Cyprus line puts Turk life at risk
ANKARA (AFP) – The division of Cyprus is blocking the urgently needed treatment of a young Turkish leukemia patient as doctors are unable to reach two possible bone marrow donors on the island, Turkish media reported yesterday. A glimmer of hope emerged two weeks ago for Emine Ozan, a 20-year-old woman from the central Turkish city of Kayseri, when two possible donors were found in Cyprus after a seven-year international search for a bone marrow transplant, the Vatan daily said. Her joy, however, was short-lived due to the lack of formal diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Cypriot government in Nicosia. «Time is running out for her,» Ali Unal, Ozan’s doctor, told Vatan. The Turkish representative of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide, an international organization registering potential donors, is unable to establish direct contact with its Greek-Cypriot counterpart and has failed to find a way to send the money for the required tests. «No (Turkish) bank is transferring money to Greek Cyprus,» said Sarper Diler from Istanbul’s Capa Medical Faculty.
