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Letter written by Reşat Çağlar, the TRNC Representative to New York, to the UN Secretary-General on 29 November 2004.

Upon instructions from my Government, and further to our letter dated 3 September 2004 (A/58/885-S/2004/720, annex), I have the honour to refer to the letter dated 10 November 2004, addressed to you by the Greek Cypriot representative in New York and circulated as a document of the General Assembly and of the Security Council (A/59/564-S/2004/893), which yet again contains allegations of violations of the "airspace of the Republic" and "of the flight information region (FIR) of Nicosia", and to bring to your kind attention the following.

In response to such false and pretentious allegations, I wish, once again, to reiterate that flights within the sovereign airspace of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus take place with the full knowledge and consent of the appropriate authorities of the State over which the Greek Cypriot Administration in South Cyprus has no jurisdiction or right of say whatsoever. Furthermore, it should be emphasized that allegation of so-called violations of the flight information region or violations of air traffic regulations are invalid, as the civil aviation authority of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the only competent authority to provide air traffic and aeronautical information services.

As stated in our previous letters, such allegations are based on the false and illegitimate claim that the sovereignty of the Greek Cypriot Administration extends over the whole island, including the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This claim by the Greek Cypriot side is divorced from the existing realities in Cyprus, namely, the existence of two independent States, each exercising sovereignty and jurisdiction within and above its respective territory on the island.

Attempts by the Greek Cypriot representatives, through often-repeated false claims, to confer legitimacy upon all illegal administration will be futile as long as the Turkish Cypriot people refuse to bow to its writ. What would indeed be conducive to a better climate on the island would be for the Greek Cypriot side to stop arrogating to itself the rights and responsibilities it does not legally have and to cease all hostilities towards the Turkish Cypriot people.

It has been more than six months since you, in the report on your mission of good offices in Cyprus of 28 May 2004 (S/2004/137), called on the international community to "eliminate unnecessary restrictions and barriers that have the effect of isolating the Turkish Cypriots and impeding their development". The Greek Cypriot Administration, which was required to heed this call and take steps accordingly, has instead been pursuing an all-out campaign in every forum against any effort aimed at giving Turkish Cypriots breathing space. Its current blockage of the adoption by the European Council of the Commission's financial aid and direct trade regulations stands witness to this reality. The continuation of such hostile policies of the Greek Cypriot Administration clearly indicates that the Greek Cypriot Administration has not moved even an inch from its maximalist policies vis-à-vis a settlement in Cyprus, which had led to the rejection of your settlement plan by the Greek Cypriot side on 24 April 2004.

I should be grateful if the text of the present letter could be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 29, and of the Security Council.