The "ghost town" of Varosha has been closed to settlement since 1974. (Photo: AA/File)
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Cyprus may revoke the passports of Northern Cyprus government officials in response to its recent move to reopen an abandoned town, the country's president has said.
Someone who does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus and makes separatist propaganda cannot have the country's passport, Nikos Anastasiades said in an interview with Phileleftheros newspaper.
As Northern Cyprus is only recognized by Turkey, its citizens need a passport of either Cyprus or Turkey to be able to travel abroad. According to reports in Cyprus media, about 160,000 people, or half of the Northern Cypriots, are also citizens of the Republic of Cyprus.
The sanctions will target not all Northern Cypriots but the "officials of the separatist regime in the north," Anastasiades said, adding that they prepared an extensive list of names, including Northern Cyprus President Ersin Tatar.
During his visit to Northern Cyprus last week to mark the 47th anniversary of Turkey's military intervention on the island, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced a new step in the reopening of Varosha, a town closed to settlement by a UNSC resolution following Turkey's second military operation on the island.
"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," he said.
Initially, three-and-a-half percent of properties in Varosha will be returned to their owners, Erdoğan said, suggesting that citizens of Northern Cyprus or Turkey may buy properties from their Greek owners.
Cyprus applied to the UNSC regarding the attempts to open the town.
The status of VaroshaVarosha, or Maraş in Turkish, is a coastal town in Cyprus' Famagusta. Following Turkey's "Second Cyprus Peace Operation" in the 1974 war that eventually divided the 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..." Formerly a major tourist attraction with its beaches and hotels, Varosha has turned into a "ghost town" since then. However, the issue came to the fore once again before the 2015 presidential elections when President Mustafa Akıncı said, "Instead of living side by side with a corpse, Maraş should become a lively place where people live, earn an income, contractors from both sides do business, their young people find jobs." On June 18, 2019, the Council of Ministers of Northern Cyprus announced the decision that it would reopen Varosha and assign a team of experts to do scientific inventory studies. On October 6, 2020, then Northern Cyprus presidential candidate Ersin Tatar announced the reopening of Varosha during a joint press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Cyprus. |
(PT/VK)
