FOREIGN MINISTER Erato Kozakou-Markoulli has given Syria until Thursday to clarify its position on a planned ferry service between occupied Famagusta and Latakia, reports said yesterday.
Nicosia is worried the launch of a direct service to the north might upgrade the status of the breakaway regime.
It wants to know whether it is true that Turkish Cypriot officials have met Syrian ministers, whether there is an agreement with the ‘TRNC’ and whether the trips will go ahead, despite the government’s objections.
A promotional trip, the first in 28 years between the port of Gazimagusa (Famagusta) and Latakia had taken place on September 22.
Following the trip, Marcoullis met with her Syrian counterpart Walid Al Moualem on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. There, Al Moulaem had assured Markoulli he would personally look into the matter.
The ferry service is slated to begin this Friday, with the end of Ramadan, the Islamic religious observance. According to Phileleftheros yesterday, Markoulli has given the Syrian government until then to respond to the questions put to it.
Citing its sources, the paper said Markoulli and Al Moualem spoke on the phone over the weekend, and that on Sunday the Foreign Minister met with Syria’s charg? d’affaires in Cyprus, to whom she handed a letter.
The letter is said to “warn” Syria that it would be in violation of international law if it proceeds with the ferry service, given that the ‘TRNC’ is not a recognised state.
Markoulli also plans an official visit later this month to Syria, long considered a “friendly country” to Cyprus.
Yesterday Markoulli debunked Turkish Cypriot media reports that a planned visit to Kyrgyzstan was aimed at “ruining” relations between that country and the breakaway regime.
The same reports quoted the breakaway regime’s ‘Foreign Minister’ Turgay Avci as saying that Marcoullis was “rushing to Syria in a frenzy.”
“Unfortunately, we shall aggravate Mrs Markoulli, because she will need to chase after us for a while longer,” Avci reportedly added.
“I shall not comment on remarks made by a private individual,” the bullish Markoulli noted yesterday.
“Mr Avci has no official capacity.”
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