TENS OF THOUSANDS of migrant birds are being illegally slaughtered in Cyprus annually to feed an appetite for illegal “ambelopoulia” delicacies. Trappers using limesticks and mist nets are making huge profits while threatening Europe’s natural heritage. You can help generate the political will to end this indiscriminate killing by signing BirdLife Cyprus’s petition to relevant Ministers.

Bird trapping in Cyprus has been taking place for many years. It began as a way of supplementing what was once a meager peasant diet. This is no longer the case. Trapping in Cyprus has become a large-scale, high-tech, lucrative business run by criminals. Trapped birds are usually supplied to restaurants that are illegally serving them - a dozen of trapped birds could be sold up to 80 euros. The competent authorities estimate this illegal business to be of the order of 15 million euros per year.

Bird trapping is illegal under Cyprus and European legislation. Trappers in Cyprus use mist nets and limesticks which are non selective methods of capture. 122 bird species have been recorded trapped on nets and limesticks, of which 58 bird species are listed as threatened by BirdLife International and/or the EU Birds Directive.

Moreover it is taking place on a large scale. BirdLife Cyprus (http://www.birdlifecyprus.org/) has been running a systematic monitoring programme on trapping in Cyprus since 2002 and estimates that hundreds of thousands of birds are killed every year. The last 4 years there has been a dramatic increase in trapping in Cyprus and urgent measures are needed to stop this slaughter.

The large scale and non selective nature of illegal trapping in Cyprus constitutes an ecological disaster. A recent film made by BirdLife Cyprus gives an overview of the trapping issue (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kk4B4YJWiQ) and one other film from another organization shows how far the trappers are willing to go to protect their illegal business (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KvpoLNEeDg).

A recent “European Conference on Illegal Killing of Birds” that took place in Larnaca (Cyprus) in July 2011 (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/nature/bern/News/Cyprus/Cyprus_en.asp) concluded on a clear “zero tolerance” message and BirdLife Cyprus wants to see words transformed into actions. For this reason we are undertaking this petition to put pressure for greater political will to stop illegal bird trapping in Cyprus.

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ΔΕΚΑΔΕΣ ΧΙΛΙΑΔΕΣ αποδημητικά πουλιά θανατώνονται παράνομα στην Κύπρο κάθε χρόνο για να ικανοποιήσουν την όρεξη για τα παράνομα «αμπελοπούλια». Οι παγιδευτές, που χρησιμοποιούν ξόβεργα και δίχτυα, βγάζουν τεράστια κέρδη ενώ απειλούν τη φυσική κληρονομιά της Ευρώπης. Μπορείτε να συνεισφέρετε στην κινητοποίηση πολιτικής βούλησης για τον τερματισμό αυτής της αδιάκριτης θανάτωσης πτηνών υπογράφοντας το ψήφισμα διαμαρτυρίας του Πτηνολογικού Συνδέσμου Κύπρου που θα αποσταλεί στους αρμόδιους υπουργούς.

Η παγίδευση πτηνών στην Κύπρο γίνεται εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια. Όταν ξεκίνησε αποτελούσε συμπλήρωμα διατροφής των φτωχών χωρικών. Τώρα όμως αυτό δεν ισχύει πλέον. Η παγίδευση στην Κύπρο έχει γίνει μια μεγάλης κλίμακας, υψηλής τεχνολογίας, κερδοφόρα επιχείρηση που ελέγχεται από το οργανωμένο έγκλημα. Τα παγιδευμένα πουλιά συνήθως προορίζονται για εστιατόρια όπου σερβίρονται παράνομα – μια δωδεκάδα παγιδευμένων πουλιών μπορεί να κοστίζει μέχρι και 80 ευρώ. Οι αρμόδιες αρχές υπολογίζουν ότι ο τζίρος από αυτή την παράνομη επιχείρηση είναι της τάξης των 15 εκατομμυρίων ευρώ τον χρόνο.

Η παγίδευση πτηνών είναι παράνομη σύμφωνα με την Κυπριακή και την Ευρωπαϊκή νομοθεσία. Οι παγιδευτές χρησιμοποιούν δίχτυα και ξόβεργα που αποτελούν μη επιλεκτικές μεθόδους παγίδευσης. Σύμφωνα με στοιχεία ως και 122 είδη πτηνών έχουν καταγραφεί πιασμένα σε δίχτυα και ξόβεργα, εκ των οποίων τα 58 είναι απειλούμενα είδη σύμφωνα με το BirdLife International και / ή την Ευρωπαϊκή Οδηγία για τα Πτηνά.

Επιπρόσθετα η παγίδευση γίνεται σε μεγάλη κλίμακα. Ο Πτηνολογικός Σύνδεσμος Κύπρου (http://www.birdlifecyprus.org/) από το 2002 διατηρεί συστηματικό πρόγραμμα παρακολούθησης της παγίδευσης στην Κύπρο και υπολογίζει ότι εκατοντάδες χιλιάδες πουλιά σκοτώνονται κάθε χρόνο. Τα τελευταία 4 χρόνια υπάρχει μια δραματική αύξηση στα επίπεδα της παγίδευσης και χρειάζονται άμεσα μέτρα για να σταματήσει αυτή η σφαγή.

Η μεγάλη κλίμακα και η μη επιλεκτική φύση της παράνομης παγίδευσης στην Κύπρο αποτελεί οικολογική καταστροφή. Ένα πρόσφατο φιλμάκι του Πτηνολογικού Συνδέσμου Κύπρου παρουσιάζει συνοπτικά τη μάστιγα της παγίδευσης (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kk4B4YJWiQ) και ένα άλλο φιλμάκι από μια άλλη οργάνωση δείχνει που μπορεί να φτάσουν οι παγιδευτές για να προστατεύσουν την παράνομη επιχείρησή τους (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KvpoLNEeDg).

Ένα πρόσφατο «Ευρωπαϊκό Συνέδριο για την Παράνομη Θανάτωση των Πτηνών» που έγινε στην Λάρνακα (Κύπρος) τον Ιούλιο 2011 (http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/nature/bern/News/Cyprus/Cyprus_en.asp) κατέληξε σε ένα ξεκάθαρο μήνυμα «μηδενικής ανοχής» και ο Πτηνολογικός Σύνδεσμος Κύπρου θέλει να δει τις δηλώσεις του συνεδρίου να γίνονται πράξη. Ως εκ τούτου οργανώνουμε αυτό το ψήφισμα διαμαρτυρίας για να πιέσουμε για περαιτέρω πολιτική βούληση για να σταματήσει η παράνομη παγίδευση πτηνών στην Κύπρο.

At the heart of this campaign lies the desire to deny the right of Turkish-Cypriot students to equality in education in an environment free from racism and discrimination at the ES. The School has been able to re-admit Turkish-Cypriot students in 2003, marking an important step in the direction of multicultural education. Today, that Turkish-Cypriots make up about 10% of the student body, the School’s tradition of academic excellence and all-rounded education for all can only be strengthened by an ethic of coexistence, democracy, and respect for individuals regardless of their origin.

At the same time, it has to be recognised that the last five years have not been without problems in the ES: the claim advanced in the publications names above that ‘the school has never suffered from any problems of racial discrimination, racism or religious intolerance’ flies in the face of many students’ daily experience. Segregation during breaks, vandalisation of school property, the appearance of swastika graffiti, and the repeated vandalisation of the Turkish Studies room are only some examples. The most notorious of these problems was the violent racist attacks against Turkish-Cypriot students in November 2006. It is these incidents that prompted the school authorities to promote measures to ensure a safe school environment, aiming at inclusive education in the ES. To achieve this, and end the cycle of violence that is beginning to be re-enacted in this small community of the school, it is essential to develop ways to combat discrimination, foster inclusive education for all, and enhance the School’s multicultural ethos and character. These human rights values are enshrined fully in the EU acquis, the European Convention on Human Rights and the Cypriot Constitution. Moreover, the Cypriot Antidiscrimination Authority (Ombudsman) has recently recommended that anti-racist education be introduced in all schools as an essential precondition to interculturalism.

The alleged ‘dehellenisation’ of the School is being used in this context to oppose these aims. The depiction of human rights defenders as ‘over-zealous’ and the accusation that they ‘put pressure on Greek-Cypriot students’ ends up tacitly justifying the incidents of racist violence, since these are depicted as a response to such ‘pressure’. Such violence has no place in the ES and cannot be justified under any circumstances. The perpetrators of such violence need to be shown to represent nobody but themselves and cannot be allowed to tarnish the School’s ethos and traditions. The allegations against individual members of staff, who have different ideological backgrounds but share a commitment to equality, antiracism and human rights, and the attempts to single them out for investigation undermine this commitment to equality and anti-racism and are therefore an affront on the defense of human rights.

The antiwar and social movements in Europe and in the whole world are planning to ruin their fiesta. We are not prepared to allow these vultures celebrate their 60 years of crimes. The USA and its western allies established NATO in April 1949. It played a central role in the huge increase of military competition between the two blocs during the Cold War.

Today, nearly 20 years since the fall of the Eastern Bloc and the dismantling of the Warsaw Pact, NATO has been transformed into an instrument for the implementation of the interests of the USA and its allies over the rest of the planet. It supported and supports dictatorships and juntas while continuing to pursue wars and occupations all over the world. The administration of the war in Afghanistan is in the hands of NATO and 80% of military spending worldwide is carried out by its 26 member states.

NATO's attempt to expand further East creates instability and has already been the cause of the war between Russia and Georgia last August over North Ossetia.

The triangle of Greece-Turkey and Cyprus is very central to NATO plans in the M. East region. US maintain military bases in Turkey and Greece while Britain has two important bases in Cyprus, the two little 'Gibraltars', in Dekelia and Akrotiri.

Ordinary people in Cyprus, both Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot, paid and continue to pay a heavy price for the imperialist intervention of country member states of NATO. Many lives have been lost and a great deal of suffering was the result of NATO’s attempt to turn Cyprus into an unsinkable aircraft carrier to be used against the Middle East, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran and Afghanistan.

It’s imperative that we add our voices to those of hundreds of thousands of activists in the whole of Europe who are preparing to demonstrate against NATO under the slogan «60 years of NATO are enough».

UPDATED LIST of groups/organisations supporting the campaign:
Stop the War Coalition-Cyprus,New Cyprus Party (YKP), Workers Democracy, Cyprus Green Party, BARAKA Cultural Centre, Hands Across the Divide, RoofTop Theatre Group, Turkish Cypriot Teacher’s Trade Union, (KTÖS), Larnaka Cultural Association Initiative, IKME (Sociopolitical Studies Institute), New Cyprus Association, KISA (Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism), “Ammochostos Return”, Youth Against Nationalism, Political Movement SYNASPISMOS Cyprus, Cyprus Peace Platform, "United Cyprus"- Platform of G/C and T/C Teachers.