Israel insists it will not recognise north

THE ISRAELI embassy in Nicosia said yesterday it did not recognise the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north, but said nothing about preventing the opening of a ‘TRNC’ office in Tel Aviv.

The embassy was responding to reports that the Turkish Cypriots were planning to open a trade office in Israel.

“If such an office is established in Israel, it will be purely private and commercial in nature and will not get any government endorsement. We will do our outmost to inform the government and public sector that the office has no official status,” said the statement from the embassy.

“Israel’s stand on the issue of the northern part of Cyprus is clear, and in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions in this matter; Israel does not recognise the occupied northern part of Cyprus as a separate political entity, and will not have any official relations with it,” the statement added.

The statement is unlikely to satisfy Nicosia, which has already made representations to Israel, because it is clear that Tel Aviv is not going to prevent the trade office being opened.

Such a move, even if it’s not classed as official recognition, will be seen by the Cyprus government as an upgrade of the breakaway state.

Cypriot ambassador to Israel George Zodiates has already made it clear that Cyprus was angry that the office would be allowed to open. He even went as far as asking the Israelis how they would feel if the Palestinian movement Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by Israel, decided to open trade offices in other countries.

The ‘TRNC’ trade office is a joint venture with Dov Weissglas, the man who served as bureau chief to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.

An article in Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that even though the trade office would not have political recognition, it would carry out 75 per cent of the work of any normal embassy.

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.