And thank goodness for the Secret Service.....
THE GOVERNMENT aims to ban the sale of any GPS receivers that use maps featuring Turkish place names for the occupied areas.
The bizarre story, broken by Politis, first came to light more than two years ago. The ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior and of Education are all involved, as is the Attorney-general.
It’s been two years since authorities have been trying to crack down on the wayward gadgets.
Apparently, it was the secret service KYP which first brought the matter to the government’s attention.
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the US Defence Department. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day.
But the bid to ban the GPS receivers is turning out to be a legal minefield. It goes without saying that preventing the sale of consumer goods would violate a raft of EU free market laws, as well as regulations governing the free flow of goods and services.
The receivers in question are manufactured by Garmin, a leading US electronics company, and are imported from Britain.
The devices come loaded with a basemap which employs Turkish names for towns, villages and streets in the north – anathema to authorities’ sensibilities.
For example, Kyrenia appears as “Girne” and Morphou as “Güzelyurt”.
But computer software can be used to make a simple modification to the names.
According to Politis, when the matter first surfaced, the government complained to both the manufacturer and to the Cypriot importer. The latter was contacted and asked to stop importing the devices, but the company replied it could not as no formal complaint had been filed.
Undeterred, the government asked the Attorney-general’s office for a legal reasoning. In his response, the AG explained that specific legislation needs to be passed before a product may be banned.
And in a subsequent legal reasoning, the AG cited a further legal obstacle: it is illegal to stop or in any way restrict the availability of a consumer product if it has been imported from an EU country. Such restrictions do not apply to products coming from outside the EU.
However, legal wizards think they have found a loophole: authorities may prohibit the importation of a product if it is deemed to be contrary to “public order”.
The Ministry of Education meanwhile has dug up further ammunition for the campaign to ban the GPS receivers. In its feedback, the ministry pointed out indignantly that the Greek place names of Cyprus “have been shaped throughout the centuries”.
It went on to accuse Turkish authorities of undertaking a systematic campaign to alter the nomenclature of northern Cyprus.
Further, the ministry pointed out that, according to both the UN and UNESCO, place names are part of a nation’s cultural heritage.
It seems the government is dead serious about the crackdown, and as we speak experts are drafting a law banning the offending receiver. In its crosshairs is one particular importer – the one spotted a couple of years back.
In a further twist, the owner of the company claims that he has since updated his receivers; the Turkish place names have been purged and replaced by the official Greek ones, he says.
He did this by obtaining the proper designations from the records of the Land Registry Department, which keeps maps of the entire island.
The man was unable to comprehend why the government was still making such a big fuss over this.
He also complained that he read of the government’s plans in the press, and that no one had contacted him recently to see what was happening.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the receivers of this brand now have Greek names,” he told the Mail.
“By default, the receivers have been converted to Greek – unless a customer specifically asks that the place names be left in Turkish,” he said.
