THE TURKISH Cypriot authorities said yesterday they and north Cyprus-based shipping companies have joined in efforts to evacuate victims of the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, and have so far been instrumental in helping with the evacuation of around 3,000 people from the war-torn capital.
“As a result of the Israel’s military offensive in Lebanon, more than 3,000 foreigners were evacuated through the TRNC by ferry charters started on July 18,” a press release from ‘presidential’ spokesman Hasan Ercakica said over the weekend.
The press release also included as statement from Hamit Gorgun, an official from the north Cyprus-based Akgunler Shipping Company, stating that 12 cruises had been chartered to Lebanon carrying Swedish, Australian and Canadian nationals via Famagusta port to Mersin on Turkey’s southern coast.
Although evacuees are generally not disembarking at the internationally unrecognised port at Famagusta, some, the spokesman’s statement said, had been taken for emergency treatment at the Famagusta hospital. Those receiving treatment were said to be mostly elderly.
Gorgun said ships carrying evacuees were taking between six and seven hours to complete the journey between Beirut and Famagusta ports, considerably longer than the normal travel time of around three hours.
He blamed the extra length of the journeys on a “security zone set by the Israeli naval force”.
After refuelling at Famagusta, the evacuee-laden ships head for Mersin, he added.
Over the weekend, 1,100 Australian and Canadian nationals were taken via Famagusta to Turkey on four separate chartered vessels. Previously, 1,284 Canadian and 620 Swedish passengers were carried on board eight ships.
Gorgun said he had been told by the Australian Consulate in Canakkale that no objection would be raised over the participation of shipping from the breakaway statelet being used in evacuation efforts, but that it had been agreed “on political grounds” that evacuees would not disembark at Famagusta.
Gorgun added that the Consulate had told him, “It is the urgent evacuation of our people from Beirut to safe places that matters for us”.
The Turkish Cypriot authorities, however, maintained that they were “ready and able” to take in evacuees if requested by Lebanese or other foreign nationals.
“All kinds of help will be provided for accommodation if wanted,” Hasan Ercakica, spokesman for Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, said on Saturday.
Ercakica added that the Turkish Cypriot administration regretted that evacuees had to travel on to Turkey – something he said further contributed to their suffering – because the political situation on the island prevented them from disembarking at Famagusta port and taking the relatively short journey to Larnaca, from where they could travel on to destinations in Europe and beyond.
Ercakica also offered accommodation in the north for evacuees who, due to overcrowding in hotels in the south, could not be provided for.
“If facilities in north Cyprus are needed for temporary accommodation of evacuees who came via Greek Cypriot ports from Lebanon, all kinds of help will be provided. It is possible to use the tourist facilities, as well as the student’s dormitories for this purpose,” he said.
??
??
??
??
