Turkish Envoy Disagrees With FG Over Northern Cyprus Crisis

Ambassador of Turkey to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayraktar has refuted the  claims made by the chairman of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who recently warned Nigerian citizens especially students to shun northern Turkey for security  and other reasons.

The Turkish envoy in statement entitled “open letter to Ms Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman, CEO of NIDCOM” made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday, said the claims made by the NIDCOM boss was a misinformation about the real issues in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

He pointed out that Ms. Dabiri-Erewa’s claim that ‘the TRNC is not safe for Nigerians, the killings took place on a daily basis and Nigerians should think twice before going to the Northern Cyprus’ was false.

He again denied this claim saying there are currently 50,561 international students from 145 countries and various teaching staff from 65 different countries, in the TRNC.

The NIDCOM boss had told reporters during a briefing that over 20 Nigerians have been killed over the years in the country and the Nigerian government could not do anything about it diplomatically because Northern Cyprus is not recognized by the international community as a country.

However, part of the statement from Turkish envoy read: “I have read the recent statement by Ms. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairman/CEO of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), warning Nigerian citizens against travelling to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).