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Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
Joan and I have had a very busy week, with five viewings to date on the villa, we are just hoping that one of these will realise a sale contract. This evening was the start of the Lapta Tourism Festival. This is the third such event and it really brings out the crowds with the town high street being all decorated in balloons and bunting and fitted out with many stalls selling local products. After all the speeches, which we struggled to understand, we were entertained by dancing groups. There were five or six of these groups, all decked out in colourful costumes and full of enthusiasm for the whole event. We were able to get a couple of seats on a table outside one of the village cafes and watch the world pass by, with a lamb doner between us and a couple of beers. Great evening.
There has been a big outcry about the visit of the Pope to South Cyprus. The president of the South used the opportunity, in his welcome speech, to score political points against what he referred to as the occupation. After this the Turkish Cypriot team found themselves alone at the negotiating table. Mr Christofiasis's decision not to attend was made after the TRNC president remarked that he was not prepared to welcome comments by the UN Secretary-General to work within the UN parameters and resolutions to find peace. Mr Eroglu said many of these resolutions had not been accepted by the Turkish side and the Greek Cypriots now see this as evidence of Mr Eroglu's nationalistic tendencies, demanding more for the Turkish Cypriots than had previously been agreed. This situation is a very long way from being resolved. A tender to find a partner for CTA will be launched early this week. Employees, through their union, have said they will accept a 25% pay cut rather than lose their job. Maybe people are beginning to realise that no partner or possible take over company will be involved until staffing levels are sorted out. The gravy train is maybe now over, but will the airline survive in it's current form? The contractor working on the Girne bypass is hopeful of finishing the initial road building by next Friday. White lining, signs etc will still need to be completed, but their work is hampered by motorists moving traffic cones to travel along sections of the road which are closed.
OK, so Rafas gone, just a mere £4 million better off, there is talk of Kenny Dlagleish coming back to the helm but what of some key players such as Torres, Gerrard etc. Where the heck are Liverpool going to be next season.
The headline news today is that Atlas Jet have made application to take over the running of CTA. One government party tried to challenge the legality of the tender claiming that CTA was being sold on the cheap. Their major concern was that 100s of jobs would probably go, but personally I think that this has to happen to save the airline. They will also need strong management to handle the backlash. Atlas Jet operate out of Istanbul and have 11 aircraft flying to 17 destinations. Critics of the speed at which the tender was being processed have to realise that a lease payment was due on one of CTA's aircraft and the government here was not willing or maybe not able to pay that debt. According to page three headline, BRS meeting erupts as "civil war" rages. You have to wonder if the reporter who wrote this was actually at the meeting, as it is a load of old cr*p. There was a meeting, where some minority group tried to wrestle control of the BRS but the meeting was controlled admirably by Stephen Day. The trouble makers would have liked it to erupt and them to take over the whole, but it wasn't to be and the best thing for the society would be for the trouble makers to go away, now. There is lots of controversy at the moment about one of the banks here, the Akfinans Bank, who lent money to the land owner and developer of properties in Karsiyaka. The money was lent on the land value with no properties on it. The sale contracts for the properties were not registered with the land registry so the bank assumed no development, just land. They lent the money out at 80% per quarter interest and the two who borrowed never paid a penny back. Now the owners who have paid lots of money for properties face losing them because the land and the properties have been auctioned off. Who is at fault, the lawyers for not properly registering property sales, the banking system for allowing a system with massive legal holes in it to go uncontrolled, or the Akfiinans Bank who must have realised that nobody in their right minds would sign a deal at 80% per quarter interest rate, knowing that they had no intention to repay, or the succesive governments here who allow laws that hold no security for the buyers here, who are after all the lifeblood of this community. Somewhere there is a morale to this story. Never buy off plan without being absolutely sure that your solicitor is doing a proper job and securing your interest in unencumbered land. Or maybe just don't buy "Off-Plan" at all.
Last ight the regular gang went out to the bowling alley and the across the road to the new Mediterranean Grill restaurant. The restaurant wa excellent but we all feel we need to go back and test it out some more, as the whole is a new concept in dining here, being a franchise operation for a Turkish chain of restaurants. Expect some pics and more news shortly. Incidentally, guess who won the bowling...........
I wrote last week about the auction organised by Akfinans Bank to try to recover their loans outstanding, which could result in people losing homes that they have paid for. There is now to be another auction of apartments in Girne, occupied by Turkish and Turkish Cypriot people, who find themselves in a similar situation. This is another typical situation here. The construction firm have fancy new offices at the bottom of the Karaman road, the boss drives a Range Rover and the daughter in a BMW Z3 convertible, all out of profits that they never made and it is believed that the boss is doing time for cheques that have bounced and the auction stems from the fact that he has defaulted on loans he took out with two individuals. Many construction companies sprung up during the boom and were run by people who have no building or business experience, so once again, check everything out very carefully but ideally only buy property that has clear unencumbered deeds attached. The bargains are still there but must be thoroughly investigated. Finally the government is stepping in to try to stop these auctions and to tighten up the controls, but it may be too little, too late for many. There is still lots of controversy over the CTA tenders. Apparently the sealed box for tenders was found to be empty when opened last week, despite the fact that it was known the Atalsjet had submitted a tender. Five people have been arrested over this. I have been told that the workers unions are suggesting big pay-cuts and a laying off of staff themselves. Hooray, finally somebody accepts they might be overstaffed! All in all a bad week for the government here but maybe they will see the light and do something, on the other hand maybe not. We had a visit from Mehmet, Gule (Rose in English) and their two boys today. The seven year old is normally on the go from morning to night but started off the afternoon very shy and hiding around his mother. Joan and I broke the ice by getting in to the pool and then we all joined in. The little one is just called action man because he never stops all day once he gets going and enjoys being watched by all.. We all had an enjoyable afternoon and topped it off with a BBQ before they went home to Nicosia. Mehmet was looking forward to a very quiet evening as he thought that both the boys would just crash out early and he could relax and watch TV. Our neighbours, Charles and Yvonne are starting with the development of the underneath area of their villa. A & B builders had stated to do the preparation work this week in preparation for the filling in of the floor area. To do this they needed a concrete pump and as we all know these are quite large beasts.. Well this one turned up and the question then was, would it go under the overhead electric cables? Well the solution seemed to be if it wont fit we will just park it in the front garden. We still held our breath whilst they manoeuvred it under the cables, but all's well and they pumped the new floor in no time. Joan and I however came to the conclusion that, if Charles and Yvonne are going to open a Macdonalds? burger bar, it is definitely time to move on! This evening Joan and I went to the Bellapais Music Festival with two friends from Moscow. Igor & Zelena have an apartment in Alsancak and had e-mailed that they were coming over and knowing that we also enjoyed music, asked us to see what tickets we could get. Well this evening, two Turkish female pianists were performing so I had managed to forward book tickets. These two ladies played solo n the period before the interval and then followed this with a four hands recital after the interval. A tremendous evening of music, which the four of us had proceeded with a meal at Ezic Premier on the way. According to the newspaper, CTA have still not resolved their problems. The possible partnership with Atlas Jet seems to have gone on the back burner. Me thinks that political and union meddling has once again killed this one as it was very clear that many jobs would be lost and heads would roll. Not something people here are willing to accept. Now the Prime Minister has put forward a plan to slash the wages of airline staff, politicians and civil servants as being the way to save the airline. This would only be for a period of three months in order to allow the airline to get back on a commercial footing. I would suggest that other miracles need to be sort before this would work. At the same time as this is going on, the government is being urged to take drastic steps to save the embattled construction industry. Whatever steps are taken they need to be taken now and not after a six month discussion.' An interesting situation is developing at The European Parlaiment's International Trade Committee. A recent report says that TRNC ports should be deemed legitimate and opened for direct trade. The report says that the Geek Cypriots in the south cannot demand their closure to International trade as they are not under it's authority. Interesting times. For those interested in temperatures here, it has been 40 degrees for the last couple of days so any work that needs to be done, is done in the period 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. before the heat builds up. The other thing not to be mentioned at the moment is the football..........what a lack lustre performance.
Yesterday evening we went to the BRS Dinner & Dance at The Denizkizi hotel. Joan was having a successful evening on the tombola table and we ended up with fair selection of wine etc. We had a great evening and three of the girls seem to be enjoying the whole thing very much. Yvonne is away in Ireland at the moment for a christening so Charles needed a cuddle. A good evening had by all, but then this annual event is always quite enjoyable. The Construction Contractors Union have proposed that the government take on ALL the mortgage debts on land in order to end the misery of properties being sold off by banks to recover debts. This sounds like a brilliant proposal by the union to a government that is itself in serious financial trouble. Could you just imagine how many sudden mortgages would pop up out of the woodwork? The present government is using all this to pin the blame on the outgoing government but admits that it is itself preoccupied with the CTA problems as well. The whole business is a nightmare for any government. Whilst talking about CTA, it is interesting to see an article about a 19 year old who was arguing with his brother-in-law at the airport, grabbed a policeman's pistol and then shot an innocent bystander in the leg. Some investigating needed there I think!!!!! The prime minister has asked for 1 months grace on payments from CTA to allow time to resolve the problems. CTA is due to pay $40 million by 22nd to Turk-Is Technik and to the Turkish Civil Aviation authority, Turk-Is is demanding $19 million by close of business on 22nd. Just don't see how this can be resolved unless the government allow a take over bid to succeed which will of course mean major job losses. On a final note. Who wants to put money on Engalnd/Slovenia this week. I suppose the saving grace is that CTA will not be flying them home....
According to the newspapers, the government have really cocked it up this time. CTA are grounded for 3 months minimum and fights broke out between CTA staff and police at the airport yesterday. It seems that Pegasus airlines made a proposal to the government which would have resolved the problem but various issues have not been ironed out, so the deal did not go ahead. It is surely time that any government on this part of the island realised that they are not fir to run an airline and that they should stop using it as a political pawn. Let the professionals have it quickly. Meanwhile of course all those who have bought tickets are in limbo and have nobody to talk to.
It seems as if Atlas Jet might be honouring CTA tickets but I only have this from a posting on the Cyprus 44 Forum. Suggest that you call Ankara Travel here in Kyrenia, we have always found them to be very efficient and helpful. Tel 0090 392 815 2193. Now for something completely different. John Pearce suggested a China Spree reunion and a suggestion for the new Shanghai restaurant, at the top of The Jasmine Court road, came up. So Pat, Bryan, Jewel, John, Joan and myself went there to try it out. Verdict excellent, has to be one of the best Chinese meals we have had on the island.
What a very strange week. We have had strong winds blowing in from the west all week, somebody needs to tell the powers that be that this is Cyprus and we don't do strong winds June to October, except maybe for a day or so when the moon comes up new. To crown it all we had torrential rain this evening which put the dampers on an evening event at The Hermitage, which is where the vicar lives and which is being restored to its former glory and needs some funding. Anne had come up with the idea of putting up a giant screen and using a projector linked to my laptop to show some of the classic shows from the likes of Andrea Bocelli. Everybody gathered there tables, chairs, food and drink at The Hermitage only to be rained off just at start time and I do mean rain. Not to be outdone, we all gathered the tables under the veranda area, Bill did his singing in the rain performance for us and ennjoyed the food and wine whilst rescheduling the whole for 23rd July, what else can you do, if the picnic has been prepared you have only to enjoy it. A great evening with at least the music system working under the veranda, in the dry and the rain eventually stopped, but by that time we also had a power cut so that would have closed us down as well. Well the big news this week is "WE HAVE SOLD" to a very nice couple of people from the Coventry area of the UK. We also have manged to sell our car to another couple who are coming back mid August and want it from then. Joan and I have started frantically packing stuff now as we need to load the container on 29th July for onward shipment and we will hopefully follow it on 31st July. Mel and Sue, who are buying our villa, want most of the furniture so Joan has had a couple of lovely days going around her old furniture suppliers negotiating discounts for a new three piece etc. We are taking a container with personal stuff so we might as well take advantage of the cheaper prices here. We are looking forward to our new adventures in the Dordogne area of France and we will keep a webiste running if anybody is interested.
The newspaper is calling it an Air Disaster. What a spectacular cock up this CTA saga is becoming. Atlas Jet have now pulled out and the staff union are busy throwing fruit and eggs at the police outside the parliament building. Somebody needs to have the courage to spell it out. You are over staffed and over paid so the airline can never survive. Now of course CTA is in danger of losing its slots in the five major UK airports and these are worth millions, As per usual here the government is just talking but not taking any action. CTA has always struggled but until 2005 the company was run in partnership with Turkish Airlines, before the last coalition government took sole control. At that time CTA had no debts and $35 million in the bank. Now it is difficult to find the exact figure, but it is rumoured that they are $140 million in debt. During the period from 2005 the airline has not been run by anybody with real experience, we have had dentists, school teachers etc as CEOs and as soon as any restructuring is mentioned the unions rebel and demand that the restructuring stop. Something has got to happen now or else TRNC will no longer have a National Airline. Other news. Growing numbers of British MEPs are backing the bid to end trade embargoes here on the island. This would be brilliant news if it was to happen and could spell the end of the economic problems here, providing os course the things were properly handled within the TRNC government. The leaders of the two island communities are supposedly talking property issues now. This is one of the most difficult areas to resolve but needs a resolution before any agreement can ever be reached. Super pic of Joan and I at the BRS do last week. Am trying to get a copy from Cyprus Today so that I can post it on the site. You lot will probably say ugh, don't do that. There you are, just to prove that we were scrubbed up for the night and looking our best. One of us has been going to the vets with Tiggy every morning since last Friday, she is getting anti-boitic injections because of a high temperature, we fear that it is getting almost to the end now, but she does not seem to be in any pain so we continue to hope. The funny thing is also that Barbara has had a recent fall, nothing serious, but she also needs daily hospital trips for anti-biotic injections, so we have to be very careful which one we take to the vet and which to the hospital. This morning we were both up and about at 5 a.m. to take Anne to the airport for her trip to UK. She will be back on 18th July, before we leave, so she and Joan will be able to do their paragliding thing off the mountain. They always said they would and now they can also try to raise money for the Hermitage project. The newspaper is reporting a couple of interesting things. Firstly that a deal has been struck between Atlasjet and CTA, which gives Atlasjet 51% control and the plan is to rename the airline as well as to axe 240 staff. There are still questions to be answered, such as who is going to pay the bad debts and as this new airline is not due to start until May 2011, who will sort out the passengers in the meantime. More to come I think! President Eroglu is showing his hard lime tactics to the world now. He has just gone to New York for a meeting with the UN Secretary-General. He has suggested that if there is no deal this year then both sides should stop talking and put forward proposals for the future. It is his belief that the Greek side do not wish to resolve the issue and is suggesting that if they do not agree to a deadline, then this is proof that they do not want a solution and have no intention of undersigning any agreement.
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