Status: 23.07.2021 8:32 p.m.
Greek Cypriots once lived in Varosha, but the Turkish invasion in 1974 made the city a restricted area. Now President Erdogan wants to repopulate the ghost town on Cyprus – and is therefore under criticism.
The UN Security Council has condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s plans for Cyprus. In a unanimously agreed declaration, the most powerful body of the United Nations expressed its “deep regret” for Erdogan’s actions. Any attempt to colonize a part of Varosha by people other than its residents is inadmissible, it said.
During a visit to the Turkish-occupied northern part of Cyprus on Tuesday, Erdogan pushed ahead with plans to open the ghost town of Varosha and advocated continued division of the island. The “unilateral actions” of the Turkish head of state run counter to existing UN resolutions, the Security Council said. The UN body calls for an end to the Cyprus conflict beyond a two-state solution and for the unilateral measures taken in Varosha to be withdrawn.
India and China were in favor of tightening
“The Security Council stresses the importance of full compliance and implementation of its resolutions, including the handover of Varosha to the UN administration,” reads the British draft, which was first submitted to the AFP news agency and was officially adopted by the body. Negotiations on the text had dragged on since Wednesday – not, however, as usual, to soften the declaration, but to tighten it. India and China are committed to this.
The Turkish-controlled coastal town of Varosha is located directly on the UN buffer zone between the Turkish northern and Greek southern parts of the Mediterranean island. The status of Varosha is the subject of UN Security Council resolutions. Cyprus has been divided since 1974. At that time, the Turkish army occupied the north after a military coup by the Greek Cypriots. Cyprus has been a member of the EU since 2004, but European law is suspended in the northern part of the island until the conflict is resolved.