Loved ones to be flown ‘home’
UK based Turkish Cypriots were relieved this week – after the TRNC announced their loved ones who had died during the pandemic from an illness including Covid19, but who could not be repatriated due to the lockdown, would be finally be flown “home” for burial.
Erkin Guney, chairman of the UK Turkish Islamic Trust which administers Shack- lewell Lane Mosque and is responsible for the repatriations, said: “This has been a very difficult time for the bereaved families. The cruel circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic meant many people not only lost their relatives,but were also prevented from being with them in their final days due to the lockdown. Their grief was further compounded by the obstacles they faced in getting their deceased loved ones back home, in line with their wishes.”
“We are grateful to everyone who has supported our repatriation campaign, which led to the TRNC government endings its restrictions on burials from abroad. These 18 deceased – fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons and grandparents – can now start their final sacred journey home.We thank the Turkish and TRNC authorities for enabling this during the coronavirus crisis,”he added.
Six of the deceased were taken to Stansted Airport from Shacklewell Lane Mosque.They will be laid to rest today..
Due to a lack of flights to Ercan , the remaining 12 deceased will travel by boat to the TRNC. They will fly from Heathrow Airport to Istanbul Airport on a Turkish Airlines cargo plane on Friday 5 June. From there, the twelve will be transported by road to Mersin International Sea Port. Arranged by the YurtdışıTürklerveAkrabaTopluluklarBaşkanlığı (YTB), the funeral cars for the 1,000km journey have been provided free of charge by Istanbul Metropolitan Council. The coffins will then be carried by boat to the Port of Famagusta (Mağusa), arriving on Sunday morning, 7 June.
The final leg of the funeral will be undertaken by local Turkish Cypriot officials, which will take each of the deceased to the designated cemetery for burial.
Mr Guney said, “No UK relatives will travel with the coffins due to the travel restrictions arising from the coronavirus pandemic. The funerals in North Cyprus will be overseen by relatives of the deceased that live locally. All repatriation and funeral costs have been borne by the families.”
Among the 18 deceased being repatriated are listed below in order of their date of death (all going by plane-road-boat unless starred*):
Salim Hassan (male, died 13 March 2020 aged 84) Mehmed Ahmed Sari (m, died 22 March aged 92) Leyla Hassan Mustafa (female, died 24 March aged 54) Emete Mustafa (f, died 28 March aged 81) AdileMisiri (f, died 8 April aged 82) Ahmet Fikri (m, died 8 April aged 72) Mustafa Enver (m, died 11 April aged 65) Ayten Dervish (f, died 13 April aged 84) NefukOrhanKalkan (m, died 13 April aged 62)* Sonya Kaygan (f, died 17 April aged 26) OrhanMehmet Misiri (m, died 22 April aged 78) HakanSeyyar (m, died 3 May aged 49) Hassan Zort (m, died 5 May