The risk of terrorist acts or of Cyprus being targeted is very small, stated the Minister of Justice and Public Order, Konstantinos Fytiris, highlighting the country's role throughout history as a center of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
Asked during a Fire Service press conference about possible terrorist attacks and organized crime, Mr. Fytiris noted that the two may sometimes be linked, but they are separate, recalling that in the last 30-40 years, terrorist attacks in Cyprus have been minimal.
The Police are constantly taking measures on potential targets, depending on the risks that exist and geopolitical developments. In the war today, he said, Iran, the US, and indirectly Britain are involved and obviously measures are being taken that concern the interests of these countries in the Republic of Cyprus.
The Republic of Cyprus, he continued, has been a hub of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations for all these years and this is the message that the Government wants to convey to everyone in the region and internationally. "We have good relations with all the countries in the region and that is why we are becoming a center for resolving disputes rather than for defusing them," he noted.
"I believe that we are not in danger, without ruling it out, but the risk of having terrorist acts or being a target in this war is very small," he stressed.
On the right track for organized crime
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Regarding organized crime, the Minister of Justice referred to the latest statistics, saying that “the prisons are full again.” Every day, he pointed out, “the Police, through their actions and operations, arrest 5 to 10 people. Some are individual criminals, others belong to organized crime. We are on a good path, without saying that the issue has been resolved.”
There is, he continued, an internationalization of organized crime and an attempt is being made to place the various such organizations under various umbrellas. He said that he has discussed this with his counterparts in the EU as this problem also exists in other European countries. Therefore, he said, one of the efforts of the Cypriot Presidency "is to create information exchange systems for the prevention and suppression of organized crime".
He believes, said Mr. Fytiris, that we are on the right track. “The Police will continue international cooperation, but also internally.” He also mentioned that the surveillance bills that are expected to be approved by Parliament will give them a “powerful weapon to prevent situations.”
Source: KYPE
