Russian tourists warned against Turkish-occupied Cyprus trips

Vice-President of the Alliance of Tourist Agents of Russia, Aleksan Mkrtchyan, has warned Russian tourists to avoid trips to Turkish occupied Cyprus.

Speaking on Govorit Moscow radio station, Mkrtchyan said that despite the fact that the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicates that (Russians) do not need to go to the northern part of Cyprus, as he referred to the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus, because it is a place not officially recognised by Russia, yet there are thousands of Russians, not hundreds, but thousands of Russians, who for some reason go to the northern part of Cyprus."

"And often this journey ends sadly. There is no support from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in those places, which we do not recognise," he said.

In specialized Russian websites, such as tourist.ru, the news appeared that the international accommodation rental hub booking.com issued a warning to tourists, who plan to travel to the Turkish occupied territories, to take into account “possible violations of human rights” in the northern part of Cyprus, but also that visitors to Cyprus must enter the Republic only through legal and approved points of entry, such as the airports of Larnaca and Pafos and the ports of Limassol, Larnaca and Pafos.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.