The Greek Cypriot administration engages in hostile acts targeting the tourism of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), President Ersin Tatar said on Monday.
In a written statement of the presidency, Tatar said that the Greek Cypriot side illegally hindered the transition of the European Union and other countries’ citizens that have priorly made reservations to spend their holidays in the TRNC. He added that the Greek side also blackmailed tour operators.
“End this outdated understanding,” Tatar urged the Greek Cypriot administration, saying that the 61-year-long pressure and isolation violating human rights is continuing.
The president reminded that the Greek side previously engaged in practices targeting third-country citizens who purchased property in the TRNC.
“The Greek leadership engages in hostile initiatives that target our tourism sector. The Greek leadership, this time, focuses its ‘blockade policy’ on the tourism sector to crumble our economy,” Tatar continued.
This situation lays bare the real intention of the Greek side regarding Cyprus’ future, he added further.
Tatar underlined that the TRNC would apply to the EU and international community and closely follow the obstructive policies of the Greek side on both tourism and real estate.
Cyprus has been mired for decades in a dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.
The Greek Cypriot Administration has recently initiated a process against third-country nationals who purchased property from the TRNC, claiming that they are “looting Greek Cypriot property.”
In the last six months, two Israeli and one German citizens who purchased property from the TRNC or were engaged in real estate were detained in the Greek Cypriot Administration and brought to court.
After the Greek media reported that hotels and homes rented to tourists in the TRNC negatively affected tourism on the Greek side, the Greek Cypriot administration took action to prevent passings and threatening tour guides.
