Sunday, 3 September 2023
An agreement has been reached with Turkish Airlines that Anadolu Jet would increase flights between Ercan and London by 2024, Prime Minister Ünal Üstel said.
Üstel, who was attending an event organised by the Turkish Cypriot business community, said that the pricing policy for airfares should be reviewed to ensure that tourists and business people can come to North Cyprus.
The prime minister pointed out the importance of strengthening and moving forward cooperation between England and TRNC and thanked the UK Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, which had brought together participants from different areas of the business world.
PM Üstel said, inter alia, the following:
“I am very happy to be in London today with my brothers, who are the pride of the Turkish Cypriot community, who have managed to stand on their own feet, and who have become the strong voice of our country in Europe.
“I want you to know that as a government, we are working seriously to build stronger bridges between our brothers living both in England and abroad and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
“We don’t just leave it at that. In our private negotiations with Turkish Airlines, we have reached an agreement that Anadolu Jet will increase its Ercan-London flights by 2024, and that the price policy will be reviewed to ensure that our compatriots and tourists can come to Ercan Airport at much more affordable prices.
“In addition, we have taken the necessary first steps to form a consortium between Turkish business people living in the UK and our business people in the TRNC to undertake a very large joint project in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
“As a first step, we will bring together the business world in England and the business people in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in our country in a very short time. I would like to give good news about both of these issues here.
“We will come together more frequently with our business people who have achieved success abroad, both in the tourism sector and in other sectors, and we will shape the future of our country with the experience and vision they have gained in the outside world.
“At this point, it is extremely important to pave the way for Turkish Cypriots living abroad to come to their homeland more easily and more frequently, to offer them economical transportation alternatives, and to use New Ercan Airport more effectively. We are also working seriously on this issue.
“I want it to be known that; The problem of every citizen living abroad is our problem, their problem is our problem. Even if they live far away from their country or homeland, each of our people here is our citizen and our responsibility towards them continues. We look at our brothers and sisters living abroad from this perspective and build all our work on this sincere understanding”.
