YOU REPORT  "Top human rights lawyer Achilleas Demetriades says Turkey is bluffing about giving compensation to Greek Cypriot property owners" He goes on to call for some “lateral thinking” on how to call Turkey’s bluff following the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision which approved the Immoveable Property Commission (IPC) in the north as an effective remedy for Greek Cypriot property owners.
At least Greek Cypriots have got some form of remedy, however undesirable it might be to Mr Demetriades.  Turkish Cypriots have no such rights, given there is a law on the statute books preventing them from applying for their property back or compensation... 6 comments

I was interested to read the letter from RH of Paphos in your Letters page on March 7 in which he expressed exasperation at the poor quality of customer service in the local banking industry.
I am a client of a bank which has a name not dissimilar to a letter of the Greek alphabet. Since November 2009 last year, I have been trying to recover an erroneous interest charge as a result of a mistake by a branch teller who was settling my Visa and Mastercard bills.
My latest frustrated letter to the area manager of the bank, with a copy to the branch management and to the Card Centre Manager, dated February 23, also remains without response.
 
Mark Johnson,
Nicosia... 1 comment

The supposed countering of the evidence for manmade climate change is not a scientific study: it has not been subject to, and presumably would fail, peer review.
What many fail to realise is that “Global” warming will produce greater variability and even localised cooling in some parts of the world! You cannot add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as we have done without causing the climate to revert to similar conditions that existed when those reserves were laid down... Read on

As much as I sympathise with people who complain about being ripped off, I cannot help feeling that perhaps communication with those that know and local people would enable considerable savings.
I work in UK, reside north of Limassol and draw direct comparisons with both economies.
Shopping for proprietary brands as one did in UK, in a foreign land, is recipe for disaster, similar to me wanting vine leaves or halloumi in the home counties of Britain.
Local produce is as good, although perhaps not what we are used to, and locally produced drinks are as good. I would love to be able to purchase my favourite tipples of Keo and Commandaria at a cost similar to what I pay in the village but sadly I cannot and therefore do not... 2 comments

I have just completed the Limassol 10km race; one of the events incorporated into the Third Limassol Marathon Run held this morning. My children also completed the 2km Fun Run.
1. Registration. I registered 'online' several days before the event and paid €22 for the privilege. On arrival I found the race organisers had all four of the race 'desks' crammed into a small office with an unmanaged crowd clamouring for attention. No attempt to channel people with simple queuing systems, no direction from staff, and few staff knowledgeable of their own systems. Having been directed to a third desk, I eventually got my race number/bag of goodies/computer chip... 1 comment

I read with interest a recent letter by MEP Eleni Theocharous asking for the creation of a special fund to help the refugees who, after 36 years, are still being treated as second class citizens in their own country.
Following the latest European Court decision, refugees are yet again being asked by the government and the Church to “be strong” and not to give in to the temptation and apply for compensation to the authorities in the occupied north.
There is, however, one honourable thing that both the government and the Church can do after 36 years:
The State and the Church together own approximately the same area of land in the south of the island as that lost by the refugees in the north... Read on

I have been concerned recently by the need for some banks to exploit customers in an apparent attempt to line their own pockets.
Like many customers of a local bank, I have wondered why for many years now they have charged their clients for providing them with a cheque book and a statement.
I recently started getting a monthly statement, not asked for I might add, but duly charged for at the same time as their new luxury branch opened in the centre of Paphos, How many other customers have started to be charged like this?
I was then charged €10 to renew my Visa card and when I asked was told “It’s €50 for a gold card, you know!” Thank God I don’t rise to such dizzy heights…... 14 comments

We are a class of Reception children at Knowle Park Primary School in Bristol England. We have been reading the story of The Gingerbread Man, but he has run off and we are trying to find him.
Have you seen him in your city, town or village?  We are asking that if anyone happens to see him could they please send a postcard to our class telling us where they saw him and what he was doing at the time.
We are all having a fun time trying to guess where he is and also collecting these postcards.  We are trying to fill our classroom walls.
 
Our address is:
Clownfish Class,
Knowle Park Primary School,
Queenshill Road,
Knowle Park,
Bristol,
BS4 2XG,
England... Read on

The article by Achim Steiner “This is no time to put climate science on ice” in the Cyprus Mail (February 26) was disappointing. Surely there can be no doubt that the whole thing is a vast hoax given the recent revelations.
Achim Steiner would undoubtedly lose his mega-gigantic salary and expenses which is obviously his motivation for perpetuating the hoax, but surely your newspaper should bring some balance to the argument by quoting people like John Coleman – the founder of “The Weather Channel” – who denies it absolutely. I urge any open minded person to study his data.
 
GC Evans
Sea caves, Peyia... Read on

I grew up during the Pinochet dictatorship. That says a lot about the people of my generation, whether you are from the right or the left wing. It means that, for us, the uncommon could be perfectly normal.
For instance, every month we had two or three blackouts because of the guerrillas bombing some high-tension electric tower. So, candles, matches and batteries were part of our weekly shopping list.
We were also used to gunfire during the night, military curfews, and the ever-present feeling that, because of Pinochet, nobody in the world liked us... 1 comment