Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci on Sunday called on scientists in the north to speak up about the coronavirus situation in Turkey, which he said was even worrying health experts there.
Turkey has confirmed 176,677 cases and has seen 4,792 deaths from Covid-19.
The number of new coronavirus cases there rose to 1,459 on Saturday from 1,195 a day earlier, increasing after travel restrictions were lifted and facilities reopened at the start of the month, according to Reuters.
The daily number of cases had previously been below 1,000 since late May. In the 24 hours between Friday and Saturday, 14 people died, bringing total fatalities to 4,792.
In a written statement, Akinci called on Turkish Cypriot health experts to express their views. “Are our scientists not worried about July 1?” he asked referring to the date that flights between Turkey and the north are due to resume.
“We are going through a period in which it is important and mandatory for health professionals to express their views publicly and strongly as we expect them to guide the politics [of the situation],” Akinci added.
“Transport and communication with Turkey is undoubtedly crucial. However, we have a responsibility to protect the health of our people above all.”
Not only were flight to the north due to resume on July 1 but so were crossings for Greek Cypriots. Some categories of Turkish Cypriots have been allowed to cross for almost a week now after a joint agreement between Akinci and President Nicos Anastasiades on May 21 for the gradual reopening.
However the Turkish Cypriot ‘prime minister’ Ersin Tatar and his ‘deputy prime minister’ Kudret Ozersay have tried to wrest control of when the crossings would fully open from the two leaders and have taken a unilateral decision to open up from July 1, the same day flights are due to resume from Turkey.
Prior to that, Ozersay said the crossings could not open because the Greek Cypriot side had opened its airports on Tuesday and they wanted to monitor the situation in the two weeks until July 1.
The north has reported no new coronavirus cases in more than a month. Some 20 tests were carried out there on Saturday. It’s total cases since the outbreak stands at around 100 with four deaths.
The scientific teams from both sides are due to talk on Tuesday to evaluate the situation as regards the next step in opening up the crossings and to report back to the two leaders.
