Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) President Mehmet Ali Talat refused to board an İstanbul-Lefkoşa flight due to protests from passengers claiming that they were forced to wait for Talat to arrive in İstanbul from New York.
Coming to Turkey after a round of talks in the US on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Talat left İstanbul for the KKTC at 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning on a scheduled Cyprus Turkish Airlines (KTHY) flight. Speaking to the press before leaving for the KKTC, Talat confirmed that there was a protest but that he was not aboard the plane at the time. Later, he refused to get on the plane. “There is nothing to say. I do not know the details. I was absent during the protest, but I heard about it. Then I decided not to board the plane. The airline will assess the issue,” Talat said.
KKTC President Talat and his wife, Oya Talat, arrived in İstanbul from New York an hour late on Tuesday morning. They were scheduled to take a KTHY flight at 9 a.m. Waiting for one-and-a-half hours on the plane, passengers began protesting the Talat couple, whom they blamed for the delay.
News reports said there was also a technical problem that delayed the flight, but it was not clear whether it was the technical problem or Talat's late arrival in İstanbul that caused the delay. President Talat and his wife decided not to get on the plane at the last minute when they were informed about the protest.
01 October 2009, Thursday
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