Cyprus on its own over Syria ferry dispute

WITH THE government scrambling to put a stop to the ferry service between Syria and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot regime, reports yesterday suggested Nicosia was on its own and could not expect any help from the EU.

Politis quoted sources at the office of EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn as saying the use of occupied Famagusta port was not illegal under international law and that the issue was a bilateral one between Cyprus and Syria.In addition, they said the designation of Famagusta port as illegal was a unilateral decision by the Cyprus government after 1974 and could not affect Syria as far as international law was concerned.

The EU would not intervene, they said, because neither the EU nor the UN had ever imposed an embargo on ports in the north.Only direct flights to the north can be considered illegal since the issue is governed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation under the Chicago Convention. The same rules do not apply under maritime law.

Only the issue of trade is applicable as far as the EU is concerned, and that relates to tariffs, not to the actual trading out of the ports in the north. The reason most foreign ships do not dock in the north is due to the ban imposed by the Cyprus Republic, which would arrest and charge the captain of any vessel who visited the north and went on to dock in Limassol or any other legal port.

Since Limassol is a major port in the region, most foreign ships comply.In an attempt to persuade Syria to put a stop to the twice-weekly ferry services, the honorary president of socialist EDEK Vassos Lyssarides will fly to Damascus on Saturday as an envoy of the government.

“If everything goes well, I will be in Damascus on October 20,” Lyssarides said.“These issues need careful handling and the common aim is to lift any negative consequences and to establish the traditionally friendly relations that existed and we believe still exist between Syria and Cyprus,” Lyssarides said.