‘We are not animals’ – families of missing demand answers at Kyrenia port

Tensions were high at the new port of Kyrenia on Monday as the families of those who remain missing after a ferry capsized off Cyprus’ northern coast remained outside the port’s entrance, demanding answers from the authorities. A makeshift camp has been set up outside the port’s gate, with dozens of people, mostly Turkish nationals, sat and stood in the heat, waiting to hear news of their loved ones’ fate. Matters reached a flashpoint when a vehicle on diplomatic registration plates attempted to leave the Turkish Cypriot security forces building adjacent to the port’s entrance, with people rushing to block the gate to prevent whomever it was in the car from leaving. Turkey’s ruling AK Party’s Cyprus representative Ahmet Kaya then emerged from the building to speak with those who had gathered, with those on the outside declaring to him that “no one will leave here without first explaining themselves”. Related Articles • Nineteen remain in hospital after Kyrenia ferry accident • Mother tells how daughter slipped away in north Cyprus ferry disaster • Nine appear in court over deadly Kyrenia ferry accident • 18 missing as search continues after Kyrenia ferry sinking • Deep-water search and rescue boat to arrive on Tuesday • JRCC told Turkish Cypriots ‘do not need assistance’ after ferry accident Kaya attempted to tell those at the gate that “the country (Turkey) is utilising all its resources to find those who are still missing” but found the crowd before him unconvinced. “We are not animals,” one said, saying that they required a “full explanation of what is going on out there” from “the people in there, the president, the MPs and the dignitaries who are sat in air conditioning in there while we are out here in this heat waiting for answers”. He stressed that “we have been here for 24 hours and you have given us barely any news, barely any information about what has happened to our loved ones who are at the bottom of the sea”. A woman at the gate, distraught, told Kaya that “guests” had come to visit her, and that “now they are at the bottom of the sea”. “When will they get the boat out of the sea?”, she asked, with Kaya only able to respond that efforts are ongoing. He said that “you can see out there, the planes in the sky, the boats in the sea which are continuing the search for those who remain missing”. “Do you not understand? The country is utilising every resource at its disposal, doing everything it can, both in the sea and in the air,” he added. Relatives view a helicopter flying outside Kyrenia port (Photo: Yiannis Kourtoglou) Questions were also raised about the figures made public, with 259 passengers and eight crew having initially been on the boat when it set sail from Kyrenia, and it having initially been declared that 17 people were missing at sea. That number rose to 18 after sunset on Sunday, with it believed that the number may rise to 20 as more people inform the Turkish embassy in Nicosia and the Turkish Cypriot authorities that they have not heard from friends and family who may have been on the boat. The ferry had capsized with 259 passengers and eight crew onboard shortly after leaving the new port of Kyrenia at around 12.10pm on Sunday, having been en route to the Turkish port of Tasucu.