Turkish Cypriot minister under fire for using Paphos airport in south Cyprus

A Turkish Cypriot politician was in hot water after he opted to use the Paphos airport in south Cyprus to travel to Jordan for holiday.

Zeki Celer, who is the TRNC Labour minister drew criticism after he and his cousins travelled to Aman from Paphos on Wednesday.

Celer had posted a photo from Paphos airport on social media prompting reaction in north Cyprus, reports said.

In his defence, Celer said he opted to travel from Paphos because air tickets in north Cyprus were too expensive.

If I wanted to hide it I would not post a photo of the trip on social media and I would have travelled secretly, he was quoted as saying.

Celer said he has raised the matter of the high ticket prices and an effort was underway to tackle the problem.

Turkish media outlets also reported the matter, saying it was the first time a minister used south Cyprus passport and its airports to go on holiday abroad.

Edited from Cyprus Mail