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The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Wednesday criticized what it described as efforts by the Greek Cypriot Administration to derail a planned youth training camp organized by Spanish football club Barcelona, with President Tufan Erhurman calling the campaign a "defeat for all people and for humanity."
Barcelona has announced plans to hold a training camp for young players in the TRNC on Sept. 11.
Erhurman said he had observed numerous attempts on social media by certain circles within the Greek Cypriot Administration to stop the event from taking place.
In a statement, Erhurman said he did not want either Turkish Cypriots or Greek Cypriots to be denied opportunities available to young people elsewhere in the world because of the long-running Cyprus dispute. He argued that framing the cancellation of youth sporting activities as a diplomatic win reflected poorly on those involved.
"You may call getting the festival canceled and trying to prevent children from playing football a diplomatic victory, but from a humanitarian perspective, it is clear to me that this is a defeat for all people and for humanity," he said.
Erhurman said such events should not be drawn into politics, pointing to calls made after 2004 by the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe for the isolation of Turkish Cypriots to be brought to an end.
The far-right National Popular Front party in the Greek Cypriot Administration called on its Foreign Ministry to pressure Spain to prevent the training camp from going ahead, according to Erhurman's account of the developments.
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