Cyprus-Forum.com

[miltiades]

all states have a right to defend their airspace, but given that the flights in and out of Ercan have been going on since the mid-70s they can hardly say that the aircraft was a threat if it is following the usual routes.

It is still a violation of sovereign airspace and given this fact, then Cyprus would be justified with regaining control of her airspace as recognized by ICAO.

Sure there would be an outcry of condemnation to any country that downs an airliner.
But alas, Cyprus just creates one precedent after another and our situation just gets worse and worse.

Outcry (perhaps as an absolute minimum from a country that hates Turkey more then the RoC) and if a THY aircraft an act of war.

PS not sure what you mean by "But most other countries couldn't care less about that."?

Some countries have actually ratified intercept procedures for commercial airliners which actually means that they WILL shoot down a commercial airliner if they have to. These procedures also apply to locally registered aircraft.

There would be an international outcry if one of these countries actually downs an intercepted aircraft which does not comply with intercept orders. But that country would not be concerned with the international outcry as there is bugger all the UN or ICAO can do about it, and that is a fact.

Apart from the fact that the world would see that downing an airliner, that is flying a regular route, as mass murder - we both know that RoC is not likely to do this anyway - but even if the UN and ICAO can do nothing public opinion would force other governments to act, and therefore possibly the UN and ICAO.

Let me make myself very clear.

There are some countries willing to down a commercial airliner in their airspace if it is deemed necessary and those countries, mine included, could not give a fuck about public opinion or whether you consider it mass murder.

I don't doubt that Cyprus would not do it, but this is main reason why Cyprus is in the situation it is today because Turkey knows full well that Cypriots don't have the back bone to stand up for themselves.

Those airliners flying regular routes into Tymbou are actually violating Cypriot National Airspace, so there is nothing ICAO or the UN could do if Cyprus actually had the means to start intercepting commercial airliners.

Cyprus would just be attempting to regain control of its FIR and national airspace and there is nothing illegal about that.

You do constantly talk a load of rubbish , irresponsible rubbish too. How the fuck do you think the Cypriot population at large would feel if a passenger aircraft was shot down with the loss of hundreds of innocent lives.
The Cypriots are not cold blooded murderers like the Iraqi insurgents and suicide killers. We have the tenacity and the intellectual capacity to fight a political war and achieve results that no military action could ever achieve.
You read too many war comics mate , and I tell you something it is foreign born Cypriots such as you and VP who are out of touch with reality.
Have you considered how terribly wrong you were sometime back when you supported war as an option ?
The recent ECJ judgement proves how effective a political war with the support of the EU and the entire international community can be in our struggle to reunite our island and remove the occupying forces. I hope you have learned something , that you dont have to turn the north into a "charcoal grey " , your words, to achieve our goal.
Grow up and at least try and be consistent .

[YFred]

I don't disagree that every country have the right to defend it's airspace against threats but an aircraft flying in to/out of Ercan would not be considered a threat by the rest of the world.

Given the the DPRK only threatens to shoot down civilian aircraft, and the only aircraft shoot downs in recent times were at the height of the cold war, by accident or by terrorist groups, LTTE for instance, and not by modern European states the act of doing so would be a "massive risk" and would almost certainly "backfire"on the RoC. The ROC would be viewed as a terrorist state, even the Taliban did not shoot down civilian aircraft, and would make partition permanent.

And by the Americans in the gulf few years before 9/11

[AWE]

and KAL 007 by the USSR, both were accident or mistaken identity. Flights in and out of Ercan cannot be mistaken as they have been going on for 35 years, therefore any targeting of said flights by the RoC would count as at the very least casus belli and terrorism by most.

[observer]

You don't think that they have started practising already do you?

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.ph ... &archive=1

[Paphitis]

and KAL 007 by the USSR, both were accident or mistaken identity. Flights in and out of Ercan cannot be mistaken as they have been going on for 35 years, therefore any targeting of said flights by the RoC would count as at the very least casus belli and terrorism by most.

Let me ask you this. If a Turkish Airliner was shot down for whatever legitimate reason, in the US or Australia for instance, would Turkey regard this as another Casus Belli and would the world consider the US or AUS a terrorist country?

I don't doubt that Turkey may view such an act as a Casus Belli, but there is a distinct possibility that Turkey would be forbidden from doing anything. But I could be wrong about that big time.

Another question I wish to ask is how could Cyprus be deemed a Terrorist state if it chose to assert her legitimate authority over her national airspace? Why is there 1 rule for US and others and another rule for Cyprus?

What you say may be correct just because of the mere fact that Cyprus has legitimized commercial travel into Tymbou back in 75, and has now set the precedent from which there is no turning back.

[Paphitis]

Miltiades Wrote:

How the fuck do you think the Cypriot population at large would feel if a passenger aircraft was shot down with the loss of hundreds of innocent lives.

How would you feel if the UK decided to shoot down a passenger aircraft?

The UK is fully prepared to do so if necessary.

[AWE]

and KAL 007 by the USSR, both were accident or mistaken identity. Flights in and out of Ercan cannot be mistaken as they have been going on for 35 years, therefore any targeting of said flights by the RoC would count as at the very least casus belli and terrorism by most.

Let me ask you this. If a Turkish Airliner was shot down for whatever legitimate reason, in the US or Australia for instance, would Turkey regard this as another Casus Belli and would the world consider the US or AUS a terrorist country?

I don't doubt that Turkey may view such an act as a Casus Belli, but there is a distinct possibility that Turkey would be forbidden from doing anything. But I could be wrong about that big time.

Another question I wish to ask is how could Cyprus be deemed a Terrorist state if it chose to assert her legitimate authority over her national airspace? Why is there 1 rule for US and others and another rule for Cyprus?

What you say may be correct just because of the mere fact that Cyprus has legitimized commercial travel into Tymbou back in 75, and has now set the precedent from which there is no turning back.

The ROC has the right to self defence, this is a given. But no modern state has deliberately targeted a civilian airliner the only organisations that have are terrorists, so to do would put that state in the same category as the others that have done so - what ever the rights of that state short of preventing another 9/11.

So if this terrible event were to happen and Turkey were to use it as casus belli so could the RoC defeat at RoT attack? as they are will have few friends at that moment in time and not many would want to touch them with a barge pole.

[wallace]

Bullshit discussion. Nothing like shooting a civilian airliner out of the sky will ever take place. Plonkers

[Jerry]

Bullshit discussion. Nothing like shooting a civilian airliner out of the sky will ever take place. Plonkers

Just about the most sensible post in this thread. Just imagine the headline "200 holidaymakers shot down over Cyprus", it would do wonders for the already struggling economy borth north and south.

[Sotos]

What Turkey would do if a Cyprus Airways plane flew over Turkey on the way to Moscow?