Now, as the king [Xerxes] was
in great strait, and knew not how he should deal with the
emergency, Ephialtes, the son of Eurydemus, a man of Malis, came
to him and was admitted to a conference. Stirred by the hope of
receiving a rich reward at the king's hands, he had come to tell
him of the pathway which led across the mountain to Thermopylae;
by which disclosure he brought destruction on the band of Greeks
who had there withstood the barbarians. This Ephialtes
afterwards, from fear of the Lacedaemonians, fled into Thessaly;
and during his exile, in an assembly of the Amphictyons held at
Pylae, a price was set upon his head by the Pylagorae. When some
time had gone by, he returned from exile, and went to Anticyra,
where he was slain by Athenades, a native of Trachis. Athenades
did not slay him for his treachery, but for another reason, which
I shall mention in a later part of my history: yet still the
Lacedaemonians honoured him none the less. Thus then did
Ephialtes perish a long time afterwards.
[Herodotus 7.213.1]
Angry Kyrenia refugees reject Annan's ideas
By Menelaos Hadjicostis
Cyprus Weekly 15 November 2002
ANGRY Kyrenia refugees say they are left with no choice but to reject outright the UN-drafted settlement plan they say precludes the return of all displaced Cypriots to their homes.
A bitter Mayor of occupied Karavas, Yiannakis Papaioannou, accused politicians of lying to Kyrenians for years despite promises that they would be allowed to go back to their homes under any settlement. "Our politicians had been telling us all along that we would return to our homes under any plan, but this one has nothing to do with what we've been told," the mayor of occupied Karavas, Yiannakis Papaioannou told The Cyprus Weekly.
Papaioannou said representatives from 40-plus Kyrenia District organisations at a gathering on Wednesday unanimously declared their opposition to the plan they consider to be a sell-out.
Speaking on behalf of fellow mayors of Lapithos and Kyrenia, Papaioannou said a 15-member delegation will head to Athens tomorrow for talks with Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis and other political leaders in a bid to scupper the settlement plan if it is not amended to include the right of return for all.
Victims
"How can Karavas residents accept such a plan when their village has been Greek for eons and there has never been even an inch of Turkish Cypriot-owned land? Why should we become the victims?" said Papaioannou. Papaioannou said Kyrenia District organisations are even considering taking out full-page adverts in newspapers to sensitise other Cypriots over what they consider to be a gross injustice against them. Kerynians will again voice their anger at an anti-occupation rally in Nicosia's Falcon Institute tomorrow at 8:00 pm, whose keynote speaker will be
Kyrenia native and House President Demetris Christofias.
Christofias has treated the plan with caution, careful not to dismiss the plan outright and sticking to his line that any settlement should benefit both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Representatives of an estimated 50,000 Kyrenia District refugees are the first and loudest to register their rage over the settlement plan because they have the most to lose among the island's 180,000 displaced persons. Papaioannou said Kyrenia District comprises almost half of the 28% of territory that will remain in Turkish Cypriot hands under an agreement - more than any other District.
Gradual
But the UN plan envisages the gradual return of only a fraction of Kyrenia refugees to their homes and property according to a timeline stretching over decades.
The plan is formulated in such a way so as to keep returning Greek Cypriots in the minority relative to the Turkish Cypriot population of any specific locale or community.
Papaioannou said Kyrenians will also reject any financial compensation they would be entitled to under the plan if they are not allowed to return. The Karavas mayor said incensed Kyrenia leaders have even asked for a private audience with President Clerides to plead their case, but were told the President's schedule could not accommodate them. The government has been at pains to avoid an open confrontation with the UN plan's detractors so as not to cast a shadow over delicate bargaining ahead. But others, including Nicos Falas, Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Karpasia have also come out against the plan. Falas told The Cyprus Weekly that the "unacceptable" plan has "thrown fundamental human rights" by the wayside.
Inconceivable
"It's inconceivable that we would approve such a plan when fundamental human rights are being ignored," said Falas. He suggested that the plan offers little to Karpass refugees and dismissed it "a face-saving exercise" that leaves no room to right the wrongs committed by the Turkish invasion.
According to one of the two UN maps included in the plan, Greek Cypriots could opt for keeping a Swiss-style canton in the upper half of the Karpass peninsula that would include the villages of Yialousa, Ayia Triada and Rizokarpasso. But Falas said that option falls way short of the expectations of many other Karpasia refugees who would not be permitted to return to their property. He also branded a planned referendum put to Greek Cypriots in March, 2003, to either accept or reject the plan as a "sham" because "huge political and economic interests" favouring a settlement would guarantee its approval.
DHKKI leader says in no way Annan plan a base for dialogue
Athens, 14/11/2002 (ANA)
Democratic Social Movement (DHKKI) leader Dimitris Tsovolas, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday on the ''Annan blueprint'' for Cyprus, said in no way can the Annan plan form a base for dialogue for a solution to the Cyprus issue, adding that it is much worse than the present de facto situation.
Tsovolas said the plan clearly describes a confederation (since it anticipates two separate ''component states'', with separate constitutions, internal citizenships and geographic limits) which, in addition, will clearly prove to be unworkable since the adoption of a law by the Senate (the supreme body of the central legislature) will require the approval of the Turkish Cypriot side which will participate with a 50 percent share.
He further underlined the content of article 4 of the Annan plan which links fully and substantively the acceptance of the plan with Cyprus' accession to the EU.
''Unfortunately Europe is not ruled by Europe but, every day that passes, by the United States. Control of Europe also takes place through NATO, as well as internally through Britain and now it is promoting Turkey at no cost. No serious observer, or politician (particularly after the agreement on the European army where Cyprus was excluded) does not link the security of Cyprus with its accession to the EU. In fact, with the closure of the Cyprus issue, the argument which existed against the prospect of Turkey's accession that it is observing a negative stand on the Cyprus issue is also annulled.''
Communist party rejects UN peace plan for Cyprus,
Athens, 14/11/2002 (ANA)
The Communist
Party of Greece (KKE) rejected the set of proposals for solving
the Cyprus issue put forward by United Nations Secretary -General
Kofi Annan, KKE leader Aleka Papariga said on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference, Papariga described the plan as having been "dictated by the Americans and the leading forces within the EU" and claimed that it amounted to an institutional recognition of the division on the island and acceptance of the invasion and occupation as the status quo.
She rejected the plan overall as "unacceptable, dangerous and not viable" and said that it could not form the basis for negotiations.
The Annan plan created an unprecedented system of government
that was essentially just a concealed form of confederation and a
concealed division. The dysfunctional operation of the
"joint state" would result in dangerous situations and
the island would be under the constant supervision of the UN, the
EU, the English and Americans, she added.
KKE's General Secretary also raised question about the timing of the report - given the upheavals in Turkey, the situation in the Middle East and preparations for an attack on Iraq - while she was sharply critical of the tight 'deadlines' incorporated into the proposals.
She urged the Cypriot people to join in mass protests against the proposed solution and the "ultimatums and solutions dictated by the imperialists".
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