Ankara seeks air space for north Cyprus

Turkey, in its policy of questioning the eastern limits of the Athens Flight Information Region apparently in order to expand its own authority into the Aegean and Southeastern Mediterranean, has now begun trying to establish national airspace for the breakaway state that it supports in northern Cyprus, according to Greece’s Flash.gr news site. This would be at the expense of the recognized government in Nicosia. According to Flash, Greece’s permanent representation at the European Union has sent a document concerning the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot state’s issuing a notice to airmen (NOTAM) which announced that the new international air traffic control system that is to come into effect on January 24 will also apply to the breakaway state’s «national air space.» After the Cypriot government protested, Eurocontrol said that Nicosia was responsible for its airspace. But, indirectly, it indicated that it believes there is a loose end in the region, saying the new air traffic control system provides a solution to the problem of controlling traffic in the area because, despite Eurocontrol’s efforts, there has been no written agreement between Ankara and Nicosia. Officials in Athens have seen these moves by Ankara as an effort to complicate the Cyprus issue in light of the island’s impending accession to the EU. Since then, the Tillya Tepe finds have been wrapped in rumor, acquiring a quasi-legendary status. Recent reports agreed that the hoard was once in the vault. In one of his last interviews before being assassinated this year, Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massod confirmed this but said the Taleban – who looted and destroyed most of the Kabul Museum’s exhibits – had gained entry.