Royal Mail ‘aware’ of postal delays from the UK to TRNC

BRITAIN’S Royal Mail is “aware” of “major delays” to post arriving in North Cyprus from the UK, a spokesman told Cyprus Today, after a meeting between members of the British Residents Society (BRS) and TRNC postal chiefs failed to get to the bottom of the problems. Readers told this paper that some letters have been taking up to three months to be delivered while other post, including bank statements and Christmas cards, has vanished completely. “We are aware that post

[sent to] North Cyprus is going through major delays . . . and we are trying to do everything we can, but we can’t interfere with the process after the post is sent out from the UK,” the Royal Mail spokesman said.

Turkey’s Post and Telegraph Organisation (PTT), which handles TRNCbound post in İstanbul, said it was “unaware” of any issues, adding that it could not help find letters which had been sent via a “standard” service rather than a “tracked” one.

BRS chairman Danny Dugan said that he was none the wiser about why some mail goes undelivered, following a meeting earlier this month with TRNC Post Office head Sövüda Besimler Tabak.

“It is a shocking state of affairs that has gone on for years and no-one at government level or at a senior level within the Post Office seems to be willing to take responsibility for it,” he told Cyprus Today.

“The BRS has previously sought answers from the Post Office but were largely unsuccessful and whilst some people continue to receive their mail without difficulty, others do not.”

Mr Dugan said Ms Tabak had been unable to explain why some post went undelivered, other than blaming “chronic staff shortages” and had failed to provide any suggestions to improve services.

“I am afraid that until the situation is gripped at a senior level, and the manning situation is solved, the likelihood is that [the] mail delivery system within the TRNC will remain unsatisfactory,” he concluded.

Meanwhile Ms Tabak said that she would investigate claims by readers made to Cyprus Today about staff “hanging up” on them when making a complaint, but added that such incidents could have been cause by a “malfunction” in the phone lines.

She reiterated that letters to North Cyprus should still be addressed to “Mersin 10, Turkey” despite the introduction of regional TRNC postal codes.