ERDOGAN RAISES RHETORIC IN GREECE STANDOFF IN MEDITERRANEAN

 Associated Press 5 September 2020 - by Andrew Wilks, Associated Press

© Provided by Associated Press Turkey's President Recep Erdogan speaks during a meeting, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. Erdogan has threatened Greece with military action and described Turkey's activities in the eastern Mediterranean as the " pursuit of (its) rights and justice " and denounced what he said were Greek efforts to " imprison " Turkey to a small region surrounding its coast. (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned Greece to enter talks over disputed eastern Mediterranean territorial claims or face the consequences.

“They’re either going to understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences,” he said at a hospital's opening ceremony in Istanbul.

Ankara is currently facing off against Greece and Cyprus over oil and gas exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean. All sides have deployed naval and air forces to assert their competing claims in the region.

“They are going to understand that Turkey has the political, economic and military power to tear up the immoral maps and documents imposed,” Erdogan added, referring to areas marked by Greece and Cyprus as their economic maritime zones.

© Provided by Associated Press Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, left, salutes from inside an F-16 jet fighter at a military air base in western city of Eskisehir, Turkey, Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2020, before a training flight over Turkish Monument in Gallipoli peninsula. Akar said Thursday that Washington's lifting the arms embargo against Greek Cypriot-administered Cyprus will lead to a deadlock. "If you lift the embargo and try to disrupt the balance in this way, this will bring conflict, not peace," he said.(Turkish Defense Ministry via AP, Pool)

He stressed that Turkey was “ready for every eventuality and result.”

The president’s comments come after NATO said military officers from Greece and Turkey had begun technical discussions to reduce the risk of armed conflict or accidents.

The two NATO allies have been locked for weeks in a tense standoff in the eastern Mediterranean, where Turkey is prospecting the seabed for energy reserves in an area Greece claims as its own continental shelf.

Ankara says it has every right to prospect there and accuses Athens of trying to grab an unfair share of maritime resources.

Simulated dogfights between Greek and Turkish fighter pilots have multiplied over the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. A Turkish and a Greek frigate collided last month, reportedly causing minor damage to the Turkish frigate but no injuries.

© Provided by Associated Press In this photo provided on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, by the Greek Defense Ministry, warships from Greece, Italy, Cyprus and France, participate in a joint military exercise which was held from 26-28 of August, south of Turkey in eastern Mediterranean sea. Turkey on Monday, Aug. 31, accused Greece of "piracy" and warned it will stand up to Athens' alleged efforts to militarize islands near its coast.(Greek Defense Ministry via AP)

Erdogan said Turkey had repeatedly expressed its willingness to come to a just agreement.

“Our word is sincere," he said. “The problem is those before us disregard our rights and try to situate themselves above us.”

The crisis is the most serious in the two countries’ relations in decades. The neighbours have come to the brink of war three times since the mid-1970s, including once over maritime resources in the Aegean.

Earlier, Ankara announced joint military exercises with northern Cypriot forces from Sunday to Sept. 10. The air, land and sea drills are held every year.

© Provided by Associated Press In this photo provided on Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, by the Greek Defense Ministry, warships from Greece, Italy, Cyprus and France, participate in a joint military exercise which was held from 26-28 of August, south of Turkey in eastern Mediterranean sea. Turkey on Monday, Aug. 31, accused Greece of "piracy" and warned it will stand up to Athens' alleged efforts to militarize islands near its coast. (Greek Defense Ministry via AP)

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RAF JETS INVOLVED IN IS MISSION SENT TO BLACK SEA AMID RUSSIA TENSIONS

 Sky News 5 September 2020 - by Deborah Haynes, foreign affairs editor

British fighter jets based in Cyprus as part of a mission to counter Islamic State in Syria and Iraq have instead been flying in the Black Sea region amid tensions with Russia, Sky News understands.

© Getty Typhoons have been operating in the Black Sea region, the MOD has said. File pic

A military source said the Royal Air Force Typhoons, supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker aircraft, were deployed on Friday because of a Russian military exercise in the area.

The source said they were operating with a number of US B52 bombers, which flew from an airbase in the UK where they are stationed.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: "We can confirm RAF Typhoons have been operating in the Black Sea region.

"The sortie demonstrates the UK's ability to support ongoing cooperation with allies and partners in the region which deepens relationships and regional security."

Russia on Friday said it scrambled eight fighter jets to intercept three US B-52 strategic bombers flying over the Black Sea.

A Twitter account that tracks the movement of military aircraft and warships tweeted about a Typhoon jet that flew from RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to Ukraine.

"RAF Typhoon ZK301 which is usually based at RAF Akrotiri has been sent up over the Black Sea area & now over Ukraine," said @air_intel

The Typhoon and Voyager aircraft are deployed in Cyprus as part of Operation Shader - the name of the UK contribution to a US-led coalition against Islamic State.

The fast jets fly sorties over Iraq and Syria, conducting surveillance and - when needed - launching air strikes.

But that mission has become a lot quieter in recent months following the collapse of the physical IS caliphate in March 2019.

It is not clear if the diversion of the aircraft to the Black Sea from their counter IS mission is a one-off or the start of a longer-term diversification of tasks.

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UK GOVERNMENT SUSPENDS MILITARY TRAINING TO BELARUS DICTATORSHIP AFTER OUTCRY

 The Independent 5 September 2020 - by Jon Stone

© Provided by The Independent

The British government has suspended the provision of military training to Belarus’s army, amid accusations that the UK has been “strengthening and legitimising” the country’s dictatorship.

The Independent reported last month that UK military instructors had been teaching Belarusian troops as recently as March this year, despite the country being widely regarded as a dictatorship.

Following the revelations, ministers quietly announced this week that any training had been temporarily stopped, “in light of recent events” – probably a reference to the popular uprising against the country’s rigged presidential election.

Campaigners said the UK should never have been training the Belarusian army in the first place, given its “appalling human rights record” and said there should be no return to the old policy once attention had gone elsewhere.

Junior defence minister James Heappey said in a written statement that the UK and Belarus had “shared a cooperative defence relationship which aims to promote mutual learning and understanding through events such as winter survival training, language training and peacekeeping training” – failing to mention other courses overseen by the UK such as “advanced command”.

The minister added: “However, in light of recent events we have decided to suspend our defence engagement programme with Belarus and will keep this under close review.”

In the aftermath of Belarus’s contested 9 August elections, thousands of protesters have been detained by authorities, hundreds thought to have been tortured, and at least four have died.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across the country again this week, while authorities withdrew accreditation from 17 reporters, mostly for foreign media outlets.

The UK has said it does not accept the result of the elections, with the foreign secretary Dominic Raab describing it as “fraudulent” and calling for an investigation by the independent Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

© Provided by The Independent Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus (Tass/Getty)

He said the world had “watched with horror at the violence used by the Belarusian authorities to suppress the peaceful protests”.

But the latest repression came as little surprise in the country, which Freedom House (a think tank) has consistently rated as “not free” on account of it being “an authoritarian state in which elections are openly orchestrated and civil liberties are tightly restricted”.

Andrew Smith, of the Campaign Against Arms Trade, said: “This is a welcome announcement, but the UK should never have been training with the Belarus army in the first place. The regime has an appalling human rights record which is upheld by a brutal and authoritarian army. The UK should never have been doing anything to strengthen or support it.

“It is vitally important that this is a lasting change. There cannot simply be a return to business as usual once the headlines have gone away. There must be an end to the duplicitous and hypocritical approach to foreign policy that has allowed this to happen.”

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TURKISH NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT CALLS FOR REINSTATEMENT OF DEATH PENALTY

 Filenews 5 September 2020

The president of the Turkish National Assembly and a high-ranking official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), Mustafa Sedop, today called for the reintroduction of the death penalty for specific crimes.

His statement follows a similar request made this week by Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Action Party, and a government partner of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The last imposition of the death penalty in Turkey was in 1984. Parliament adopted a reform package in 2002 that included its abolition. It was repealed by the penal code in 2004 amid Turkey's push towards membership of the European Union.

Rekindling the debate, the president of the Turkish National Assembly said the imposition of the death penalty should be limited to murders and sex crimes against children, according to turkish news agency Anadolu.

Sedop, one of the most senior officials of the AKP, Erdogan's party, noted, however, that the issue should be debated in parliament because it requires constitutional changes.

Since the failed 2016 coup attempt, Erdogan has spoken of holding a referendum on the question of reinstating the death penalty. A possible reinstatement of the last of the sanctions would end any attempt by Turkey to join the EU, a process that has already been frozen.

Bahceli said the National Assembly should reinstate the death penalty when parliament resumes in October. The death penalty would act as a deterrent, he argued, citing specific crimes such as sexual offences against children and women.

Women in recent weeks have been protesting across the country over concerns that Ankara may withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.

Rights groups point out that more than 400 women were murdered in 2019 because of their gender, in homicides allegedly committed by male relatives or partners. The Turkish government does not collect such data.

Source: RES-BE

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COMMON CRITERIA FOR TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS WITHIN THE EU PROPOSED BY THE COMMISSION

 Filenews 5 September 2020

A proposal for a recommendation to coordinate travel restrictions within the EU was sent by the Commission to the Council of Member States. In particular, the Commission proposes common criteria and thresholds for Member States when deciding whether to introduce travel restrictions, mapping common criteria using an agreed colour code, a common framework for measures applicable to travellers from high-risk areas and clear and timely information to the public on any restrictions

According to the Commission, the definition of areas in green, orange and red should be common in the EU.

On trips from green areas there should be no restriction. On trips from orange regions there may be a recommendation for testing and quarantine and on trips from red areas, Member States have the right to propose tests and other restrictions, but they must be the same as those they apply in red areas within them.

In particular, the Commission proposes that each Member State take into account the following criteria when adopting restrictive measures:

- the total number of COVID-19 cases recently notified per 100,000 people in a given area over a 14-day period.

- the percentage of positive tests from all COVID-19 tests carried out in a given area over a seven-day period.

- the number of COVID-19 tests carried out per 100 000 persons in a given area over a seven-day period.

Member States should provide this data on a weekly basis to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Member States should also provide this data at regional level to ensure that any measures can be targeted in those areas where they are absolutely necessary.

Since the Member State of departure has a weekly test rate of more than 250 per 100 000 persons, the Commission proposes that Member States do not restrict the free movement of persons travelling from another Member State where the total number of cases of COVID-19 recently notified in a given area equals less than 50 per 100,000 persons over a 14-day period , or when the percentage of positive tests from all COVID-19 tests in a given area is less than 3%.

On the basis of the information provided by the Member States, the Commission proposes that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control publish a map of EU and EEA countries, updated weekly, with a common colour code to support Member States and travellers.

The Commission proposes to classify it as:

- green an area where the total number of recently notified COVID-19 cases is less than 25 over a 14-day period and the percentage of positive tests from all COVID-19 tests is less than 3%.

-orange an area where the total number of recently notified COVID-19 cases is less than 50 over a 14-day period, but the percentage of positive tests from all COVID-19 tests is 3% or more, or the total number of recently notified COVID cases is between 25 and 150 BUT the percentage of positive results from all COVID-19 tests is less than 3%.

-red an area where the total number of recently notified COVID-19 cases is greater than 50 over a 14-day period and the percentage of positive results from all COVID-19 tests is 3% or more, or the total number of cases notified is more than 150 per 100,000 people over a 14-day period.

- grey if there is insufficient information to assess the criteria proposed by the Commission, or the number of COVID-19 tests carried out per 100 000 persons is less than 250.

The Commission also proposes a common approach between Member States when dealing with travellers from high-risk areas.

Member States should not refuse entry to persons travelling from other Member States. Member States which introduce restrictions on free movement on the basis of their own decision-making procedures could require persons travelling from an area designated as 'red' or 'green' to undergo a 14-day quarantine or COVID-19 test after arrival with the COVID-19 test being the preferred option.

Where justified, Member States could consider recommending that persons travelling from an area designated as 'orange' be tested for COVID-19 before departure or on arrival.

Member States could require persons arriving from an area classified as 'red', 'orange' or 'grey' to submit passenger identification forms, in particular those to those arriving by plane, in accordance with data protection requirements.

Travellers with essential function or need - such as workers in critical occupations, frontier and posted workers, students or journalists performing their duties - should not be quarantined, the Commission says.

The Commission proposes that Member States provide details of the upcoming restrictions on free movement or the lifting of travel restrictions in the Member States and the Commission on a weekly basis. The changes must be notified one week before they enter into force.

Source: eyenews/CYPE

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TURKEY - MILITARY DRILLS OFF CYPRUS

 Filenews 5 September 2020 

The Turkish armed forces will hold drills off Cyprus from tomorrow Sunday, Turkey's defence ministry announced.

The drills will last until Thursday and will include elements of the Air Force, Navy and land army, Ankara noted.

Source: APE-IPA

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SINGATHON HOPES TO RAISE FUNDS FOR REFUGEES

 Cyprus Mail 5 September 2020 - by Annette Chrysostomou

Peter Ives

Here is a chance to combine pleasure with doing some good – in other words to listen to Peter Ives singing non-stop for an hour while donating money for the mission of the Saint Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Nicosia to help feed and clothes refugees.

Last year, recovering from major surgery, Peter challenged people to donate money to the cathedral, asking them to sponsor him if he managed to complete the full hour of about 130 songs without so much as a sip of water.

He did it, and €1,500 was collected to buy food and other items for the poor, as he stressed “not to paint the church or polish brass”.

The 78-year-old explained how it works. “I remember every tune and lyric since I was a little kid,” he said. “I asked the audience not to interrupt, or clap and ask for songs because they are loosely connected and one triggers the next.”

Though singing in and for the church, there are no hymns involved, as the performer put it, “I sing everything from Schubert to Sinatra, they are all secular songs”.

Since the singer moves “from country to country”, some songs are in French and German, but most are in English, Scottish and Irish.

He was not exactly planning to do it again this year, as his health is declining.

Seeing that the church is in more need of funds than ever, Peter decided to really go for it, to break his own record and add another half an hour to the sing-along or sing-athon.

But his health got in the way again, and instead of standing up in front of an audience, he sat in an armchair in his home and sang for one hour instead of the planned 90 minutes, filmed by a professional – still an amazing feat for anybody – terminally ill with cancer or not.

This recording will now be shown at the cathedral on Saturday September 12, from 11am until noon.

The public is welcome to attend and listen.

Of course anybody who is not part of the audience is also welcome to help raise money.

 

Payments via PayPal to pethil@cytanet.com.cy or to account 139-03-051675-01, Hellenic Bank

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PAPHOS MAYOR LOOKS TO ATTRACT AMERICAN TECH COMPANIES

 Cyprus Mail 5 September 2020 - by Kyriacos Nicolaou

Paphos mayor Phedonas Phedonos this week met American ambassador Judith Garber to discuss attracting high tech and other innovative companies to the town, with the mayor providing information on pertinent projects that the city is in the process of implementing.

These projects aim to transform Paphos into a smart and digital city, and became the launchpoint for the discussion between the two parties on how American companies can become involved, both in terms of the bidding process for projects that have yet to start, and also in terms of convincing these companies to set up shop in the city.

Garber and Phedonos visited a prominent building at Kennedy Square in Old Town Paphos that is being renovated and refurbished, internally and externally, so that it can become capable of being used by a technology or otherwise innovation-driven company.

They also visited the Pafos Innovation Institute where the ambassador was shown around the facilities and informed about the operation and programmes of the institute.

Garber said she was impressed by the work being carried out by the Paphos municipality, particularly when it comes to innovation and technology, but also in education. She also expressed her and the US embassy’s support.

Although Garber’s educational background is rooted in Economics, she is no stranger to matters of science and technology. In parallel to her role as the US Ambassador to Cyprus, Garber is also the Assistant Secretary for Oceans, Environment and Science at the Department of State.

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AKROTIRI SALT LAKE HAS POTENTIAL TO HOST FIRST GREATER FLAMINGO BREEDING COLONY IN CYPRUS

 Cyprus Mail 5 September 2020 - by Staff Reporter

Photo: A Stoecker

Although this year’s promising nesting attempt has been abandoned, BirdLife Cyprus is optimistic that given the right conditions Akrotiri Salt Lake has the potential to host the first Greater Flamingo breeding colony in Cyprus.

Several attempts have made during wetter years raising hopes that just like Agios Mamas in Greece’s Chalkidiki, Greater Flamingos will breed here.

According to the NGO, around 200 nesting mounds were recorded at Akrotiri Salt Lake this summer, more than in earlier breeding attempts, but unfortunately, this promising colony was once again abandoned.

The Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus, is the largest of the world’s six species of flamingo and is found in the Mediterranean, West, East, and South Africa and South and Southwest Asia.

BirdLife Cyprus notes that they are nomadic and disperse widely, traveling long distances in search of good habitat: shallow brackish or salt-water lakes.

In Cyprus, the Greater Flamingo is a common winter visitor at Akrotiri and Larnaca Salt Lakes, with birds also recorded on passage.

Their numbers and how long they spend here vary according to fluctuations in rainfall and hence the water levels in the salt lakes.

Flamingo nest mounds and egg at Akrotiri Salt Lake (Photo Christina Ieronymidou)

In the winter months, thousands of flamingos can be found in large flocks in the salt lakes and in years with wet winters, some flamingos spend the summer in Cyprus too.

The plentiful rains of the past two years led to high water levels at the salt lakes throughout the summer, and a large number of flamingos in the summer months.

Conditions at Akrotiri Salt Lake during the summers of 2019 and 2020 were such that some of the flamingos even attempted to breed there, the NGO added.

Usually, the majority of the flamingos that stay in Cyprus over the summer months are immature birds, so breeding attempts are unusual here.

The first time that there was a suspicion that Greater Flamingo was breeding in Cyprus was in 2001, another year of heavy rainfall. Two years after that, in summer 2003, a few deserted Flamingo nesting mounds were discovered at Akrotiri Salt Lake. In 2005, there was another breeding attempt at Akrotiri, this time with evidence that some Flamingos had managed to lay eggs. Unfortunately, the 2005 colony was also abandoned, as the water levels rapidly declined.

Following a few years of low to average rainfall, the water levels at Akrotiri Salt Lake seemed appropriate for another nesting attempt in 2012, which unfortunately started late in the season and didn’t get very far, BirdLife Cyprus said.

Last year, good water levels allowed flamingos to spend the whole year at Akrotiri Salt Lake in large numbers, and they once again attempted to nest.

During the NGO’s wetland surveys, carried out in collaboration with the Game and Fauna Service, nesting mounds were found at three different locations, along with remains of eggs, but unfortunately no hatchlings were seen.

And this summer, around 200 nesting mounds were recorded at Akrotiri Salt Lake, more than in earlier breeding attempts. “Unfortunately, however, this promising colony was once again abandoned,” BirdLife Cyprus said.

“It is clear that Akrotiri Salt Lake could have the potential to host the first Greater Flamingo breeding colony in Cyprus, given the right conditions. In Greece, 2020 marked the first successful breeding of the species at the wetland of Agios Mamas in Chalkidiki, following a number of nesting attempts at other sites in previous years. So it is not beyond the realms of possibility that future flamingo nesting attempts at Akrotiri Salt Lake could lead to success. Yet another reason to effectively protect and properly manage this rich and delicate ecosystem,” it concluded.

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MET OPERA ONLINE - W/c 7 September

 

During this extraordinary and difficult time, the Met hopes to brighten the lives of our audience members even while our stage is dark. Each day, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming on the Met website, with each performance available for a period of 23 hours, from 7:30 p.m. EDT until 6:30 p.m. the following day. The schedule will include outstanding complete performances from the past 14 years of cinema transmissions, starring all of opera’s greatest singers.

The streams are also available through the Met Opera on Demand apps for Apple, Amazon, and Roku devices and Samsung Smart TV. To access them without logging in, click “Browse and Preview” in the apps for connected TV, and “Explore the App” on tablets and mobile devices.

Week 26 (French Week)

Supplementary content—including synopses, articles, and more—is available here.

Monday, September 7
Massenet’s Manon
Starring Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, Paulo Szot, and David Pittsinger, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From April 7, 2012.

Tuesday, September 8
Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette
Starring Diana Damrau, Vittorio Grigolo, Elliot Madore, and Mikhail Petrenko, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. From January 21, 2017.

Wednesday, September 9
Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust
Starring Susan Graham, Marcello Giordani, and John Relyea, conducted by James Levine. From November 22, 2008.

Thursday, September 10
Massenet’s Cendrillon
Starring Kathleen Kim, Joyce DiDonato, Alice Coote, Stephanie Blythe, and Laurent Naouri, conducted by Bertrand de Billy. From April 28, 2018.

Friday, September 11
Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles
Starring Diana Damrau, Matthew Polenzani, Mariusz Kwiecień, and Nicolas Testé, conducted by Gianandrea Noseda. From January 16, 2016.

Saturday, September 12
Berlioz’s Les Troyens
Starring Deborah Voigt, Susan Graham, Karen Cargill, Bryan Hymel, Eric Cutler, Dwayne Croft, and Kwangchul Youn, conducted by Fabio Luisi. From January 5, 2013.

Sunday, September 13
Massenet’s Werther
Starring Lisette Oropesa, Sophie Koch, Jonas Kaufmann, David Bižić, and Jonathan Summers, conducted by Alain Altinoglu. From March 15, 2014.

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