86 Turkish Cypriots now successfully evacuated from Gaza (Updated)

A total of 86 Turkish Cypriots have been successfully evacuated out of Gaza since October 8, the undersecretary of the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ Mustafa Lakadamyali told the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday.

Lakadamyali explained that the 86 applied to the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ for assistance, and then passed through Gaza’s Rafah border crossing into Egypt. They then travelled to the country’s capital Cairo, before being flown to Istanbul.

All 86 evacuees are currently being housed in guesthouses and hotels in Istanbul, and are being provided with food and board by Turkey’s Disaster and emergency management directorate (Afad).

Lakadamyali said the north’s consulate general in Istanbul is in contact with all 86, and that no requests have been made so far by any of them to be transferred to Cyprus.

He added that so far, applications have been made to the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ for the evacuation of 343 Turkish Cypriots and their first-degree relatives, and that upon receipt of their details, the ‘ministry’ passes them on to the Turkish foreign ministry.

“We are continuing our efforts to complete the evacuation of all our citizens in Gaza safely and as soon as possible,” he said.

Lakadamyali’s comments to the Cyprus Mail came after the question of where the Turkish Cypriots evacuated from Gaza since violence began in the area in October were had been raised on Tuesday by a Turkish Cypriot politician.

In a statement on social media, minor party MDP leader Buray Buskuvutcu had criticised the ‘foreign ministry’ for being “insensitive” regarding the matter of Turkish Cypriots being stranded in or evacuated from Gaza.

He said the ‘ministry’ “has not been doing adequate work”, and said a crisis desk should have been set up to deal with the matter.

He also called on ‘foreign minister’ Tahsin Ertugruloglu to “share clear information” on the matter, and asked “how many of these people came to this country? What is their situation?”

Tuesday’s figures represent a more than threefold increase in the total number of Turkish Cypriot evacuees from Gaza compared to the last official update.

That update, issued on November 20, saw the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ announce that a total of 27 Turkish Cypriots had been evacuated into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing the previous day.

A month prior, on October 19, the north’s ‘foreign ministry’ had confirmed that 150 Turkish Cypriots and their relatives had been evacuated from Israel and Palestine.

On the same day, Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz said there were 104 Turkish Cypriots inside Gaza.

More recently, on December 13, Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Oncu Keceli said a total of 1,047 Turks, Turkish Cypriots, and their relatives had been evacuated from Gaza since October 8.

However, the Turkish foreign ministry at the time turned down the Cyprus Mail’s requests for clarification regarding how many of the 1,047 were Turkish Cypriots.