Turks appeal to Rolandis to allow tourists to overnight in north

THE TURKISH occupation regime wants Cyprus Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Nicos Rolandis to liberalise tourism between the free areas and Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.

The call was made yesterday by Mustafa Akinci, ‘state minister and deputy prime minister’, in a front page story in the Turkish Cypriot newspaper, Kibris.

Under the headline: "Call to the Greek Cypriot side for co-operation on tourism," Akinci asked Rolandis to allow tourists who visit the occupation regime to be able to cross into the Republic and stay overnight, and vice versa.

He said his proposal showed the Denktash regime was ready to take new steps towards co-operation, and expected a positive response from the Greek Cypriot side.

"The two communities cannot have freedom of movement on the island," the way things are now, Akinci said. "We want at least the tourists to be able to move freely."

"We want this unfair embargo to be lifted," he said, adding: "This island does not belong only to Greek Cypriots."

At present, tourists to the free areas can cross the Green Line to the northern 37 per cent of the island during daylight hours, but must be back by 5pm.

Tourists who visit Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus are not allowed to cross into Republic, since their arrival on the island – via airport or seaport – would have been through an illegal port of entry.

This owes to the fact that, in keeping with UN Security Council resolutions, the Republic is considered the only legally constituted government of the whole of Cyprus, and the occupation regime is an illegal breakaway state.

However "co-operatively" cast, Akinci’s proposal did not appear to be purely platonic.

In discussing the vast disparity in tourism figures, he noted that in the 20 years between 1977 and 1997, only 3.5 million tourists had visited the occupied north, whereas the Republic, this year alone, expects some 2.7 million tourists.

Rolandis was unavailable late yesterday for any response to Akinci’s proposal.

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.