Turkish president to inaugurate new terminal of Ercan Airport in Northern Cyprus

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday will inaugurate the new terminal building and runway of Ercan Airport in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The expanded and renovated airport will be the TRNC's gateway to the world, said Erhan Arikli, the nation’s public works and transport minister.

Ercan Airport's annual passenger capacity, currently at 4 million, could double to 8 million and then even 10 million after the new terminal and runway are brought online and ticket prices fall, he added.

It will also generate about €30 million ($33.7 million) in public revenue annually, he added.

The opening ceremony also coincides with the 49th anniversary of the Turkish Peace Operation on the Eastern Mediterranean island, launched on July 20, 1974 to end ethnic violence by Greek Cypriots against the island’s Turkish Cypriots.

During the visit, Erdogan will also meet with TRNC President Ersin Tatar to discuss bilateral relations and the latest developments on the Cyprus issue.

They will also exchange views on the steps to be taken to further strengthen Türkiye-TRNC relations.

- Cyprus issue

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN 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 of the island 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 UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.

Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.