Syria and South Cyprus Push Agendas at Tourism Fair

When questioned about the brochures, Syrian Tourism Minister Sadullah Agha Al-Qala said that some previously unresolved issues between Turkey and Syria will be brought to the agenda in the future. The Syrian Minister emphasized that the Antakya issue was not open for discussion. He also said that the relationships should be friendly; otherwise the hostile attitudes would harm the two countries. Al-Qala said that the concession of Antakya to Turkey is a historical issue.

As for the brochure distributed by the South Cyprus booth, the expression "Inaccessible zone because of the Military occupation of Turkey" immediately catches the eye. Turkey is shown as an invader force in northern Cyprus.

Serpil Varol, a representative of the Turkish Embassy in the Paris Tourism Council, said that they were concerned by the attitudes displayed by Syria and South Cyprus and that the embassy had requested that the Fair administration force the two countries to remove the brochures. Varol disclosed that Syria had repeated the same mistake in several fairs, but this time the distribution of their map was banned as a result of the embassy’s objections. Varol described Syria’s attitude as simply "immoral".

Meanwhile, Turkey is seeing positive signs for the upcoming tourism season as streams of visitors flood the Turkish booth. The fair allows countries a chance to introduce themselves and attract potential tourists.