President Ersin Tatar on Thursday accused the Greek Cypriot administration of usurping the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people at every occasion.

Speaking to the TAK news agency, Tatar said that the Greek Cypriot side had once again ignored the legal process and the TRNC’s sovereign rights when closing its airspace to Russian planes, acting as if it was the sole authority on the island.

He pointed out that the inclusion of the TRNC’s airspace in its decision to ban flights over its airspace was a gross violation of the Turkish Cypriot peoples’ rights.

President Tatar pointed out that despite the fact that Ercan airport has been operating civilian air traffic since 1975, the Greek Cypriot side, on a regular basis, claims it controls the Flight Information Region (FIR) that passes over the TRNC’s airspace.

“South Cyprus cannot control the TRNC’s airspace because it uses the Republic of Turkiye’s southern airspace,” he said, adding that the TRNC has been exercising full authority over its airspace and territorial waters since 1977.

Tatar described the attempts by the Greek Cypriot administration to exercise authority over the TRNC’s territorial waters and airspace as a futile effort.