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Turkish Prime Minister Launches Vitriolic Attack On Cyprus

by Lorys Charalambous, Tax-News.com, Cyprus

03 October 2001

The Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, not exactly a disinterested party by anyone's standards, has launched a vitriolic attack on the authorities in Southern Cyprus, warning the European Union to beware of 'corruption and money laundering' in the international business centre.

Speaking on Turkish television, he accused Nicosia of posing a danger to the entire world: 'In the current atmosphere of a global wave of terrorism, our European friends who want to accept Cyprus within their fold should take into consideration this kind of activity by the Greek Cypriot administration,' he said, regarding the likely acceptance of Cyprus into the EU community.

However the Greek Cypriot authorities on the island have hit back at these accusations, suggesting that terrorist activity connected to recent events would have been more likely to have taken place through Islamic banks in the Turkish controlled northern sector. Speaking to the Cyprus media, Cyprus International Business Association (CIBA) President, Mehran Eftekhar, blamed foreign journalists for failing to distinguish between the two sectors of the island: 'The problem is there are ignorant journalists, say in America, that don't make the distinction between North and South Cyprus. They should make clear that North Cyprus is a money laundering centre,' he countered.

Despite seemingly having been under attack from all quarters, including most recently from the ex-CIA chief, James Woosley, who branded the jurisdiction uncooperative, those within the financial sector seem quietly confident that Cyprus will move away from its 'tax haven' image, and gain international credibility.

'The fact that Cyprus is an international business centre brings it under scrutiny, but I don't think all this (bad publicity) is really justified because it is doing everything it needs to do to combat money laundering,' explained PricewaterhouseCoopers representative, Phidias Pilides.

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