United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
Security Council
3 July 2003
Original: English
|
General Assembly
Fifty-seventh session
Agenda item 31 of the preliminary list*
Question of
Cyprus
|
Security Council
Fifty-eighth
year |
Letter dated
30 June 2003 from the Charge d'affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of
Cyprus
to the United Nations addressed to the
Secretary-General
Upon instructions from my
Government and further to the letter dated 19 March 2003, I have the honour to
draw your attention to new violations of the flight information region (FIR) of
Nicosia and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus by military aircraft
of the Turkish Air Force recorded on 17 and 19 March, on 7, 14, 16, 25 April, on
5, 15, 17 May and on 5, 16, 19, 20, 23 and 27 June 2003, as follows:
On
17 March 2003
, one (1) Turkish military aircraft of unknown type entered
the Nicosia FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the
national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
.
On 19 March 2003, one (1) B-200 Turkish military
aircraft took off from the illegal airport of Lefkoniko in the occupied area of
the Republic of Cyprus, where it had landed two days before, violating
international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic
of Cyprus over the area of Mesaoria and before exiting towards the FIR of
Ankara.
On
19 March 2003
, four (4) F-16 Turkish military aircraft, coming from the
FIR of
Ankara
in one formation, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating
international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
before exiting in a westerly direction.
On
7 April 2003
, one (1) C-160 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia
FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national airspace
of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, flying over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the
illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
. The aircraft departed on the same day.
On
14 April 2003
, one (1) B-200 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia
FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national airspace
of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, flying over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the
illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
. The aircraft departed on the same day.
On
16 April 2003
, one (1) C-160 Turkish military aircraft, coming from the
FIR of
Ankara
, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating international air
traffic regulations, before going back to the FIR of
Ankara
.
On
25 April 2003
, one (1) C-130 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia
FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national airspace
of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, flying over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the
illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
. The aircraft departed on the same day.
On
5 May 2003
, four (4) Turkish military aircraft (two F-4 and two RF-4)
in one formation entered the Nicosia FIR, violating international air traffic
regulations and the national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, before exiting towards the FIR of
Ankara
.
On
15 May 2003
, eight (8) F-4 Turkish military aircraft in two formations,
coming from the FIR of
Ankara
, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating international air
traffic regulations and the national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, before exiting in a westerly direction.
On
17 May 2003
, one (1) Turkish military aircraft of unknown type, entered
the Nicosia FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the
national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, flying over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the
illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
.
On
5 June 2003
, one (1) UH-1H Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia
FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national airspace
of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
and after a while at the illegal
airport
of
Krini
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
.
On
16 June 2003
, one (1) B-200 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia
FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national airspace
of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
, from where it departed on the same day.
On
19 June 2003
, one (1) C-650 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia
FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national airspace
of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
over the area of the
Cape
of
Apostolos Andreas
, before exiting in a south-easterly direction, from where it
returned on the same day.
On
19 June 2003
, one (1) CN-235 and one CUGAR Turkish military aircraft
entered the Nicosia FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the
national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, as follows:
(a)
The CN-235 aircraft took off from the illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, where it had landed on
17 June 2003
and flew over the maritime area of Kyrenia on a search and
rescue mission, before landing at the same airport.
(b)
The CUGAR aircraft coming from the FIR of Ankara entered the Nicosia FIR,
flying over Mesaoria, before landing initially at the illegal airport of
Lefkoniko and then at the illegal airport of Krini in the occupied area of the
Republic of Cyprus. On the same day, the aircraft took off and flying over the
area of Mesaoria, returned to the illegal
airport
of
Krini
.
On 20 June 2003, one (1) CN-235 Turkish military
aircraft took off from the illegal airport of Lefkoniko in the occupied area of
the Republic of Cyprus, where it had landed on 17 June 2003 and, violating
international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic
of Cyprus over the area of Mesaoria, exited towards the FIR of Ankara.
On
23 June 2003
, one (1) CN-235 Turkish military aircraft entered the
Nicosia FIR, violating international air traffic regulations and the national
airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
over the area of Mesaoria, before landing at the illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
, from where it departed on the same day.
On
27 June 2003
, one (1) Turkish military aircraft of unknown type took off
from the illegal
airport
of
Lefkoniko
in the occupied area of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, violating international air traffic regulations and the
national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
over the area of Mesaoria, before exiting towards the FIR of
Ankara
.
On behalf of the Government of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, I strongly protest all the above-mentioned violations of
the Nicosia FIR and the national airspace of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
, which violate international law as well as Security Council
resolutions on
Cyprus
, and call for their immediate cessation. It is hoped that
the Government of Turkey will respect the sovereignty of the
Republic
of
Cyprus
and refrain from further violations. The Government of
Turkey should also heed the appeals of the international community to change its
own negative stance and exercise its influence on the Turkish-Cypriot
leadership, in order to contribute to the efforts to find a just and functional
solution to the Cyprus problem, on the basis of United Nations resolutions.
I should be grateful if you would have the present
letter circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 31 of
the preliminary list, and of the Security Council.
(Signed)
George Kasoulides
Chargé d’affaires a.i.
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