Status: 07/21/2021 6:26 p.m.
During a visit to Northern Cyprus, Turkish President Erdogan announced the opening of the small town of Varosha – a violation of the UN mandate and a provocation for the Republic of Cyprus. The EU and the US reacted with concern.
In the conflict over the divided island of Cyprus, the government in Nicosia wants to appeal to the UN Security Council and request an extraordinary meeting. The Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulidis said on the Cypriot state radio.
The reason is the announcement made on Tuesday by Northern Cyprus that it would open part of the coastal settlement of Varosha in the northeast of the island. The place belonging to the city of Famagusta has been a restricted military area since the division of Cyprus. The military zone separates the Greek part of the island in the south from the Turkish part in the north and cannot be entered – Varosha is a ghost town.
Erdogan speaks of a “new era”
UN resolutions actually provide that Varosha is placed under the administration of the United Nations and returned to the rightful owners who fled from there in 1974 after the Turkish military intervention.
Now the Turkish Cypriot authorities want to bring Varosha – in Turkish maras – under their control and repopulate it – with the support of the Turkish government. During a visit to Northern Cyprus on Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “A new era will begin in Maras from which everyone will benefit.” This announcement could be another attempt by Turkey to work towards a two-state solution for the island, which it has been relying on since the partition of Cyprus in 1974.
As early as November 2020, the northern Cypriot authorities had opened a piece of the beach in Varosha for day visits – a maneuver that the Republic of Cyprus had perceived as a provocation. A repopulation would go far beyond that.
Anastasiades: “Illegal and Unacceptable”
The Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiades described the action in Varosha as “illegal and unacceptable”. Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said: “This is a clear breach of the UN resolutions and will make it difficult to restart the talks.”
The Greek Cypriots represent Cyprus as a whole to the outside world. They fear that Turkish Cypriots want to promote separation with the help of Turkey. New talks were actually planned to improve the relationship.
Shared since 1974
The dispute takes place against the background of the decades-old division of the island and the separation of the population into Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Turkey has occupied the north of the island since 1974. At that time, the Greek putschists wanted to secure the connection of the entire island to Greece. The Turkish military fended off this and has since controlled the north.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus there is only recognized as a state by Turkey, not by the international community. Conversely, Turkey has no diplomatic relations with the internationally recognized Cypriot government. The Republic of Cyprus has been a member of the EU since 2004.
International criticism of the opening
Internationally, the plans to reopen Varosha caused outrage. Germany called on Turkey to abide by all UN resolutions and “to transfer control of the location to the UN mission”. Unilateral steps are “anything but helpful,” said a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office. The Turkish approach jeopardizes “the progress made in recent months in EU-Turkey relations” and makes efforts to restart the Cyprus talks more difficult.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the announcement provocative and unacceptable. He said “the United States is working with like-minded partners to refer this worrying situation to the UN Security Council and will press for a resolute response.” France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused Erdogan of “provocation”. The EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell had previously condemned Erdogan’s actions as an “unacceptable unilateral decision”. Turkey rejected the criticism as “null and void”.