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President Ersin Tatar reacts to Greek Cypriot administration: “No one has the right to close TRNC airspace”

President Ersin Tatar reacted to the Greek Cypriot administration for declaring the closure of its airspace as part of the EU-wide sanctions against Russian aircraft, in which they also included the airspace of the TRNC.

Stating that the TRNC is a sovereign state and has its own airspace, the President added: "We are aware that South Cyprus, along with other EU member states, have taken a decision to close their own airspace to Russian aircraft within the framework of sanctions being imposed on Russia, because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The authority and responsibility belong to the countries which make this decision. It is unacceptable, however, for the Greek Cypriot administration to include TRNC’s airspace in its decision and issue maps in respect of this.”
 
The President said it is “out of the question for the Greek Cypriot administration to take any decisions on behalf of the TRNC or its territory or national airspace,” adding that Turkish Cypriot people have inherent sovereign equality rights on the island.
 
 
“It is an unfruitful effort of the Greek Cypriot side which sees itself as the sole owner of the island to take such a decision to violate the TRNC’s sovereignty rights and to try to deceive the world,” President Tatar said.