Cyprus-Forum.com

[Jerry]

By Simon Bahceli

QUESTIONS were being asked yesterday as to whether a deal might have been struck between fugitive tycoon Asil Nadir and the Turkish Cypriot authorities after the north’s ‘finance ministry’ appeared to have backed down on a threat to seize Nadir’s Kibris Media Group for tax evasion.

“All we know is that the finance minister said he would close the company down if they didn’t pay up in 24 hours. But then he backed down. If there’s been an agreement, the public should be told,” head of the EU Association in the north, Ali Erel, said yesterday.

Nadir, who fled Britain in 1993 fearing imprisonment for fraud and theft after the collapse of his once phenomenally successful Poly Peck International, continues to head the largest media outlet in the north. Last Thursday the authorities accused him of evading up to 5.5 million euros in tax, and threatened to close him down “in 24 hours” unless he agreed to pay.

Initially, Nadir denied the tax evasion charge, but late on Friday entered into negotiation with the ‘finance ministry’, allegedly to work out a schedule for payment of the overdue taxes.

Perhaps because of the ongoing negotiations, Kibris, the group’s top-selling daily, now appears to be taking a noticeably softer line on the currently ruling Republican Turkish Party (CTP). In the weeks prior to the threat of closure, Kibris had run a campaign openly aimed at discrediting the CTP ahead an upcoming general election on April 19 – despite having been, until just weeks before, its staunch supporter.

Speculation surrounds the former tycoon’s change of political tack. Some say Nadir was angered when the administration blocked his bid to upgrade the north’s second airport at Lefkoniko. Others say he was incensed when the administration warned Nadir that it could extradite him to the UK where he would face possible imprisonment.

Yesterday a source within Kibris newspaper said the softening of the paper’s line on the CTP in the days since the closure threat “has been noticed by everyone”. The source added, however, that he did not believe the paper would return to backing the ruling CTP.

Opposition politicians have rallied to support Nadir and his media group, claiming that press freedom is being threatened by the administration.

However, some readers say Kibris’ change of political allegiance has reduced the paper’s credibility as a news source.

“It has become clear that the paper has its own political agenda, which changes according to the owner’s personal or business interests,” one reader said.


Cyprus Mail