hedge cutting and by 9.30 I was completely knackered and absolutely soaking wet through, so did the only sensible thing, jumped in the pool.
After a breakfast of kippers, bought at the local freezer centre, I had time to catch up on the newspaper and update this site.
The local union leaders, and there are many of these, are beginning to shout very loud about price hikes and lack of governmental control. So much so that they say that they could bring pressure to bear that would seriously damage the peace process. They are trying to force the current government to quit because of inefficiency and because they say they are reckless and unreliable. This would put President Talat into a difficult position whilst trying to negotiate the peace process.
The finance minister is coming under increased pressure to meet government salaries and pensions every month, in fact one pensioners cheque for only 874 YTL bounced due to lack of funds. They say this was only a bank error, but.......there is a forecast 200 million YTL deficit this year and Turkey are refusing to help.
The good news is that Turkey has agreed to fund the remaining work on the bypass, so maybe after all we will see the thing opening this year at last.
The press seems very weak on any news this week, much of it is just repeat of previous weeks stuff, beefed up a bit. Maybe the hot weather is getting to them too.
Back to better numbers for Boy's Night Out. Andrew is back and Jeff has both son and son-in-law here so we had a nice little group of six. Enough to discuss local politics etc and drink a couple of beers. We picked the municipal park in Karsiyaka again as it is handy for all and very pleasant on a summer evening.
Because Jeff and Ann have their extended family over here, which includes six grandsons, they wanted to organise a boat trip. We went back to our favourite boat, Sakki, which is now back in the water after having a new engine fitted and some fresh paintwork. By the time we had added the rest of our regular crew, who are still on the island, we managed to get ourselves a closed boat. That is just one big happy family all together.
We went east out of the harbour so we were the only boat down near Turtle Bay area which is absolutely great, no jetski's, speed boats, etc. Joan just loves swimming in the sea so was very happy to be saying come on in it's lovely. After our first swim we had the usual lovely lunch of fish, chicken, salad and various local meze dishes. Of course there is always a bar on board to keep us all happy and to wash down the lunch.
On the way back to harbour, after our second afternoon stop for a swim and followed by dishes of fresh fruit, we were safely guided back to harbour by the smallest captain. A great day as usual and Joan and I vowed to gather together a crowd for our anniversary at the end of the month, just another excuse for a day out. Who needs one, excuse that is.
Joan and I spent quite some time on the internet today. We had planned to make trip over to UK on 17th September for just one week, mainly because Joan is going over to Holland on the back of Les's big Kawasaki, to attend some special meeting there of the Z1300 club. We had also thought to get away ourselves, maybe back to Turkey around this same period. Then we discovered that we could fly with Ryanair down to mid France for less than half the cost and also with much cheaper hire car costs as well. Competition always ensures you get good deals of course.
Many years ago we hired a boat on the river Charente so that is one consideration for a week and then maybe a nice farmhouse gite for the second week. When we have got tickets from Stansted for only £78.00 return, for both of us, the rest just needs a bit of thought and planning. So watch this space.
Draining Lapta Dry, says the headline. Lapta has always had an enviable supply of water and the municipality has often sold it to other authorities, who were not so lucky. Now we are beginning to run dry in at least two of the wells in the area. our local mayor is very angry at the whole scene, because he says that there have always been many private wells in this area, but now these well owners are selling the water on for vast profits and all the water comes of course from only one water table. This is just a sympton of the serious problem facing the island if we don't get rain, lots of it, very soon.
Among the other angry young men around here are the hoteliers, who are threatening to put up to 80 hotels on the market in answer to the governments lack of action in the tourist market. The hotel usage has peaked at 26% this year, far too low for anybody to make a profit. The hoteliers are angry at the government support of the new fancy 5 star hotels and casinos whilst not addressing the real problems of tourism here.
For the first time ever, one of the municipalities has introduced fines for littering. A good idea if it is worked properly, but it needs to be backed up with maybe, education, strong advertising and people who are willing to write the fines and implement the law. The government are asking for volunteer vigilantes to file reports.
Many of you know of the high interest rates which we can get from banks here, when our savings are converted to YTL. Many of you will also recall the crash in 2001, when local small banks went bankrupt offering very high interest rates, which of course could only be achieved by lending at even higher rates. Well now comes a warning from the vice-president of the Central Bank. Spread the load over a number of banks and accounts, don't have more than 20,000 Euros in any one account, as this is the insured amount for investors. Personally we have put savings into Turk Bankasi Ltd as they have been in business since 1901, have 22 branches on the Turkish mainland, 18 here in TRNC and 5 in London. The interest rate may be slightly lower but we feel much safer.
Is it me or is it all doom and gloom out there, higher prices, property prices falling and banks suffering heavily reduced profits. Come on folks, the sun is shining, the water is lovely and warm, if you feel restaurant prices are on the up, have a BBQ at home and invite folk with a sense of humour, they will probably bring wine and beer to supplement the food and everyone will have a great time. Laughter is the best medicine.
See told you that the sun was shining. They turned our water on today, the first time since Saturday morning. Now we can fill the back up tank under the terrace and take a shower before we get too wiffy.
This evening four of us attended the local municipal park in Karsiyaka to sample their beers. Stewart kindly picked me up in passing, Andrew had had a busy day at one of the big villas we are kitting out, so needed a few beers and Jeff was brought by Ann to join us, so for half an hour we even had a ladette joining us for a beer. It really is very pleasant sitting out with the boys and chin-wagging about almost nothing at all.
Two nights out eating, this is getting just a bit too much. Last night Richard came round to collect a coupe of things Joan had brought back from the south for him, so we all three decided that Haci Ali's was worth a visit. A steak with trimmings and acouple of glasses of thier house wine goes down very well sitting on their lovely terrace looking out to sea.
This evening, being the regular Thursday evening out for the gang we decided to give Ezic Premier a whirl. They are still issuing the 10% off coupons in the newspaper so with Stewart around we were not allowed to miss the opportunity. This really is a very good place and always quite busy, the service is excellent and you are guaranteed a good sized plate of quality food every time. If you are coming over give it a whirl, you can find it on the new bypass, which is of course not yet open,
A piece of information from our friend John Pearce. Special for all moon watchers.
Two moons on 27th August
27th Aug the Whole World is waiting for......... ....
Planet Mars will be the brightest in the night sky starting August. It will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. This will cultivate on Aug. 27 when Mars comes within 34.65M miles off earth. Be sure to watch the sky on Aug. 27 12:30 am. It will look like the earth has 2 moons.
The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.
Share this with your friends as NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again.
Some time ago we were asked to sign a petition requesting the UK government to recognise the TRNC as an independant state. I today received this e-mail as response:-
Thursday 14 August 2008
TRNC-Independent - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to internationally recognise northern cyprus as the Turkish Republic Of North Cyprus.”
Details of Petition:
“Cyprus has been divided since 1974 into the Turkish Cypriot north and the Greek Cypriot south. Only Turkey recognises the North Cypriot independence since 1983. It is now time that The north enjoys the same international recognised status as the south of Cyprus does and I ask the British prime minister to take the first step to recognise the north part of the island as an independent state and end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.”
Read the Government’s response
The UK Government, along with the rest of the international community except Turkey, has a long-standing policy of not recognising the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (“TRNC”). This is in line with UN Security Council resolutions. The Government agrees with the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders that reunification is the best solution for both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Consequently we welcome the recent good progress that has been made in working towards a settlement, and applaud the agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders on 21 March. We also welcome their joint statements of 23 May and 1 July, which we endorse in full. The Government supports both leaders in working towards their goal of a reunited, indivisible Cyprus that is acceptable to both communities and encourages them to move forward towards fully fledged negotiations as soon as possible.
The Government supports the commitment made by the EU in 2004, and re-affirmed in 2007, to take measures aimed at reducing the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community of northern Cyprus in pursuit of a settlement. Reducing this isolation, by working towards the economic integration of the island, lessening the economic disparity between the two sides and bringing the Turkish Cypriot community closer to the EU, will contribute to creating the conditions in which re-unification is more likely.
Now thats the biggest load of claptrap that I have read in many a day. Couldn't possibly be politician speak could it?
Oh boy is it very humid today and the pool thermometer is even showing 90 degress in old money, it's lke swimming in bath water. We got up sort of early for a Sunday to tackle another section of our lantana hedge that has grown a bit wild. It took 4 hours to do the bit I wanted to get done today and then we just lowered ourselves in to the pool expecting to sort of sizzle getting in, no such luck it was just too warm.
The newspaper says that there is a package of measures in pipeline to revive tourism. Now unless I am mistaken it is almost the end of August, the holiday season is almost over, hotel owners have been shouting at the government for more than a year and now they are putting something in the pipeline.
This news is on the same front page as headline which says "Harbour Crackdown". This refers to the local authority clamping down on restaurant owners etc. on the harbour getting their staff to tout for business and for putting tables, notice boards etc on the walkway. With the lack of tourists I reckon they are getting desperate for business. Maybe if the measures in the pipelne work, they won't need to tout! I have to admit if you want to take a walk along the harbour area it can get very irritating.
The Chamber of Commerce now claims that this goverment "lacks vision" to implement an economic rescue plan. Apparently a raft of proposals was put forward in June and the government has not reacted yet. One of the main statements in the report is refering to the public sector employees. The Chamber states that, if the government is going to produce and administer the economy based on productivity, then the state sector needs to shrink. The most important problem in our country, they say, is the surplus of employees within the public sector. If they get rid of staff then coffee sales will go down and that will be another complaint.
Petrol prices were lowered this week as a result of the changing world price of oil. The price of 1 litre of 97 octane, for example, has reduced from 2.50 YTL to 2.40 YTL. There is also a suggestion that electricity prices might also fall, this because our generating stations are all oil driven. This could be intersting as electric prices have doubled this year alone. All this is linked to the Chamber of Commerce claim that the government should for example turn these things over to free market systems, instead of controlling prices and using them as taxation income system when desperate.
On 14th August I posted a special for all you moon watchers. Now I feel a chump for not checking out the information as it seems that this is a sort of regular hoax. I have recieved two e-mails telling me that I am a silly boy and that the following website tells me why.
www.snopes.com/science/mars.asp
Today is a very sad day in our lives. At midday today we attended the funeral of a wonderful man, Jeff Lloyd, who died at Cyprus Life hospital early on Tuesday morning.
Joan and I have known Jeff (thats him third from the left in the stripped job) and his wife Ann since they had the misfortune to find our website, not long after we arrived on the island. We have become good friends since that date and have sadly watched Jeff suffer from lung cancer and the treatment he received during the last twelve months. We also had the very good fortune to take the last Egypt trip in his company, something he wanted to do even though he realised that many of the daily trips were going to be to strenuous for him. (Look back in the April diary for notes about this holiday)
He died were he wanted to die, here on the island, with all his family and friends around him, but he will be sadly missed. Our sincere condolances go out to Ann, his wife, his children Debbie and Ian, and their families and especiially the six grandchildren that he loved so much.
Oh yes Jeff, if you can read this up there. Remember the 13 YTL + 1 years interest, that you have, belonging to the "Boys Night Out Club". Well, by unanimous decision we have allowed you to take it with you, providing you buy Michael Smith a couple of beers up there, where I'm sure you will both get together.
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