Some visitors to Cyprus were reportedly turned away by officials at Larnaca Airport earlier this week because they had made reservations at specific hotels in the north.
According to Greek Cypriot daily ‘Phileleftheros’, on Monday night, 51 foreigners, 35 from Israel and the remainder from Lebanon and Serbia, arrived at Larnaca Airport, were reportedly refused entry into Cyprus because they intended to stay at a hotels in the north that had been owned and operated by a Greek Cypriot before 1974. Officials say they were acting on a new Migration Department circular.
The newspaper also said that, according to its sources, the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry had also supplied the airport authorities with a list of the hotels as they were named before 1974 and what name they operate under now.
The 35 Israeli travellers apparently managed to bypass the latest rules by complaining to their Embassy in Nicosia and were consequently allowed through.
Meanwhile that particular migration policy, reportedly, has been suspended for 15 days to be re-assessed and to inform embassy and travel agents of the latest development.
Should it be decided that the ruling will be re-enforced, travellers to South Cyprus will be warned about it in advance, Phileleftheros said.
Cyprus Weekly
