President of the Cyprus Shipping Council Andreas Droussiotis told reporters on Wednesday that he was hopeful Turkey could lift the embargo in Cyprus ships and aircraft as early as March.
Droussiotis was speaking at a press conference that marked the end of the biennial Maritime Cyprus Conference 2005.
Turkey blocks not only Cypus-flag ships but also those which have a Cyprus connection but may be owned by nationals of other member states, such as Germany.
The Cyprus Shipping Council has therefore been lobbying EU institutions to treat the embargo as an EU legal matter, rather than a purely political one.
Droussiotis said that since the issue of recognition of Cyprus had now been decoupled from the issue of the embargo, this improved the chances of Turkey lifting the embargo.
Speaking at the Maritime Cyprus Conference earlier this week, the European Commission Vice-President and Trade Commissioner, Jacques Barrot, was reported as saying that Turkey could not open the transport chapter until it had fully implemented the Ankara protocol, which extends the EU-Turkey customs union to all new member states, including Cyprus.
The Director of the Department of Merchant Shipping, Serious Sergiou, said that there had been “a good response from Europe”, while Droussiotiss said he had been assured by the Commission that they were expecting to see the protocol to be implemented in a matter of months, not years.
A period of six months was mentioned, which is why Droussiotis hoped that the embargo could be lifted as soon as March.
However, he indicated that while this was the hope of the Cyprus Shipping Council, in reality it could take a little longer, noting that he expected the embargo to be lifted “within 2006” and by the end of 2006 at the latest.
The Maritime Cyprus Conference was attended by over 750 people from the internatoinal shipping industry.
Cyprus Shipping Council Secretary General Thomas Kazakos said that they had had an unprecented “full house” for the whole three-day period.
The conference covered three main issues: safety and security, industrial relations and how to encourage new seafarers and the growing market for shipping finance.
