EU Response to GC Border Restrictions Unsatisfactory

North Cyprus News - Kudret Ozersay
Deputy PM and Foreign Minister – Kudret Ozersay

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay, said that he was dissatisfied with the response to his letter that he sent to the President of the EU Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, regarding the Greek Cypriot restrictions on border crossings . He said that Greek Cypriots side was exercising double standards in terms of health and safety and were deliberately trying to stifle the TRNC economy. 

Özersay said, “In the reply given on behalf of the President of the EU Commission to my letter in which I explained the facts about the unreasonable restrictions applied by the Greek leadership regarding border crossing, It was stated that they were aware of the situation, and that the Greek Cypriot authorities had cited the Covid-19 measures as a reason for this, and that the EU Commission was closely following these restrictions.

Cyprus News - Border Checkpoints - Closed 2 (1) Reminding that as of July 1, the Greek Cypriot leadership had not allowed passage to any third country citizens and EU citizens who wanted to enter the TRNC from Southern Cyprus, Özersay said, “This is a purely political decision, it has no connection with the epidemic measures, and the Greek Cypriot leadership has adversely affected the Turkish Cypriot economy. It is obvious that it is an opportunity used by him,” he said.

Özersay continued as follows:

We were not satisfied with the reply given on behalf of the President of the EU Commission to my letter to whom I explained all this. Seen from the most objective viewpoint, there has been an explosion in new cases [of Covid-19] in Southern Cyprus for the last two weeks. It is clear that Southern Cyprus has serious problems in combating the epidemic. In this case, there can be no reason for preventing people who want to cross to the TRNC, and who have negative Covid-19 test results, which are essential to enter our country. The Greek Cypriot side, which refrains from opening the Lokmacı [pedestrian] crossing [in Nicosia], economically harms the Lokmacı tradesmen in particular, and generally harms the economy of our country by preventing third country citizens, including EU citizens, from entering the TRNC.

“Greek discrimination continues not only against EU or third country citizens coming to the island, but also in every field regarding crossings to our country. As it is known, the Greek Cypriot leadership maintains the obligation to have a Covid-19 negative test valid for 72 hours at each pass, except for those who work or receive training in the South, at the crossing point, but permits more than 20 countries to fly into their country without testing.”

Kibris News Agency

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