Date: 22.09.2005 Despite threats from the Greek Cyprus government, Azerbaijan kept its promise to penetrate the embargo imposed on North Cyprus. The first direct flight to Ercan Airport from Baku, Azerbaijan took place last evening. After Azerbaijani President Ilsham Aliev, said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ought to be allowed more contact with the rest of the world and that Baku was sympathetic to that goal, while meeting with Turkish PM Recep Tayip Erdogan in June, things had significantly changed in the hopes of the Turkish Cypriots dream of direct flights to their part of the Island. Aliev's historical statement included: “ Northern Cyprus should escape from its international isolation and we are ready to help it with this. So Azerbaijani companies can collaborate with their colleagues in Northern Cyprus , we also plan to open a direct charter flight.” This triggered Azerbaijani airline Imair's desire to add a new destination to its list. Soon after that it was announced that regular flights would begin between Azerbaijan and Northern Cyprus . “On Sundays we will begin to make passenger flights to Ercan airport which is not far from Lefkosa,” said Alexander Guliev, director of Improtex Travel which owns Imair. Turkish Cypriots and politicians were sceptical at first, because after years of being fed with empty promises from the international players, they thought this was another one to put on their broken promises list. But it turned out to be true. The boards at Ercan airport displaying the arrival and departure times of the not so busy airport added a new line that night. “Flight Number IPX 88831 from Baku will be arriving at 21:45 PM,” it announced. And it did! A Soviet-made TUPOLEV 154 airplane landed on the tarmac of Ercan State Airport Wednesday night at 9:47 pm. Around a hundred men and women appeared at the doors of the plane holding tiny Azerbaijan flags smiling at their greeters, which consisted of a very successful folk dance group, young girls with hoops of jasmine, a bunch of Turkish Cypriots having trouble believing their eyes, and an army of press with cameras and notebooks ready to record this unbelievable event. The Head of the Azeri delegation ATIP (Azerbaijan Turkish Businessmen Association) Chairman Ahmet Erentok, walked from the plane to the VIP lounge with some difficulty. He expressed his pleasure to be the first businessman to come to TRNC in a direct flight. Later, in a press conference, it was announced that they would be meeting with several Turkish Cypriot organisations and were expecting to sign at least eight collaboration protocols. When asked if they were afraid of any political pressure coming from the south or the international arena, Erentok replied: “We are businessmen. We don't care about international pressure, even it does come.” The delegation was received by President Mehmet Ali Talat and Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer. The delegation will stay in TRNC until Saturday. S peaking after last week's visit by Azeri state officials, Talat told reporters that once the Azeri airline began direct flights to the north, that others would also begin flying direct into Ercan. “This will happen eventually,” he said. “But the Greek Cypriot side is so rigid, and also it does not pay any attention to international public opinion. With EU membership, it acquired an advantage and it thinks that it can hold on this advantage without making any openings. Not only the USA, but Israel, Iran and the EU member countries will start direct flights.”