Britain offers use of RAF Akrotiri to France for raids on
ISIS
By Bejay Browne
Britain offered France the use of RAF Akrotiri in the fight
against the Islamic State, Prime Minister David Cameron
said, adding that he firmly supported the French military
action against IS in Syria. He said that he was convinced
that Britain should follow suit
At a joint news conference in Paris with President Francois
Hollande, Cameron said that he had offered the French air
force the use of RAF Akrotiri to mount strikes on IS as well
as RAF air-to-air refuelling support.
However, the British bases in Cyprus sought to clarify the
issue and said that though RAF Akrotiri had been offered in
support of French operations, it would not be used for air
strikes.
“The French will not be launching strikes from RAF Akrotiri
against ISIL but it could be used if a diversionary runway
is required for any reason,” a statement from the SBA said.
This offer, it added, comes under Article 42.7 of the Lisbon
Treaty and had been strongly supported by UK, Cyprus and
French governments, the announcement added.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulidespreviously said
that Cyprus’ facilities are available to France to fight
Islamic State.
Cyprus is the closest European Union member state to Syria,
around 112 kilometres away, although Kasoulides said there
had yet to be a request for assistance from France; Nicosia
would help if required.
Cyprus has an air base in Paphos which is already being used
for humanitarian missions.
Paphos sees 10% rise in number of arrivals
By Bejay Browne
Paphos tourism officials say they are satisfied with the
latest figures which show an increase in numbers of arrivals
for summer 2015.
A spokesman for the Paphos Regional Board of Tourism said
figures show around a 10% increase.
“Results suggest that Paphos has so far attracted an
increased flow of arrivals and has recorded satisfactory
results for the period of May-October, particularly from
markets such as the UK, Germany, Austria, Netherlands,
France and Poland,” he said.
He said the statistics service “estimated that arrivals in
the Paphos District for this period were about seven to ten
per cent higher than in the corresponding period last year.”
Although the local tourism board pointed out there is a
current trend which is seeing a decrease in the average
length of stay, Paphos operators are optimistic that the
district’s profile will be raised even higher through a
concerted team effort of relevant bodies, in the coming
years.
“We have a number of priorities for Paphos including:
strengthening the local identity and upgrading the quality
of the tourist experience, the continuing upgrade and
general infrastructure and building environment of the
district and intensifying efforts to enhance aviation access
to and from Paphos International Airport,” the spokesman
said.
He added that the extension of the summer season and
stopping the practice of seasonality to ensure Paphos is an
all year round tourist destination is also top of the list.
“We also aim to penetrate other relevant markets such as
weddings, sports tourism, rural, marine and cultural tourism
and more.”
Tourism officials also aim to further exploit potentially
lucrative markets such as Germany, Scandinavia, Poland,
France and Israel, he said.
Paphos riders enjoy world class success
By Bejay Browne
An equestrian club in Paphos is making its mark on the world
of competitive dressage and show jumping and has just won an
important accolade for the second year running.
The country’s top qualifying equestrians, all chosen from
George’s Ranch in Peyia, Paphos, Cyprus have won the FEI
World Dressage Challenge 2015 which was held in Nicosia.
The prestigious competition was developed to give riders the
opportunity to compete internationally without the huge
expense of travelling abroad.
The Paphos riders were chosen as the best of the best by the
Cyprus Equestrian Federation – the CYEF – to represent
Cyprus in the worldwide competition.
George’s Ranch was taken over by current owner, 32-year-old
Caroline Scambler in 2004. Since then, she has expanded it
from a tourist attraction into a fully-fledged equestrian
centre.
“Horses are my life and I wanted to show that Cyprus can
compete at world class level, we have some excellent riders
here,” said Scambler.
She also ensures that her students are provided with the
best horses to ride, so that they may compete at a high
level.
“I often travel to Europe to buy in horses. They are called
sports horses and are difficult to find in Cyprus. It’s a
big scene in Europe.”
According to the FEI, (Fédération Équestre Internationale)
the world governing body for the sport, the Cyprus team were
the overall winner for zone four, with a total of 211
points.
Other countries in this group include, Malta, who finished
second with a total score of 199 points, Israel, Turkey,
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Garden of Taste programme gets underway in Paphos as part of
2017 celebrations
By Bejay Browne
Two hundred and eighty bottles of Cypriot red wine were
immersed in the sea at an artificial reef off Geroskipou in
Paphos, as part of a cultural programme linked to Paphos’
year as a European city of culture in 2017.
The wine will remain in place until the opening ceremony of
‘Pafos 2017’, when the town will officially hold the
prestigious title, an honour it will share with Aarhus in
Denmark.
“Wine and gastronomy are an important part of everyday life
in Cyprus and are vital elements of our culture. The 2017
programme isn’t only about performing arts programmes, but
also about the inclusion of local and important elements,”
said Anastazia Anastasiou, a spokeswoman for the gastronomy
team which organised the event.
Twenty five Cyprus wineries were involved in the project and
provided wine for emersion, including: KEO, Vassilikon,
Zambartas, Tsaggarides, Kolios, Ezousa, Kamantarena and
Shoufas.
The bottles were placed in a box and sunk as part of a
programme titled “Art of wine – The garden of tastes”,
partly to see how the ageing process will fare underwater.
Meanwhile, Patsalides said that the garden of taste
programme will continue with many events planned for 2017,
all aimed at highlighting this particular aspect of culture.
Later in the day an exhibition and wine tasting at the
Hamam-Paphos Old Turkish Baths saw thirteen oak wine
barrels, converted into works of art by the students of the
Fine and Applied Arts and Architecture Schools – Neapolis,
Cyprus University of Technology, Frederick University and
the University of Nicosia.
“We aim for the exhibition to travel to more locations
across the island from January 2016.The works were fantastic
and the artists came up with multiple uses for the barrels.
Some are installations for gardens, others seats and some
are more conceptual abstracts,” said Anastasiou.
Artificial reef planned for
Polis
By Bejay Browne
An artificial reef off the Polis coast to attract diving
tourism and protect marine biodiversity could be constructed
by as early as 2017.
Polis mayor Angelos Georgiou said that Polis met the
required criteria to create an artificial reef and it would
provide a real boost to the area.
The reef is included in the fisheries department plans for
2014-2020.
“We hope it will get the go ahead in their budget for 2016,
so that construction can get underway in 2016 to be
completed in 2017,” he said.
“The aim is to create a medium sized reef and it will make
use of available funds from an EU programme. The estimated
cost is around € 300.000.”
Georgiou said that the fisheries department had studied two
possible areas for the reef in the Chrysochous Bay area,
both of which fall under the protection of the Natura 2000
Plan.
‘Region A’ is 850 metres offshore from the entrance of
Latchi and ‘Region B’ is out of the harbour to the west,
close to Asprokremos.
But at a Polis municipality meeting, attended by local
officials, fishermen and a spokesman from the fisheries
department, at the end of last month a third site was
suggested. Local fisherman opposed the first two proposed
sites because they would greatly reduce the area where they
are permitted to fish.
“They, along with the community of Neo Chorio suggested that
a study of an alternative site close to the area of Saint
George’s Island should be undertaken to create the reef
instead,” Georgiou said.
Georgiou said that Polis municipality accepted this
proposal.
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