Game changer: US-flagged Flotilla ship enters Famagusta port in northern Cyprus

“Now, it’s a mess”, said one Cypriot diplomat in the region.

One of the two U.S.-flagged ships (it seems to be Challenger One) has entered Famagusta port northern Cyprus today, saying they must pick up European parliamentarians who were planning to sail with the Freedom Flotilla on the Spirit, the boat that the Cypriot government grounded in Cyprus on Thursday night because it was planning to sail into Gaza’s maritime space, a zone that Israel has put under a formal naval blockade.

This entry of this ship, which is part of the Flotilla, is in direct defiance of the wishes of the government of the Republic of Cyprus.

The Republic of Cyprus is a member of the European Union, while the admission of the Turkish communal authority in northern Cyprus, where Turkish troops are still stationed since the early 1970s, awaits a political resolution to the long-standing conflict on that eastern Mediterranean island. British troops are still stationed in British bases in the Republic of Cyprus, and the UN also maintains a peacekeeping mission along the separation line between northern and southern Cyprus.

For the Republic of Cyprus, northern Cyprus is Turkish-occupied.

Cypriot officials say that Palestinians — and their supporters — must not cooperate with an occupation.

(Cypriot officials have also, however, offered as one part of the reason for their decision on Friday not to allow any of the Freedom Flotilla ships to depart from Cypriot ports the fact that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority, which has an intense dislike for the Hamas authorities in Gaza, has not made any request for support for the Flotilla…)

It appeared, several weeks ago, that the massive Turkish support for this Freedom Flotilla expedition might have been a “game-changer” that would deflect Isrraeli opposition.

Now, however, the entry into Famagusta port of this U.S.-flagged ship, in defiance of the Cypriot Government which has supported previous expeditions organized by the Free Gaza movement has thrown everything into disarray — and may itself be a game-changer that ruins this expedition.

Battles over political righteousness may be very damaging in this context, and sow confusion. They also may cast doubt on the original and declared aim of bringing humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.

“This time, it is a game of secret services”, said one Cypriot official. “It seems that the idea is to force recognition of the Turkish Cypriot communual authorities, and if that happens, they’ll forget all about Gaza. And the Palestinians should not forget that the medicine used for one thing can also be used for another”.

The other U.S.-flagged ship (it seems to be the Challenger Two, correcting my reports here in earlier posts that was the Challenger One) that had also been participating in the Freedom Flotilla, was in such bad need of repairs on Friday that it agreed to enter a shipyard in the southern Cypriot city of Limassola, but not depart again with the Freedom Flotilla, and its passengers were transferred to the big Turkish passenger ship, Mavi Marmara.

The Rachel Corrie, which apparently travels very slowly, has not yet arrived to join the Freedom Flotilla.

The other five ships in the Flotilla are reportedly still waiting at their rendez-vous point, and have not yet moved towards Gaza…

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