Cyprus Protests Airspace Violations

From the Financial Mirror:

Cyprus protests to UN over Turkish violations of air space

Cyprus’ Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Andreas Mavroyiannis, has protested to the UN over new violations of international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkish military aircrafts, that took place between November 9, 2005 and January 4, 2006, calling for their immediate cessation.

In a letter sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on January 11, 2006, that circulated yesterday as an official UN document, Cypriot Ambassador stressed that “Turkey’s policy of persistently breaching international law and defying international rules and regulations gravely jeopardizes the safety of international civil aviation and the stability of the region”.

He also noted that “Turkey’s systematic attempts to undermine the sovereignty and unity of the Republic of Cyprus by promoting an illegal secessionist entity, arrogating, inter alia, to itself the right to have a national airspace, further complicates the efforts to build trust and confidence between the two sides and resume negotiations”.

Ambassador Mavroyiannis added that “such actions are yet further evidence of Turkey’s sole objective, namely to consolidate the existing division of the island and maintain thus its military presence in Cyprus in perpetuity”.

Meanwhile, Government Spokesman George Lillikas has said “The Cyprus issue is a European problem as well, and a European problem for Turkey.”

He added that “it is up to Turkey to stop having the Cyprus issue as an obstacle for its EU accession course”.