According to the report by The Jerusalem Post, the Green Solution company filed a suit against Artara, a company that specializes in industrial fairs to promote economic activities in various sectors and which is due to hold a fair on Mediterranean tourism, called the International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) 2010, on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center in Tel Aviv.
Green Solution, which runs ferry service from Haifa to Famagusta (Gazimağusa in Turkish) in northern Cyprus three times a week and offers hotel accommodations in Famagusta and Kyrenia (Girne in Turkish), signed up for a 20-square-meter booth at the fair to advertise its services, the daily reported on Monday.
On the same day, an employee of Artara informed the Green Solution company that “in view of the sensitivity of the Cyprus issue in the fair, and in accordance with special directives which we received from the Foreign Ministry,” it would not be allowed to mention the fact that the services provided were to “northern Cyprus” or to provide the names of hotels, the daily said, noting that Artara also demanded to see the advertisements that would be displayed two days before the opening of the fair.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson, approached by The Jerusalem Post, said that Israel did not recognize northern Cyprus as a separate entity, but did not prevent the private sector from maintaining commercial and tourism ties with the inhabitants of that area. The spokesperson suggested that this long-standing policy had nothing to do with relations between Israel and Turkey.
