Foreign Ministry ponders travel advisory for Turkey

THE MINISTRY of Foreign Affairs is mulling over whether to issue a travel advisory on Turkey, said a ministry official yesterday.

After the recent spate of terrorist attacks in Turkey as well as the thwarted attack against Israeli tourists, the ministry hinted that a travel warning might be in order, despite the fact that no such warning was issued after the London or Egypt bomb attacks.

A ministry official told the Cyprus Mail: “We are still examining along with our EU partners whether to issue a travel advisory on Turkey.”

Asked if the ministry would decide any time soon, given the importance such advice would hold to Cypriots visiting Turkey, especially Istanbul, the official replied: “It is impossible to say when we will reach a decision.”

According to the official, Cyprus is not obliged to follow the decisions of any other EU country on the matter. “Each country has the right to decide independently of the other how to go about this but we are working with our EU partners, exchanging information, which helps us a lot in our decision,” she said.

Asked to comment on Israel’s withdrawal of its travel advisory to Turkey yesterday following the arrest of a Syrian-born suspect, the official said: “Of course there is that element to take into account.”

A spokesman for the ‘foreign ministry’ in the north had a more ambivalent view of the government’s motives.

“Our attitude to terrorism is very clear, we condemn it. But when bombs went off in London we didn’t advise our citizens not to go there. The Greek Cypriot government has a kind of paranoia or phobia about Turkey and will use anything against it,” he said.

In the meantime, travel to Turkey will likely continue, with Cypriot demand increasing to visit Orthodoxy’s most holy sites.

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.