Thousands of Azerbaijani tourists are heading for the Northern Cyprus from next month as part of a discount deal that will see the country competing with Turkey`s southern summer hotspots.

The tourists will be aboard a 219 seat Airbus-319 on Tueasdays and Fridays, stopping to refuel at Adana before arriving at Ercan Airport.

Tourist representatives say that the North Cyprus offers ideal conditions to compete with the resorts of Antalya, Bodrum and Marmaris.

According to representative of DMG Cyprus Company, Bora Ozgen, North Cyprus offers more useful conditions on the back of Turkey.

“As a result of incidents in Egypt and Tunusia, the whole world comes to Antalya. That`s why the prices in Turkey are very expensive. Besides, there are placement problems in Antalya`s hotels.”

North Cyprus Restur agency director Rasmiya Janaltay said the North Cyprus also had casinos as well: “There are more than enough casinos here,” he said.

TRNC tourism ministry under-secretary, Shahp Ashipoglu, said North Cyprus offered ideal conditions for receiving Azerbaijani tourists:

“Hotels, nature, cuisine and especially cost-effective prices. We believe that Azerbaijani tourists will appreciate it,” he said.

Meanwhile Ercan Airport has started a new system to prevent congestion in the arrivals and departures halls.

The Interior Affairs Ministry has separated the arrivals and depertures into three section – `TRNC`, `Republic of Turkey` and `others`.

Cabinet spokesman and Interior and Local Administrations Minister Nazim Cavusoglu said that this will save passengers 30 minutes time spent in queues.

Optic sensors will also be available soon to read people`s passports and IDs, bringing the TRNC into line with other modern countries

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The North Cyprus Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature (Kuskor) held its first bird watching field trip last Saturday, raising 325 TL for the organisation.

The trip saw members and guests visit several spots in the TRNC on “flight path to europe”., and ended the excursion at a traditional Cypriot restaurant in Ginyeli.

Brain Little, MBE, was the expert guide for the day. He has been bird watching for more than 60 years. Falcons, Marsh, harriers, Cetti’s warblers, green dippers, dabchicks and many other type of bird were sighed during the day.

Further trips are planned, and people wishing to register their interest in taking part should e-mail info@ kuskor’org, or wisit the society’s website at www.kuskor.org/en/home

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Besides the preservation of state and private woodlands which cover 25% of the island’s area, the protection of individual trees or proves is possible through the issuing of special orders by the Town Planning and Housing Department .

This can be done by either the owner of the property on which the tree(s) stand or a concerned party such as a local authority sending a letter to the Director of Town Planning Department.

The letter then asks the Forestry  Department to prepare a report for the consideration of Town Planning.

There is a firm practice on the part of the  Forestry department to seek the consent of the owner for a preservation order concerning his property. Where property development gets in the way, advice and guidance may be offered to incorporate an important tree in the project.

A case in  point is Cyprus ‘ oldest surviving 800-year old olive tree an Anglisides village, where a private house has been built seven metres from it. But even where a preservation order is not issued, the tree still enjoys protection  under the legislation requiring a permit by the Forestry Department for any interference.  A new batch of some 34 preservation orders for individual trees and eight for groves accumulated in 2010 are expected to come into force early this year.

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The 6^th Tepebasi Tulip Festival draws The Crowds

The small village on the hill near Camlibel(Mirtu) that is Tepebasi(Yorgoz) was overwhelmed with visitors last weekend that had arrived in droves to witness the 6^th tepebasi Tulip Festival. There was arranged sightseeing visits to the nearby fields included in the programme which were a blaze of colour emanating from the locally grown tulips. The village school playground was the focus for activities including local traditional folk dance groups, food stalls, painting exhibitions and even a wicker basket making display. Saturday saw the Kibris Line Dance Association perform to an appreciative audience and on Sunday it was the turn of the recently formed Phoenix Line Dance Club to entertain the masses. Phoenix club founders Steve and Denise Bisson  commented:”it was a real honour for us to be asked to perform some of our dance routines at Tepebasi(Yorgoz), the display team consisting of eight members of our club performed a total of six dances of which three were performed in “contra lines”-we feel sure that this is the first time that contra lines have been performed in public in the TRNC- contra lines differ from the normal line dance routines(which are carried out in”normal” straight lines), I assume `contra` means contradictory in that the performers dance in lines opposite each other and as you saw, we passed through each others’ lines-not as easy as it looks as you have to ignore the person in front of you when they are going in the opposite direction!”The`Dance for peace` was also performed by the Bi-communal Folkloric Dance Group of Cyprus which has been together since 2001 at their headquarters next to the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia(Lefkosa) and they have performed the dance at many festivals since. The director of the group Contsteuliel Kypandraeu commented: “our group consists of over eighty members who meet up each week in Nicosia to practice and we have a 50/50 split between Greek and Turkish Cypriots who all wish to promote peace. We are very happy to be performing here today.

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Alevkayasi Trig Point-North Cyprus

A very enjoyable forest walk, which wanders off the beaten track onto alpine meadows for the odd kilometre before returning back Alevkayasi.

As previously promised, this week sees us return to the sleepy, forested  hamlet of Alevkayasi to the east for another walk in the pine forest but this with a few soft climbs added. The easiest way to get there is to drive eastwards from Girne(Kyrenia) towards Catalkoy, turning right at the Acapulco junction and heading uphill to the crest of the Besparmak Mountains where you turn left at the log cabin restaurant and follow the single tracked metalled road eastward for 8,3km to a large Y junction with a big white board in the centre proclaiming `Ermeni Manastiri` or Armenian Monastery. Turn right here and follow the road south-eastward downhill for 150m or so into the centre of Alevkayasi and park anywhere off the road.

You will find a convenient Nature Trail notice board on the left of the road just before the cafe ahead which will help you to orientate yourself.

With your back to the notice board follow the small tarmac road southwards towards Nicosia for 10m, with the village cafe on your left until you see a huge white sing on your right proclaiming  ` Alevkayasi Aile Restaurant & Creditwest` Turn right/west here onto flat , open ground in the pine forest which houses two decrepit concrete basketball hoops and you will see a wide , rocky track rising very slightly uphill in from of you which you should follow. After 100m another track shoots off to the right but you continue ahead for another 50m until you hit the main road and your track curves hard left/south again, becoming rocky as it rises gently away from the road for 100m or so before it then curves right/west then levels out with high ground and rocks on your right and low ground down to your left and is very easy underfoot. After 600m you arrive at a large clearing with another track heading off right/north marked by a prominent yellow the junction (Point A). Go straight on here and you now have a high feature on your right and the ground sloping away to your left and after 300m the track suddenly seems to run out in the sparse forest. However, if you look left you can make out a small track in the fallen dead pine twigs which rises steeply uphill for about 30m before opening out onto a grassy, rock strewn feature running westward which although it is a steady incline it is remarkably easy underfoot due to the springy layer of grass. It is very easy to pick out a route but great care should be taken to keep a safe distance from the horrendous 100m drop on the rock face to your left/south. The incline is reasonably steep for the first 100m then for the next 700m you could be forgiven for thinking that you are on an Alpine meadow with the springy tufts of grass and orchids(not eidelwiess) in abundance and very pleasant it is too, with great views opening up to the south. Suddenly a large trig point appears at the edge of the cliff on your left and a look at the watch tells me that we have been walking for 55 minutes covering about 2km.A further 100m and you will observe a second trig point at the edge of the cliff to your left and you should stay on the same bearing for 100m as the feature now levels out becomes more rockier with wind swept pine trees closing in. You should now swing to your right/north westwards and head towards the left hand side of the white rocky feature in front of you which is now strewn with thistles rather than grass. Keep going in this direction for 600m over the crest of this feature until on the northern side a windswept pine forest closes in on you with a lot of moss on the leeward side, although it is not too difficult underfoot and if you head slightly more right or due north then after 100m you will stumble onto a large fire break where you should turn right/east. You should then encounter a third trig point(but don’t worry if you miss it) on this flat, grassy track where another glance at the watch shows 1 hour 20 minutes has gone by and about 3km. Follow this track eastwards and within 200m a huge white rocky feature appears on your left which the track contours as it steadily descends downhill hugging the south face as the path gets rockier and muddy until, after 600m, it kicks hard right and a 100m further spits you out at point A.  From here you simply retrace your footsteps back

to Alevkayasi approximately 1km  away. The walk covers about 5km which took 1 hour 50 minutes of steady walking. A most enjoyable walk to be recommended. The cafe in Alevkayasi is now open for drinks and meals, run by Engin of “The Hillside” fame

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