Republic of Cyprus takes Varosha to UN Security Council

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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After Turkey's President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that Varosha (Maraş), an abandoned southern quarter of the Cypriot city of Famagusta (Gazimağusa), will be partially opened for residence again, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has applied to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on the grounds that the UN resolutions have been violated.

As reported by Kıbrıs Postası news website, Nikos Hristodulidis, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, has made a statement after meeting with Nikos Dendias, the Foreign Minister of Greece.

Hristodulidis has announced that they have applied to the UNSC, requesting that the issue be brought to the UNSC agenda.

He has said, "These steps are openly in violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions. This will have a negative impact on the negotiations, for which there are efforts to start again."

What did Erdoğan say?

Speaking about Varosha, Erdoğan President Erdoğan previously said:

"With the steps taken, there will not be new aggrievements in Varosha; on the contrary, the existing aggrievements will be eliminated.

"We do not have any designs on anyone's land, rights or property. And no one can lay their hands on our rights or the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

"With the decision shared with us by Mr. President [of Northern Cyprus Ersin] Tatar, life will start again in Varosha. In the light of these works undertaken by abiding by the property rights, a new era that will be to the benefit of all in Varosha will be ushered in.

"The fact that the opening will start in a pilot area which accounts for 3.5 percent of the Closed Varosha shows how sensitively the Turkish Cypriot authorities approach this issue."

About Varosha

Varosha (Maraş), a coastal town in Cyprus' Famagusta (Gazimağusa), is an abandoned southern quarter of the city. Before 1974, it was a tourist area of the city. Its inhabitants fled during the "Second Cyprus Peace Operation" in 1974, it has remained abandoned ever since. It was closed to settlement by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution.

In a controversial move that led his government to break down, Northern Cyprus' the then Prime Minister Ersin Tatar, now the President of the country, announced the decision to reopen Varosha on October 6 during a joint press conference with President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital city Ankara.

Following Turkey's "Second Cyprus Peace Operation" in the 1974 war that eventually divided the Mediterranean island, the town was closed to settlement as it was on the "green line" between the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" and the "Republic of Cyprus."

Passed by the UNSC in 1983, Resolution 550 stated, "... Deeply concerned about recent threats for settlement of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants, reaffirming its continuing support for the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus..." A major tourist attraction with its beaches and hotels, Varosha turned into a "ghost town" after this. (RT/SD)