A small number of relatives of the families of the 19 people who remain missing after a ferry sank off the coast of Kyrenia on Sunday were on Thursday afternoon taken by bus to Nicosia to meet Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz.
Yilmaz had arrived at the north’s Ercan (Tymbou) airport shortly before the buses arrived at the new port of Kyrenia.
It had initially been expected that he would visit the port, where the families of the missing have been waiting for news of their loved ones’ fate for five consecutive days, but it was later decided that a small number of those waiting would instead be taken to meet Yilmaz at the Turkish embassy in Nicosia.
Around 25 people boarded the bus, with the authorities ensuring that at least one family member of each of the 19 missing was on board before it departed for Nicosia.
Yilmaz will be joined at the embassy by Turkish ambassador in Nicosia Ali Murat Basceri. He is expected to visit Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman at his official residence later in the day.
The ferry capsized shortly after setting sail from Kyrenia for the Turkish port of Tasucu early on Sunday afternoon, with 259 passengers and eight crew having been on board when it departed from the port. Thus far, nine people are confirmed to have died as a result of the accident.
Its captain, Mustafa Oz, and eight others remain in custody.
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