The daughter of a British woman who died in Kyrenia in April is accusing a Greek Cypriot funeral home in the South of “mistreatment” while also blaming her insurance company and government for subjecting her to “vile behaviour.”
Hayley Hannan has launched an online petition calling on insurance companies to recognise the North as a legal entity, following her mother’s death in Kyrenia and her ordeal trying to cut through red tape between the two divided communities.
Her online petition on change.org – “Lynda’s Law” is demanding that English Insurance companies recognise North Cyprus.
Lynda Ann Dawson (62) from Liverpool died in Kyrenia in April, with Turkish Cypriot officials who conducted the postmortem offering to repatriate the body through Turkey within five days.
But her UK-based insurance company told the woman that her mother’s body had to be transferred through the south, where officials in South Cyprus would conduct a second postmortem against the family’s wishes.
Two embalming certificates
“They held her body from the 18th until 28th April with little or no contact and left me alone in a foreign land scared with no one to turn to. To date, I have two death certificates and two embalming certificates, one in Turkish with the correct date of death and one in Greek with the 18th!” she wrote online.
Mrs Hannan also accused insurance company representatives of toeing the line of the division in Cyprus between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the non-recognised TRNC in the north.
She also said one of the Greek Cypriot undertakers told her they had to go through the south because of EU regulations.
“The Turks will mistreat her and her body will be refused at Manchester Airport, he also said before collecting my mother’s body,” she wrote.
She is calling for legislation to circumvent political red tape.
In the petition, the woman also pointed a finger at the UK’s Home Office for subjecting her “to this vile behaviour” and the insurance company that “found the cheapest hell hole” with no contact.
Mrs Hannan said “this situation cannot happen to another European family. I want my mother to finally rest in peace and I want the law changing, I think Lynda’s Law is the answer.”
“All insurance companies should recognise North Cyprus regardless of their political status and they should all have a Turkish Cypriot representative ready to deal with these situations,” she added.
The company has responded to Lynda’s daughter over her concerns and complaint, telling her that there was only one provider in the North and their international partners in the South did not work with them “because the quality of the repatriations in their experience are not to the standard of most European funeral directors.”
Kathimerini
