THE British government yesterday slammed Transport for London (TfL) – the body that administers London’s buses and tube trains – after it announced a ban on advertisements for Turkish Cypriot tourism, saying the move flew in the face of UK policy to lift the economic isolation of the north.
“The UK government remains committed to ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and will continue to support efforts to this end,” a High Commission spokesman told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
The TfL says it has banned advertising for the Turkish Cypriot tourism industry because Greek Cypriots living in London might find it “insulting”.
The British High Commission yesterday sought to distance itself from the TfL decision, telling the Cyprus Mail, “Transport for London reports directly to the Greater London Authority, and not to the government.”
The UK government’s criticism of the move came after the TfL rejected a request for the continuation of a campaign advertising holidays in the north in the face of Greek Cypriot objections over the campaign.
“The government is aware of the decision made by the TfL as a result of protests made by local councilors and interest groups,” the High Commission spokesman said. His statement flew in the face of a TfL claim that it had “received no complaints from Greek Cypriots” and that the move was purely a “policy decision”.
The TfL defended its decision yesterday, telling the Cyprus Mail that accepting the advertising “would have been considered a breach of a TfL policy, which seeks to avoid causing offence to any section of society”.
Turkish Cypriot Hoteliers Association (KITOB) general secretary Huseyin Aktig reacted angrily to the ban yesterday, telling the Mail, “This is pure discrimination. They may be seeking to not insult Greek Cypriots, but they are insulting us”.
He added an invitation for TfL and advertising standards monitors in the UK to address “lies” propagated by Greek Cypriot tour operators claiming the north was “inaccessible”.
“There are laws about telling lies in advertising. In every brochure produced by the Greek Cypriots the north is described as inaccessible. This is a lie. Around 500,000 people come here each year, and for the last two years, thousands have been crossing between the north and south,” he said.
Turkish Cypriot London Representative Namik Korman was also critical of TfL’s decision to ban advertising for the north.
“They say Greek Cypriots would be offended by the ads, but I told them if that were the case, why don’t they take into account the 200,000 Turkish Cypriots living in London who will be offended by this ban?”
Korhan added that the decision to ban ads demonstrated a misunderstanding by the TfL that many in both Cypriot communities were seeking to “bridge the gap” by reducing economic disparities between the south and the poorer north.
“Unfortunately some in the London Greek Cypriot community complained, and this is what the TfL went with,” he said.
Aktig believes, however, that opposition to Turkish Cypriot advertising could stem from Greek Cypriot resentment of a recent boom in the north’s fledgling tourism industry.
“Over the past four years there has been a decline in bookings to the south,” he said.
“We, on the other hand, are already 70 per cent booked up for next summer”.
Whether or not the ban will stand depends on the outcome of an appeal being lodged by the north Cyprus tourism board, the TfL spokesman said.
