ALI Polatkan is a leading Turkish Cypriot travel agent who strongly believes the two communities on Cyprus can live and work together in peace and prosperity. He is also a man who likes to take risks – even if it means facing a barrage of criticism from members of his own community, and stonewalling from his counterparts in the south.
“When the crossings opened, we thought ‘what can we do to encourage the mixing of the two populations?’ So we started organising tours of the south, he says, adding that so far, he had taken between five and six thousand Turkish Cypriots to the south.
Polatkan says his philosophy is, that “in order for the two peoples to get on, they have to understand each other” and that tourism offers wonderful opportunities for this understanding to grow.
Organising tours for Turkish Cypriots in the south of Cyprus was not too difficult for Polatkan to do from his spacious offices in north Nicosia. What has been more difficult is for him to attract Greek Cypriots to tourism hotspots in the north.
However, he is hopeful that individual Cypriots from the south will be persuaded, despite government opposition, to come and stay in hotels in the north and even travel on from there to Turkey.
“The people should always walk before the state,” he says, emphasising that his company did not wait for the Turkish Cypriot authorities’ backing before jumping into the bicommunal tourism market. He hopes that Greek Cypriots will follow suit.
One of Polatkan’s most successful operations is that of sending Turkish Cypriot abroad through airports in the south – something that was impossible before crossings between the government controlled and occupied areas began in April last year.
“Our people began to apply for Republic of Cyprus passports, so we thought ‘why shouldn’t we buy and sell tickets through Larnaca?’,” he says, adding: “Every day at least 10 to 15 Turkish Cypriots fly though Larnaca with tickets bought from us”.
It is easy to understand why Turkish Cypriots are keen to fly through Larnaca and Paphos – it’s around a third cheaper, the flights are direct and the UK and other European destinations do not require visas from Turkish Cypriots as long as they are travelling with a Republic of Cyprus or EU passport.
But Polatkan’s current project is far more challenging.
“I am trying to get Greek Cypriots to take short breaks in Turkey, in particular Istanbul,” he says.
A two-night break in a four-star hotel in Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul costs just £75, he says.
“Again there are political reservations on the part of Greek Cypriots,” he concedes, “but even so, some have used the route”.
He advises Greek Cypriot not to worry about getting in trouble with their authorities for travelling from airports in the occupied north as “neither the Turkish Cypriot, nor the Turkish police stamp their passports.
“So far very few Greek Cypriots have travelled to Turkey from the north, but we know there are many who would like to go,” he says.
Predictably, Polatkan’s bicommunal venture has not always met with approval.
“The Greek Cypriots have always tried to prevent us from presenting our products at tourism fairs,” he says.
Another problem is that newspapers in the south refuse to handle advertising from the north, and travel agents, fearing disapproval from hoteliers in the south, will not promote hotels in the north – even, as Polatkan says, if the hotels are legitimately owned by Turkish Cypriots.
Polatkan says he has repeatedly attempted to engage Greek Cypriot travel agents in mutually beneficial joint ventures, but has invariably been knocked back.
“They always tell us to wait for a solution,” he says. “That’s why we have been forced to act independently.”
