Anger as Congress visit to north confirmed

THE GOVERNMENT said yesterday it could not see any rationale in comments by former US Cyprus envoy Thomas Weston on the planned visit by three American congressmen to the north next week.

Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said that any visit by foreign officials to the north was a violation of UN Security Council Resolutions.

According to the Washington Post, Republican Ed Whitfield will lead a delegation to the north next week, “in an effort to show support for the Turkish Cypriot population on the divided island and improve US ties with Turkey”.

Whitfield, co-chairman of the Turkey Caucus, will fly directly into northern Cyprus with two other congressmen, it said.

“The trip is a step toward ending the isolation of Turkish Cypriots and marks the first time US congressmen have flown directly into northern Cyprus since the 1980s,” Weston said.

The congressmen will also meet with government and military officials in Turkey.

“Improved relations with Turkey will strengthen US foreign policy goals throughout the world,” Whitfield told the Post.

Chrysostomides said he was aware of Weston’s statement “I don’t understand the rationale of Mr Weston’s comments,” he said, adding that the government had already made representations to the US over the visit.

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.