Peace message from the north to Athens, via Larnaca

PEACE and Democracy Movement leader Mustafa Akinci will travel to the Olympic Games in Athens via Larnaca Airport – the first Turkish Cypriot party leader to ever do so.

Akinci will be one of the guests of honour at the opening of the Games, courtesy of Greek Telecoms (OTE), a sponsor of the Games, through its subsidiary in Cyprus Hellas Sat.

The Turkish Cypriot politician will travel on Thursday and return to the island on Sunday, he told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. His travel arrangements have already been seen to by the Foreign Ministry and by the Greek embassy in Nicosia so that there are no misunderstandings at Larnaca Airport on his departure.

Larnaca Airport has only been used since 1974 when the Nicosia International Airport ended up within ceasefire lines dividing the island. It is now controlled by UN peacekeepers. Turkish Cypriots use Tymbou Airport, which they call Ercan. Most flights out of the north of the island must travel via Istanbul, which would triple the length of Akinci’s trip to the Olympics.

Asked yesterday why he had decided to use Larnaca, Akinci said: “It’s the shortest way.”

He said his message by using Larnaca was that the two sides should leave aside their prejudices. “If the Turkish Cypriots want to go to Athens they should go through Larnaca and if the Greek Cypriots want to go to Istanbul they should go through the north,” said Akinci.

Reports yesterday said that other Turkish Cypriot politicians might attend the opening and that there might be informal contacts between party leaders from the two sides while in Athens.

“The Olympic ideal is one of peace and I want to extend the message of peace from the north of Cyprus to Athens, via Larnaca,” Akinci told the Mail. “Despite the fact that the Olympic flame did not come to the north, I have accepted the invitation (to Athens) gladly.”

Last month barbs flew between the two sides over why the flame, which was scheduled to travel north, never crossed the line. The Turkish Cypriot side accused the government of making unreasonable and unacceptable demands with the intent of blocking the move.

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.