NORTHERN CYPRUS: LATEST WEDGE IN ISRAEL-TURKEY RELATIONS

Tert.am
16:56 â~@¢ 09.02.10

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has curtailed the advertisements of
a company that offers tourism services to the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (KKTC), reports The Jerusalem Post.

According to the report by the Israeli daily, the Green Solution
company filed a suit against Artara, a company that specializes in
industrial fairs to promote economic activities in various sectors
and which is due to hold a fair on Mediterranean tourism, called the
International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) 2010, on Tuesday and
Wednesday at the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center in Tel Aviv.

Green Solution, which runs ferry service from Haifa to Famagusta
(Gazimagusa in Turkish) in northern Cyprus three times a week and
offers hotel accommodations in Famagusta and Kyrenia (Girne in
Turkish), signed up for a 20-square-meter booth at the fair to
advertise its services, the daily reported on Monday.

On the same day, an employee of Artara informed the Green Solution
company that "in view of the sensitivity of the Cyprus issue in the
fair, and in accordance with special directives which we received from
the Foreign Ministry," it would not be allowed to mention the fact
that the services provided were to "northern Cyprus" or to provide the
names of hotels, the daily said, noting that Artara also demanded to
see the advertisements that would be displayed two days before the
opening of the fair.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson, approached by The Jerusalem
Post, said that Israel did not recognize northern Cyprus as a separate
entity, but did not prevent the private sector from maintaining
commercial and tourism ties with the inhabitants of that area. The
spokesperson suggested that this long-standing policy had nothing to
do with relations between Israel and Turkey.