Kanbay: “It is interesting that the Greek Prime Minister defines Cyprus issue as Turkey’s occupation of the island”
The Turkish Ambassador to Nicosia Derya Kanbay stated that some parties prefer to forget the past, as many evil and brutal things were done for the sake of the Hellenization of the island of Cyprus.
Kanbay said: “It is interesting that the Greek Prime Minister defines the Cyprus issue as Turkey’s occupation of the island, because he probably was not even born in those years. Tsipras does not remember how a killer who came here from his own country committed murders on the island in the 1950s.”
UNSC called on all parties to seize the historic opportunity for a “Unified Cyprus”
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has called on all sides in Cyprus to maintain the momentum gained in the negotiations and to seize the historic opportunity for a “Unified Cyprus”.
The statement was made on behalf of the UNSC members by H.E. Mr. Olof Skoog, Permanent Representative of Sweden to the UN and President of the Security Council for January 2017.
Skoog stated that the UNSC were pleased with the progress made in the negotiations on a Cyprus settlement in recent months, as well as in the conference in Geneva where security and guarantees were discussed for the first time.
Skoog also stated that the UNSC commended the “steadfast and courageous leadership” shown by both leaders, and thanked the UN for its critical support in the process, and reiterated its support for the work of Eide and Spehar in their active role facilitating discussion.
The Security Council members reiterated their commitment to supporting the two sides in reaching a settlement deal and extending the UNFICYP term of office. On behalf of the UNSC, Skoog urged all parties to maintain momentum and seize the historic opportunity for a “Unified Cyprus”.
The UN Secretary General’s Special Advisor on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cyprus and UNFICYP Head of Mission Elizabeth Spehar briefed the representatives of 15 member states about the latest developments in the negotiations for a settlement in Cyprus, at the closed session of the UNSC.
After the briefing, Eide answered questions from the media. He stated that while the pace of the Cyprus peace talks continues to increase, there are no easy solutions to the fundamental problems which are being discussed by both sides.
Eide stated that the international conference marks a “pivotal change” in the negotiation process as “all issues are on the table” at an international level, as the negotiations have entered their final phase.
Settlement and security guarantees are the most fundamental problems according to Eide, as the “Greek Cypriots consider the existence of the Turkish troops as a problem while the Turkish Cypriots consider them as a part of a solution”.
Eide said that no timeframe has been set for negotiations, but it was a very good opportunity to find a solution. If both sides’ progress does not bring about a settlement, Eide said that it would not be easy to reach such an opportunity again.
TRNC was promoted in 5 countries in January
Tourism in the TRNC was promoted in 5 countries in January.
In the first month of 2017, delegations promoted tourism in the TRNC at five major international tourism and leisure exhibitions: the Vakantiebeurs in the Netherlands; the Ferien Messe Wien in Austria; MATKA 2017 in Helsinki, Finland; CMT Stuttgart in Germany; and at Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show, Manchester, United Kingdom.
Each of the TRNC stands promoted rich visual images of Cyprus to representatives from other countries and tour operators, in order to create new business opportunities for the TRNC.
The Tourism and Environment Minister Fikri Ataoğlu is going to İstanbul today to participate in the 4 day EMITT tourism fair which starts tomorrow.
The aim of the fair is to “create new opportunities for business and cooperation, as well as establishing partnerships with foreign companies who want to enter Eurasia and the Eastern Mediterranean region”. Representatives from 80 countries will have stands at the fair.
Industry representatives KITSAB, KITOB, KITREB and the Health Tourism Council will also participate in EMITT 2017, which is among the top five tourism fairs in the world.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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Pictures shown are courtesy of the TRNC Public Information Office Facebook page.
I just hope whilst the Tourist and Environmental Minister is promoting the beautiful Northern Cyrus he is doing something positive to put into action the cleaning up of beaches and everywhere that is strewn with filth and litter. My feed back from people coming to this lovely area is one of aghast at the state of the countryside, the derelict buildings everywhere and the use of mobile phones whilst driving. Ok you can get them to North Cyprus but will the feed back once they are here be good enough for them to come back and to recommend this beautiful country to their friends…. Positive feed back through trip advisor is absolutely imperative for the future of the essential tourist trade.
Thank you Joolsdarling for your views.
As you may be aware, cyprusscene.com is assisting the Ministry of Tourism and Environment meet with representatives of North Cyprus expat NGOs for discussions.
It is hoped we will be able to share with all expats information we may gain from other Ministries plus hopefully help make a difference by sharing ideas and concerns with all Ministry contacts.