‘DON’T MENTION NORTH CYPRUS’

Britons travelling to TRNC advised to ‘lie’ about destination to avoid being refused entry by GC immigration

BRITISH people travelling to North Cyprus via the South are being told to provide false information about their final destination to avoid being refused entry by Greek Cypriot immigration officers, it has been claimed.

Since January 1, following Brexit, British passport holders arriving in the South are regarded as non-EU citizens with a 90-day visa-free limit on their stay.

In the past people from other non-EU countries such as Israel and Serbia have been denied entry to the island after stating that they were planning to stay in the TRNC.

The situation has been further complicated by the British government’s decision to place Turkey on England’s Covid-19 “red list” meaning that travel to the TRNC’s Ercan airport via Turkey is currently not an option.

Peter Wilkins, head of the British Residents Society, and taxi drivers who take passengers to and from Larnaca airport via the Dhekelia British Sovereign Base Area checkpoint, have told Cyprus Today that some Britons are providing an address in South Cyprus in their preflight applications for a “Cyprus Flight Pass”.

The British High Commission in Cyprus also warns its citizens that anyone with documents relating to the purchase of property in North Cyprus when crossing the “Green Line” could face “criminal proceedings” by the Greek Cypriot authorities.

“People are frightened to write on the form that their address is in North Cyprus,” Mr Wilkins said.

“Tourists and residents know that they cannot return [to the UK] from Ercan airport because of the disembarkation issue in Turkey and the UK treating them as having arrived from Turkey and not [North Cyprus].

“Because Turkey is a red category country . . . people have to fork out £1,750 per person [for hotel quarantine in England] and . . . £650 for [each] additional person.

“In order to avoid this, British people are using Larnaca airport, and have to take out an appropriate permit to gain clearance to enter.

“But we have heard that some are frightened to write down their TRNC-based address on the online form in fear of being refused entry or even facing the prospect of being deported.

“On the other hand, the fact that Turkey is a red category country for the UK is also a cause of concern for people wishing to travel . . . using Ercan airport.

“We have raised the matter with the British High Commission, even suggesting that people be allowed to stay inside the aircraft during the touchdown in Turkey and the doors remaining closed so that they are not treated as having arrived from Turkey.

“But what has been stated to us is that there is a security issue, that passengers need to be rescreened because Ercan airport is not recognised.

“The real issue is, however, that the Greek Cypriot authorities are not giving clear guidelines for people who live in the North, who want to either use the airport in the South, or even to shop in the South . . . we don’t even know what documents are required . . . In short, the whole thing is a mess.”

Information from Hermes Airports, which runs Larnaca airport, says that the UK is in the “Orange category”.

“All passengers, regardless of the country category, will need to apply for a Cyprus Flight Pass through the dedicated electronic portal,” it states on its website.

Taxi Drivers’ Association chairman Murat Karalar said taxi drivers are “helping passengers in different ways, including dealing with their electronic tag (bracelet) applications and how to use them when arriving at the TRNC checkpoint.”

Asked if he was aware that some British North Cyprus property owners are putting down a South Cyprus address on their flight authorisation forms to the Greek Cypriot authorities, Mr Karalar said: “I have been told that this is done because there aren’t any clear guidelines on the rights of people who wish to travel to the North.

“People are worried because of previous instances where Greek Cypriots have refused Israeli and Scandinavian tourists from entering after they declared that they would be heading North.

“And following the departure of the UK from the EU, there seems to

be ambiguity over the rights of people who want to holiday in the North.”

The TRNC Civil Aviation Department’s latest “Notice to Airmen” (Notam), which is valid until June 6, states that people wanting to enter the country must provide a negative PCR test certificate from up to three days before travel and spend 10 or 14 days in quarantine depending on where they have travelled from, followed by another PCR test.

Residents can spend the quarantine period at home under the “Stay Safe” electronic tagging and smartphone app system. Earlier this week Prime Minister Ersan Saner announced that home quarantine was now available to all arrivals following a successful trial of the scheme.

However people, except TRNC citizens, who have been in India, Brazil, Holland, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone and Cameroon in the last 14 days are currently banned from entering North Cyprus due to fears over Covid-19 case levels in those countries.

The government last week announced that from June 7 onwards fully vaccinated passengers will be allowed to enter the TRNC without a PCR test or quarantine if they are from a “Green” category country, defined as having a rate of fewer than seven Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days.

The Cyprus Turkish Travel Agents’ Union said in a written statement that the criteria means only tourists form “New Zealand, the Falkland Islands and Iceland” can come to North Cyprus.

The statement lashed out at the Government “for not allowing Russian tourists to even be allowed to enter our country for one day”.

“The tourism sector is a lifeline for the Turkish Cypriot economy,” the statement added.

Meanwhile President Ersin Tatar said during an interview with the Tak news agency on Thursday that the “time is right to open the checkpoints with the decrease of new [Covid-19] cases in South Cyprus”.

“This is the expectation of our economy and shop owners,” he said. “The UN and EU have put forward their own political will on this matter.

“The initiative to close the [checkpoints in March 2020] had been taken by the Greek Cypriot side. In my view it was even a political [move].”