Letter from Özersay to the EU and UN
14 July, 2020Prime Minister Tatar made a call to Greek Cypriot Administration and EU
14 July, 2020Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kudret Özersay stated that the Greek Cypriot Administration has been enforcing additional limitations, preventing foreign nationals, who travel to the island on the Greek Cypriot side, from visiting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and added that these new restrictions are unrelated to the pandemic.
Minister Özersay made a statement via his social media account and underlined that the Greek Cypriot Administration tries to make changes in the Green Line Regulations against the EU regulations. Özersay said ‘This implementation violates freedom of movement of people, including EU nationals and it is clear that these unacceptable implementations are unrelated to the pandemic, the purpose of the Greek Cypriot Administration is to hamper the Turkish Cypriot economy. It is obvious that if the Turkish Cypriot political actors do not jointly stand against this intimidation the Greek Cypriot Administration will continue their provocative policy. Also they have been trying to persuade British officials to widen their restrictions to British Sovereign Base Areas which is not in their control.’
Kudret Özersay mentioned that the practice is only for foreigners visiting the island and not applied to Greek Cypriots or foreigners residing permanently in the south. Özersay also added that thousands of people are unable to exercise their rights as a result of this violation of the Green Line Regulation and EU law, which also restricts the freedom of movement on the island.