United Nations                                                                

          

General Assembly                         Distr.: General     

Security Council                            21 August 2003                    

                                                                           Original: English

Letter dated 20 August 2003 from the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Upon instructions from my Government and further to the letter dated 30 June 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 3, 4, 17 to 22 and 28 to 30 July and on 7, 13, 16 and 18 August 2003, as follows:

          On 3 July 2003 , six (6) F-16 Turkish military aircraft coming from the FIR of Ankara in one formation, entered the FIR of Nicosia from the north-westerly direction, violating international air traffic regulations, before exiting towards a westerly direction.

          On 4 July 2003, one (1) C-650 Gulfstream Turkish military aircraft, coming from a south-easterly direction entered the Nicosia FIR, flew over the Cape of Apostolos Andreas in the occupied area of Cyprus, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus before exiting towards the FIR of Ankara.

          On 17 July 2003 , one (1) C-160 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the 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 . The aircraft departed on the same day.

          On 18 July 2003, four (4) F-16 and four (4) F-4 Turkish military aircraft, coming from the FIR of Ankara in two formations, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus over the Cape of Apostolos Andreas in the occupied part of Cyprus, carrying out two (2) east-west transits, at a southerly location of Mount Pentadaktylos in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, before exiting towards the FIR of Ankara.

          On 18 July 2003 , one (1) C-130 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus , flying over Mesaoria, before landing at the illegal airport of Tymbou , in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus , from where it departed on the same day.

          On 18 and 19 July 2003 , one (1) C-130 and one (1) BE-20 Turkish military aircraft respectively, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus over the occupied area of Mesaoria. The C-130 landed at the illegal airport of Tymbou , from where it departed on the same day. The BE-20 landed at the illegal airport of Lefkoniko in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus , where it remained.

          On 20 July 2003 , nineteen (19) [NF-5, F-16, F-4 and one C-130] Turkish military aircraft coming from the FIR of Ankara , entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus , as follows:

A.      Ten (10) NF-5 Turkish military aircraft flew in two formations over the occupied areas of Kyrenia and Karpasia, before landing at the illegal airport of Tymbou . Seven (7) of these aircraft took off in the evening hours, flying over the sea area of Kyrenia in a flight demonstration, before landing at the same airport, where they remained.

B.      Four (4) F-16 and four (4) F-4 Turkish military aircraft flew over the occupied areas of Kyrenia, Mesaoria, Karpasia and Famagusta, and participated in a parade at the occupied area of Kioneli. After leaving the Nicosia FIR, they departed towards the FIR of Ankara .

C.      One (1) C-130, flying over the occupied area of Karpasia, landed at the illegal airport of Tymbou , where it remained.

          On 21 July 2003 , ten (10) NF-5 and two (2) C-130 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus , as follows:

A.      The ten (10) NF-5 aircraft, in two formations, took off from the illegal airport of Tymbou (where they had landed on 20 July), violating the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus over the occupied areas of Kyrenia, Mesaoria and Karpasia, before departing towards the FIR of Ankara .

B.      One (1) C-130, coming from the FIR of Ankara , flying over the occupied area of Karpasia, landed at the illegal airport of Lefkoniko , from where it departed on the same day towards the FIR of Ankara .

C.      The other C-130 took off from the illegal airport of Tymbou (where it had landed the previous day) and departed towards the FIR of Ankara .

          On 22 July 2003 , one (1) C-130 and one (1) BE-20 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus , as follows:

A.      The BE-20 aircraft took off from the illegal airport of Lefkoniko (where it had landed on 19 July), violating the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus , flew over the occupied areas of Kyrenia, Mesaoria and Karpasia, before exiting towards the FIR of Ankara .

B.      The C-130 aircraft coming from the FIR of Ankara , flying over the occupied area of Karpasia, landed at the illegal airport of Tymbou , from where it departed later on the same day in a reverse direction.

          On 22 July 2003 , one (1) C-130 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus flying over the occupied area of Mesaoria, before landing at the illegal airport of Tymbou , from where it departed on the same day.

          On 28 July 2003 , four (4) F-16 Turkish military aircraft flying in one formation, coming from a north-westerly direction violated the international air traffic regulations, before exiting towards the FIR of Ankara .

          On 29 July 2003, one (1) Turkish military aircraft unknown type, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations and the national airspace of the Republic of Cyprus, flying over the occupied area of Kyrenia on a fire extinguishing mission, landed at the illegal airport of Krini in the occupied area of the Republic of Cyprus, from where it departed on the same day.

          On 30 July 2003 , one (1) C-130 Turkish military aircraft entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the 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 , from where it departed on the same day.

          On 7 August 2003 , one (1) Cugar Turkish military aircraft entered the FIR of Nicosia , violating the 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 , where it remained.

          On 13 August 2003 , four (4) F-16 Turkish military aircraft, coming in one formation from an easterly direction, entered the Nicosia FIR, violating the international air traffic regulations before departing towards the FIR of Ankara .

          On 16 August 2003 , two (2) B-200 Turkish military aircraft entered the FIR of Nicosia , violating the 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 . One of the aircraft departed on the next day.

          On 18 August 2003 , four (4) F-16 Turkish military aircraft coming from the FIR of Ankara , entered the FIR of Nicosia in one formation, violating the international air traffic regulations, before exiting towards a westerly direction.

          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 restraint from further violations. The Government of Turkey should also heed the appeals of the international community, change its 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 54, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Andreas D. Mavroyiannis
Ambassador
Permanent Representative

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