THE north’s newly appointed economy and tourism ‘minister’ Dervish Deniz has launched a scathing attack on the breakaway state’s embattled national airline accusing mainland Turkish shareholders in the company of running the airline into the ground.
Ownership of Cyprus Turkish Airlines (CTA) is split equally between mainland Turkish shareholders and the Turkish Cypriot authorities. But the mainland Turkish wing holds effective control of the CTA through its possession of all the company’s golden shares.
Deniz is demanding that shares held by mainland Turkish businessmen be handed over to the Turkish Cypriot ‘state’ in order that the company be run in the interests of the Turkish Cypriot tourism industry.
“Those who do not know the TRNC economy and tourism industry should not be in charge,” Deniz told the north’s top-selling daily Kibris.
Deniz said that once the shares have been handed over to the north some of them will be sold to private investors.
Deniz slammed the company for doing nothing to end or reduce the effects of political and economic isolation in the north.
“At any time the company [CTA] could make an application for direct flights, but it doesn’t make a sound,” he said.
Direct flights are not currently allowed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation because the regime in the north remains unrecognised.
He accused the Turkish wing of the company of acting with “great insensitivity” and of having “no interest in north Cyprus”, adding that if the situation continued it could cause a rift between the north and its primary backer, Turkey.
Deniz believes CTA is the single biggest obstacle to a thriving tourism industry in the north.
“You can have as many wonderful resorts as you like, but if tourists are not happy from the moment they get on the plane, no one will return to the country.”
Deniz says problems at CTA have led to many tourists and Turkish Cypriots flying from Larnaca airport in the south and that until the airline starts working more closely with those in the tourism industry it will continue losing customers.
“CTA is of absolutely no benefit to our tourism policy. We are already losing business because many tours have already been sold to Europeans for next year”.
Deniz says he has sought to open up dialogue with the Turkish directors, but has seen no willingness on their part to do so.
“On Wednesday I discussed the problem with my undersecretary and we decided it was time to sit down and discuss a number of issue with the Turkish wing. These issues included direct flights, programmes and prices for 2005, plus a number of other issues. They kept us hanging on for two hours and treated us as if we were nobody.”
Deniz clearly feels this was the last straw and is now openly accusing CTA’s mainland Turkish controllers of running the company with only their “personal interests” at heart.
“The company’s plagued by problems,” he said listing staff behaviour, hospitality and delays as among the biggest.
Another problem he highlighted was the fact that a flight to the north from the UK took six hours because of the necessity of touching down in Turkey before flying on to Cyprus.
“This already puts us at a disadvantage, so we have to find ways, by providing a good service, to make the journey feel shorter.”
CTA General Manager Sadettin Gezmek told the Mail he did not want to respond to Deniz’s comments, but insisted he had received no request for a meeting with the ‘minister’.
