UDPATE - Turkish president urges international community to lift unfair restrictions from Northern Cyprus

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY TURKISH, NORTHERN CYPRUS' PRESIDENTS, AND BACKGROUND

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday urged the lifting of political restrictions that have been unfairly imposed on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Citing the late architect of the 2004 Annan plan, which was accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by Greek Cypriots, with no fallout for the Greek Cypriot side, Erdogan said: "I invite the international community to heed the call of then-(UN) Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who admitted that there is no UN Security Council resolution that could justify the isolation of our Turkish Cypriot brothers, to remove these completely political restrictions, lacking any legal basis."

Inaugurating a newly renovated and expanded Ercan Airport in the TRNC, Erdogan also reiterated his call on the international community to support the ideal of two equal states living side by side on Cyprus, rejecting the culture of domination, tension, and conflict on the island.

The days when Ercan Airport’s new terminal and runway will be full of international flights "are not far away," said the Turkish president.

"The new terminal is six times larger than the previous one, meaning it is now capable of serving 10 million passengers," he said, adding that Ercan Airport also has the largest passenger capacity of any airport on the Eastern Mediterranean island.

"This masterpiece will help turn the TRNC, a symbol of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, into a brand in the region," he added.

- 'Freedom of travel basic right'

TRNC President Ersin Tatar, for his part, said that there are flights from all over the world to the TRNC via Türkiye.

Stressing there are no direct flights from countries besides Türkiye, Tatar said: "The international community continues to do this injustice to us. Today, ... such an airport does not exist even in the South, not even in most countries."

Underlining that freedom of travel is the most natural human right, Tatar said: "This isolation, embargoes and restrictions and injustice done to us, especially in terms of freedom of travel, must now be ended."

He added that as a Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is an honor for the TRNC to have such an airport.

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.

- 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.