Israeli plane from Cyprus dupes Turkish air traffic controllers

AN ISRAELI plane that took off from Larnaca airport landed in Istanbul after the pilot told Turkish authorities he was inbound from the island of Rhodes.

Given it does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus, Turkey has imposed an embargo on all Cypriot ships and aircraft or all vessels whose starting point is Cyprus. This was the first time the embargo was broken, even if by mistake.

According to Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, on approaching Istanbul’s Kemal Ataturk airport, the Israeli pilot was warned by air traffic controllers he would not be allowed to land if he had taken off from the free areas of Cyprus. The pilot lied he was inbound from Rhodes, and was duly allowed to land his plane.

The pilot had not submitted a flight plan, and was thus able to dupe Turkish authorities – despite their misgivings – of his take-off point. It was only later that traffic controllers received the flight plan, but by that time the plane had headed out for another destination.

As a result of the mistake, Turkish civil aviation authorities are reportedly considering altering procedures and tightening checks to verify the origin of all incoming aircraft. Commenting on the incident, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Namik Tan reiterated that Turkish ports were off limits to Cypriot vessels and aircraft.

Meanwhile a private Azeri airliner inbound from Baku last night landed at occupied Tymbou. On board the plane were a delegation of Azeri politicians, businessmen and journalists. They will be having contacts with Turkish Cypriot politicians and will be taking part in a business forum, and are expected to sign a co-operation protocol with the ‘TRNC’.

The government has condemned the visit.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.