More than three million crossings to the north so far this year

More than two million visits by foreign nationals and more than one million by Greek Cypriots were made to the north in the first five months of this year, Turkish Cypriot newspaper Halkin Sesi reported on Monday.

Citing data from the ‘tourism ministry’, Halkin Sesi said a total of 402,872 individuals arrived via air, 33,122 via sea and 1,601,119 via land.

The number of Turkish nationals arriving via air grew by 1,412 per cent compared to the previous year when arrivals were low due to the pandemic.

During the same period, the number of third country nationals entering the occupied areas via air reached 95,144 individuals, while 2,121 arrived by sea.

In addition, 65 per cent of those entering from the checkpoints are Greek Cypriots.

Between January and May 2022, a total of 1,033,953 crossings by Greek Cypriots and another 567,166 by individuals from 40 different countries were recorded.

Compared to 2021, the number of Greek Cypriots rose by 16,208 per cent and by 5,771 per cent for foreigners.

Among the 1.4 million who entered via the checkpoints, 10,188 where British nationals including those of Turkish Cypriot descent, who accounted for 2,909 crossings.

During the same period 653,330 Turkish Cypriots entered the Republic.