Works set to begin to upgrade Turkish Cypriot football pitch

Works and renovations have begun on the Cetinkaya football pitch located in the buffer zone, after the north struck an agreement with Unficyp, reports said on Tuesday.

The Cetinkaya field, which is located down the road from Ledra Palace in the buffer zone, will be turned over to the team after the works are completed, and is set to be named Taksim field, ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu said.

“The United Nations delegation and especially the head of mission Colin Stewart, continued to be in contact in good faith with us and especially with the presidency. In the end an agreement was reached and today the work began. There was also work that needed to be done previously, which we completed. All kinds of measures have been taken; every aspect of the matter has been evaluated. A full agreement has been reached with the United Nations,” the PIO quoted him as saying.

The ‘foreign minister’ added that the entire discussion took a bit longer to hash out the details as there were ‘very small points’ that needed to be addressed.

He added that one small issue remains, which is that of a fence behind the walls of old town, which the Turkish Cypriot side wants to be made higher so that balls don’t fall on the other side.

Some of the funds to renovate the field will be coming from Turkey, and the pitch will be made certified FIFA Quality, with synthetic turf and a fence. The dimensions of the field will be 52×98 metres.

Works are expected to be completed within the month.

Established in 1930, as Nicosia Turkish Sports Club (LTSK) and renamed in 1949 as Cetinkaya Turk SK after merging with another club bearing the same name, the club was one of the founding members of the Cypriot First Division in 1934, the sole Turkish Cypriot team in the league (with seven Greek Cypriot teams: AEL Limassol, Trust, Olympiakos Nicosia, Aris Limassol, APOEL, Anorthosis Famagusta, and EPA Larnaca).