Turkish Cypriot airline plans appeal to UK court

TURKISH CYPRIOT airline CTA and its UK tour operator CTA Holidays Limited have decided to file to the UK Court of Appeal against the recent court ruling rejecting their application to permit flights between the UK and the occupied areas.

In an announcement yesterday, Hasan Ercakica, the spokesman of Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said the CTA didn’t feel the specific flights were in violation of the Chicago Convention and therefore international law, as was ruled by the UK High Court.

“When it is considered that a positive decision upon this application would be a supportive step in terms of lifting of the isolations and would particularly contribute to the economic developments in the north, it is a total disappointment,” said Ercakica. He added, “Both companies have decided to apply to the Court of Appeal. We will continue to support our companies in their efforts.”

Commenting on the planned appeal, Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou stressed that the Republic of Cyprus would continue to stand up for its sovereign rights

“The Cyprus Republic will continue to stand up for its sovereign rights, because what is important in this decision by the British Court is that it has reaffirmed judicially what is provided in international justice: which is that the management of the air and ground space of each country is a sovereign right of the specific country and the specific government,” said Stefanou.

“There is no way we will ever accept any intentions or policies that want to promote the logic of upgrading a second, separate state in Cyprus or in other words, to legalise partition,” he added.

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.