Frank and Joan's news for 25 February 2007 in Northern Cyprus

Frank and Joan's Adventures in Northern Cyprus

Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....

We have a definite NO from the UK government on direct flights to TRNC. The Department of Transport has turned down the application because the Greek Cypriot government refused to recognise Ercan as an international airport. Now why does that not surprise us too much and why does the British government refuse to recognise it's responsibilities in the history of this dispute between North and South. Now the TRNC President has ordered a top legal ream to challenge the British government decision.

Oops, the TRNC authorities have clamped down on importation from the South of the island by suggesting that customs officials at the border should check every vehicle for prohibited meat and dairy products. What they are actually doing is enforcing the Green Line Regulations, as they say that there is too much one way traffic and strictly speaking there has always been a 135 euro limit, per person, on imports across the border. Customs officials at

the major border crossing say searching every vehicle would cause chaos at the checkpoint so they have now agreed to check at least five vehicles during the day. I guess that means that it is best to cross during the very busy periods to avoid delays and vehicle searches.

Well there we are, pictured on page three, glad this isn't The Sun. What free air ticket, says the headline. Interestingly the Commercial Director says this is the first he has heard about this matter and he will be looking in to it. Strange that, he obviously does not recall my telephone conversation with him back in early December. He does however say that they always honour their commitments so hopefully the £200.00 will be coming back to the BRS, who have honoured their agreement and refunded the extra cost to us.

Oh am I ever so glad, that I told the internet provider, known as Extend, that I wanted my money back last year and went along with The Internet Club. 700 of their customers have been without an internet connection since Tuesday last and with 40 technicians working round the clock to correct the problem, they say that they will have everybody up and running again by the end of the weekend. Now I find that very strange as I don't believe that there are 40 internet technitians in TRNC. But such are the vagaries of statements here and no doubt they could always deny that was what they said. So there you go folks, a tip from me, go with the best.

We are still getting very warm weather again, for this time of the year and despite the forecast for this week being cloudy with showers, I guess that the water shortage this summer is definitely a thing that we must reckon with. There are warnings in the press for locals who continue to water everything in sight with copious quantities of water. I suppose its a bit like their attitude to litter etc, they don't have a clue.