President Ersin Tatar calls to international community at the inauguration ceremony of the new terminal building and runway of Ercan Airport
“End the unjust isolation that is in violation of our human rights and allow international direct flights to Ercan Airport”
Photos
President Ersin Tatar has called upon the international community to end the “injustice” that violates the human rights of the Turkish Cypriot People and to allow for direct flights to Ercan Airport.
The President made the call during his address at the inauguration ceremony of the new terminal building and runway of the airport.
Ercan Airport now boasts a 20,000 m2 terminal building, 34,000 m2 car park and a 3,010m long new runway able to handle wide-wing aircraft, making it the largest airport on the island of Cyprus.
Alongside President Tatar, the inauguration ceremony, which was held today (July 20, 2023) inside the new terminal building, was also attended by President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Speaker of the Parliament Zorlu Töre, Prime Minister Ünal Üstel, Third President Derviş Eroğlu, Ambassador of the Republic of Türkiye to Lefkoşa Metin Feyzioğlu, ministers, political party representatives and politicians from the Republic of Türkiye and the TRNC.
The ceremony commenced with a minute’s silence followed by the National Anthem and a video was shown introducing the new terminal building.
Addressing the ceremony, President Tatar paid tribute to Martyr Cengiz Topel – who he said “was the first heroic Turkish jet pilot who was martyred in Cyprus”. Topel had been piloting a jet as part of an operation to stop the Greek-Greek Cypriot forces attacking the Turkish Cypriot strategically important enclave village of Erenköy, in August 1964. Cengiz Topel’s aircraft was shot down, and despite parachuting to the ground safely, Topel was caught by Greek Cypriot forces and martyred through torture. President Tatar also remembered with respect Martyr Pilot Major Fehmi Ercan, who was martyred during the Cyprus Peace Operation in July 1974, who is buried at the martyrdom in Karaoğlanoğlu. The airport was given the name Ercan in memory of Pilot Major Fehmi Ercan.
President Tatar stated that the airport was actually a small military airfield called ‘Tymbou’ in 1974, which the Turkish Cypriots started to use through their respective authorities, namely the Civil Aviation Department, in providing services for commercial aircraft.
President Tatar added that the first “directive” for the launch of the tender for the Ercan Airport “build-operate-transfer” consortium project was courageously made by the late Prime Minister İrsen Küçük at the time when he was serving as the Minister of Finance. He said there were delays in the completion of the project which was due to the pandemic, which created economic issues and a lock down that included a complete shutdown of workplaces and hotels, as well as a suspension of flights for a significant period of time to the country. “However, the efforts to continue the construction of the new terminal building and runway at our airport continued,” President Tatar said.
President Tatar explained: “We have nevertheless reached the present day, and are inaugurating the new terminal building and runway, following the directive given by President Erdoğan and the efforts of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Republic of Türkiye and the Ministry of Transportation”.
President Tatar expressed his gratitude to President Erdoğan, the authorities, T&T consortium, ministries, departments and to all the labourers.
President Erdoğan: “New terminal presents new opportunities and is six-times larger than the old terminal building”
President Erdoğan, addressing the ceremony, stated that “as from today, Ercan Airport is the biggest Airport on the island of Cyprus and has the largest passenger capacity,” adding that “this work will contribute to making the TRNC, which is a basin for stability in the eastern Mediterranean, a brand in the region”.
President Erdoğan added that “the days when there will be international flights to the new terminal and runway are not too far away in the future” and called upon the “international community to lift the purely politically motivated restrictions imposed on the Turkish Cypriots, that is devoid of any legal basis”.
“I am very happy to be in the TRNC at the inauguration of the new terminal building and runway of Ercan Airport on the 49th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation,” President Erdoğan said.
President Erdoğan stated that Ercan Airport, which was opened to civil aviation traffic on February 3, 1975, had a terminal building of 20,000 m2, a parking area of 34,000 m2 and a main runway with a length of 2,755m. He said following the development, the airport now has the capacity to cater to wide-wing aircraft, with the new terminal building and double runways equipped with new facilities, equipment and technology.
President Erdoğan added: "Ercan Airport, which was built on a total area of 7,800,000 m2, has been made suitable for the use of all models of passenger airplanes thanks to its new runway with a length of 3,010m," and stated that the new terminal is "six times bigger when compared to the old building".
Stating that direct flights from the airport only exist to Türkiye due to the unfair and unlawful practices of the international community, President Erdoğan said: “Turkish Cypriots provide air traffic service from Ercan controlled airspace, in accordance with the standards of the international civil aviation organisation. The new terminal, which will be the window of the TRNC to the world, will serve all passengers with the use of advanced technology and Turkish hospitality.”
President Erdogan said: "I hereby invite the international community to heed the call of the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who admitted that there is no UN Security Council resolution and no justification on keeping our Turkish Cypriot brothers in isolation, which are purely political restrictions devoid of any legal basis."
"I repeat my call for the international community to support the ideal of two equal States coexisting side by side, not the domination, tension and culture of conflict on the island of Cyprus," Turkish President Erdogan said.