Cyprus-Forum.com

[erolz66]

Why would anyone go anywhere NEAR a heavily militarized area to do such things? Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

What is ridiculous is your repeated assertion that the SBA are a heavily militarized area. A TINY proportion of the SBA is heavily militarised, just as a tiny proportion of the RoC is heavily militarised. You just ignore fact and reality and repeat your bullshit like doing so will some how make it credible. It does not. It just shows you up for the fanatic you are. Countless reports from credible sources site the SBA area as important for illegal trappers. There is even you tube videos showing the trapping sites on the SBA's. Yet you continue to insist 'its not possible', without providing any evidence for your claim at all other than patently false assertions like the whole SBA areas are heavily militarised an gated and guarded and crawling with troops and police. You can drive in and out of 98% of the SBA and RoC without even KNOWING you have done so without a map and GPS - that is NOT something you can do in a 'heavily militarised' area for fuck sake. Look on google maps ffs. Go there for ffs. Ask ANYONE ffs. Or just keep spouting your persistent and blatant distortions of the TRUTH as you have done and keep exposing the degree to which you will just repeatedly lie to try and support your unsupportable arguments. You may as well just claim the SBA are all a sealed bunker with nothing but concrete above ground and therefore there can not be any illegal bird trapping there, for this no less untrue than your current bullshit claim that they are 'heavily militarised areas'.

If the SBAs are good for trapping birds, why are we told the masts strewn up by the British Military do not catch ANY birds and yet a few meshes here and there, courtesy of "Cypriots" catch 1.5 Million?
How stupid are you?

The area of the military masts are multiple orders of magnitude less than the are of the illegal trappers mists nests. The masts on the military based are not designed to trap birds, they are designed to NOT trap birds. Mist nets ARE designed to trap birds. You may just as well say , there are people with net curtains hanging outside , they don't catch birds , so how can the illegal trappers. So pathetic GiG. I would ask how stupid are you but I do not believe this is about stupidity. I think you try and make these claims KNOWING they are bullshit and that is WORSE than stupidity.

[supporttheunderdog]

There's a lot that doesn't ring true about the Bases being used by bird trappers.

Why would anyone, specifically go to the Base areas to set traps? They are the most heavily guarded areas of our free territory.

I haven't been that near either of the Bases for years, but they were never easy to get in and out of without being spotted, stopped and asked for credentials etc. So how come so many peasant Cypriots are in and out with huge nets, sophisticated equipment (cars ?) etc constantly defeating these British heavily armed Forces (with their drones and their Nuclear deterrents and their shitloads of weapons they've stashed on our island).

What's more the article states they caught 1.5 Million birds this way, on the Bases! Mish! My gawd, these Bases must be riddled with hundreds of trappers all the live-long day for them to round up sooooo many birds. Unbelievable!

It's just not true and it doesn't matter how much Milo screams she MUST tell us how sick we are ... sometimes, we can just tell what the Brits are really interested in.

I think you are confusing the SBA as a whole with the actual military facilities. Yes the military facilities in the SBA are well protected and I doubt illegal bird trapping goes on there, but the Military facilities are only a part of the 99 square miles of the SBA, mostly inhabited by Cypriots, where there are no checks on entry and leaving. (I will say again that as a part of a comprehensive settlement that the SBA should go.). Therefore it is quite feasible that lime stickers and mist netters could be working in the SBA.

Why would anyone go anywhere NEAR a heavily militarized area to do such things? Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

If the SBAs are good for trapping birds, why are we told the masts strewn up by the British Military do not catch ANY birds and yet a few meshes here and there, courtesy of "Cypriots" catch 1.5 Million?

How stupid are you?

As for the nets , well I suppose my dear that it depends a wee bit on the size of the strands and above all on the size holes of the mesh. There is a bit more than a midgie's dick difference between those in a mist net and the arrays at Akrotiri, which in fact probably provide perching opportunities.

The rest if what you write about WMD etc is so utterly typical of your paranoia, that I fart in your general direction,,,

[GreekIslandGirl]

If wind turbines' blades, so large and so wide apart, are responsible for so many bird deaths, are you serious that a wire mesh strung between giant masts is going to miss all the birds? Simply because it's "british"? You are surely avoiding the truth.

[Paphitis]

There's a lot that doesn't ring true about the Bases being used by bird trappers.

Why would anyone, specifically go to the Base areas to set traps? They are the most heavily guarded areas of our free territory.

I haven't been that near either of the Bases for years, but they were never easy to get in and out of without being spotted, stopped and asked for credentials etc. So how come so many peasant Cypriots are in and out with huge nets, sophisticated equipment (cars ?) etc constantly defeating these British heavily armed Forces (with their drones and their Nuclear deterrents and their shitloads of weapons they've stashed on our island).

What's more the article states they caught 1.5 Million birds this way, on the Bases! Mish! My gawd, these Bases must be riddled with hundreds of trappers all the live-long day for them to round up sooooo many birds. Unbelievable!

It's just not true and it doesn't matter how much Milo screams she MUST tell us how sick we are ... sometimes, we can just tell what the Brits are really interested in.

I think you are confusing the SBA as a whole with the actual military facilities. Yes the military facilities in the SBA are well protected and I doubt illegal bird trapping goes on there, but the Military facilities are only a part of the 99 square miles of the SBA, mostly inhabited by Cypriots, where there are no checks on entry and leaving. (I will say again that as a part of a comprehensive settlement that the SBA should go.). Therefore it is quite feasible that lime stickers and mist netters could be working in the SBA.

Why would anyone go anywhere NEAR a heavily militarized area to do such things? Doesn't that sound ridiculous?

If the SBAs are good for trapping birds, why are we told the masts strewn up by the British Military do not catch ANY birds and yet a few meshes here and there, courtesy of "Cypriots" catch 1.5 Million?

How stupid are you?

I have an uncle that lives within the SBA area.

You would never see a British Armed Guard unless you seek them out, and to do that you had to drive right up to RAF Akrotiri, where they would stop you.

Very well behaved, polite, and considerate they always were!

Not so heavily militarized. Certainly not one of the most militarized areas of the world.

[GreekIslandGirl]

What is ridiculous is ...

... that the British military Bases are working against these birds' survival, from what you say, and yet you blame the RoC. If the Base areas were given over 100% to the RoC this problem would be diminished just as it has been in the rest of the island. Or are you now going to tell us there are hot-spots everywhere! Go on keep changing your story just to blame the RoC.

[supporttheunderdog]

@erolz66

What might be evidence to support some of your observations about gig.
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus39444.html?hilit=Orphanides#p737581

When a major business goes under and it is a matter of debate in the press I am accused of being unable to wait to bring the news to her door....

[erolz66]

What is ridiculous is ...

... that the British military Bases are working against these birds' survival, from what you say, and yet you blame the RoC. If the Base areas were given over 100% to the RoC this problem would be diminished just as it has been in the rest of the island. Or are you now going to tell us there are hot-spots everywhere! Go on keep changing your story just to blame the RoC.

I blame CYPRIOTS for illegal bird trapping because it is CYPRIOTS that DO the trapping, it is CYPRIOTS who EAT the birds creating the market for them and it is CYPRIOTS who neither trap birds or eat them that remain indifferent to the issue. Most of all I blame INDIVDUALS like yourself that are not just indifferent but would rather lie, distract and distort the truth and make out there is no problem rather than face up to and accept it.

Of course illegal trapping goes on across the island and I have never said otherwise. That you can now state saying that is 'changing my story' is just yet more evidence that you will lie and just make things up to suit your own agenda regardless of patent and obvious truth.

The most frustrating thing about this issue is there a simple solution - namely a change in attitudes amongst Cypriots in general, that the trapping and selling and eating of these birds becomes socially unacceptable to the vast majority of Cypriots. However such a change in attitude can never come about whilst fanatics like YOU GiG would rather lie, distort and distract from the truth about the issue than face up to it. For you GiG your pathetic little propaganda wars you play here is more important to you than the real ecological damage that will be passed onto generations of Cypriots to come.

Given a hypothetical choice between deceiving the world that there is no illegal bird trapping problem in Cyprus and having whole species wiped out or facing up to the issue and protecting such species for generation yet to come, you would rather chose the former. For that GiG I rightly condemn you.

[GreekIslandGirl]

I blame CYPRIOTS for illegal bird trapping because it is CYPRIOTS that DO the trapping, it is CYPRIOTS who EAT the birds creating the market for them and it is CYPRIOTS who neither trap birds or eat them that remain indifferent to the issue. Most of all I blame INDIVDUALS like yourself that are not just indifferent but would rather lie, distract and distort the truth and make out there is no problem rather than face up to and accept it.

Herein lies your idiocy. You want to blame a few individuals because they are Cypriot, and ignore the positive steps taken by the RoC to alleviate such cases (wherever its hands have not been tied to administer justice). Attitudes have changed among Cypriots; it has been made illegal, which is why, driven underground, this is only carried out by just a few fanatics that you find within all criminal activities. It is NOT common practice among Cypriots. Furthermore, you persistently ignore the very real environmental issues, done on a massive scale, such as destruction of habitat, vast housing-estate building, deforestation, military exercise zones and huge signaling masts that not only are a physical hazard but pose radiation problems too. You ignore all the rest because you are NOT after what really helps the birds but out to vilify Cypriots.

In short, you are a bigot!

[Paphitis]

This is more than a few individuals. It is still a massive industry!

[Flying Horse]

As I was getting into my car to drive away, a car pulled up next to me and an elderly couple of Cypriots got out carrying bags. The lady approached me and asked if I was the one that put the food for the cats, getting ready to rebuff her as well, I listened as she politely asked if next time I come with food I put it on the pavements as to avoid having cats in the concourse where visiting cars might run them over.

Of course I said, I didn't think of this.

I watched as she and her man begun feeding the cats from the contents of their bags. I approached and told her that what she was doing was extremely kind, thank you she said, we have been doing this for over 20 years since we came back to Cyprus from the UK....

They originated from the Famagusta region.

Visited the cemetery in Ayios Athanasios this morning, carrying left overs from last evenings dinner.

I begun to spread the food on the pavement this time making sure that the little ones had their share.

Paid my respects to my late wife buried in the cemetery and made my way back to my car.

The elderly couple I met the last time were busy watering and providing food for the cats.

They recognize me instantly and begun chatting away.

On my last visit we exchanged a few words and I learned that they had originated from Famagusta but left Cyprus in mid seventies for the UK returning to Cyprus some 20 years ago. I was talking to the old boy when his mobile phone rung, Hello he said, we will be home soon, how is everything!! Nothing extraordinary about this conversation apart from the fact that the old boy spoke in fluent well educated English !!

Your English is very good I said, well of course it is, he responded in English, I'm English old boy !!!

I was taken aback as he spoke in perfect Cypriot without a trace of an accent. Alan his name, Ivy his G/C wife.

He came to Cyprus in 1955 as a soldier in the British army, met Ivy and married her in 1958.Adores Cyprus and would not wish to live anywhere else.

We talked at length and they told me that they visit the cats on Wednesdays and Sundays bringing cat food and water.

We exchanged festive wishes promising to meet them again on Xmas day at the same place.

Whilst everyone else argues over the details of who is right and wrong over birds, Milti shares his experience of kind hearted beings.

And his dinner with the cats.

'Ignorance' is quite apparent in this thread