Azeri officials in north, but no sign of direct flight
By Jean Christou

Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
July 19 2005

A GROUP of eight Azeri officials arrived in the north at the weekend
but an expected flight from Azerbaijan yesterday failed to materialise.

The delegation, consisting of eight parliamentarians, arrived on
Sunday in the north via Istanbul, in order to attend the celebrations
of the Turkish invasion, due to he held tomorrow.

Hadi Recep, a deputy in the delegation, in a statement in Turkey said
that it was the first time that a delegation from Azerbaijan visited
the ‘TRNC’ and added that it was an important step for them.

Two more delegations from Azerbaijan are expected to visit the north.
The first of these two visits is being organised by the Azeri Ministry
of Economic Development between July 22 and 27. The second will be
a group of businessmen, members of the Union of Azerbaijan-Turkey
Businessmen, due to visit the north between July 28 and 31 to assess
the possibility of investment as well as the bilateral trade.

Reports in the Turkish pres yesterday also referred to the direct
flight that was to be operated between Azerbaijan and the north by
private airline IM-AIR. Sources in the north said the flight that
had been due in yesterday would not be flying in after all.

Referring to the current visit by the Azeri delegation, Turkish Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan said it was the first step on the road to
recognition. “I believe that more visits will be paid in the future,”
he said. “We have heard about this first step they are taking. We
are happy about that. We thank our Azerbaijani brothers very much.”

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said the Greek Cypriot side
was rumoured to have threatened retaliation by organising flights to
Nagorno-Karabakh. “But they will fail,” he said.

Talat said this was just the beginning and that he expected the US to
be next to take the step. “After the Azeri, next in line is America,”
Talat said.

“This will happen eventually. The Greek Cypriot side is so tough,
it does not pay any attention to the world. With EU membership,
it acquired an advantage and it thinks that it can hold on this
advantage without making any opening. Not only the USA, but Israel,
Iran and the EU member countries will start direct flights.”