PodcastTurkish Cyprus reopens part of resort abandoned in 1974 conflict
Turkish Cyprus reopened the beach of a resort abandoned since the 1974 conflict on the island, taking a step supported by Ankara but condemned by Greek Cypriots and causing concern internationally. People wearing face masks streamed in after being allowed through a checkpoint by police near the beachfront of Varosha. Greece called on Turkey to step back from the reopening.
Duvar English - Reuters
Turkish Cyprus reopened part of the beachfront of a resort abandoned since the 1974 conflict on the island, taking a step supported by Ankara but condemned by Greek Cypriots and causing concern internationally.
People wearing face masks streamed in after being allowed through a checkpoint by police near the beachfront of Varosha, a deserted suburb of Famagusta city in the breakaway Turkish Cyprus state in the east of the divided Mediterranean island.
The move could hurt efforts to revive settlement talks on the island and stoke Turkey's row with EU members Cyprus and Greece over east Mediterranean maritime rights, which cooled after Ankara and Athens agreed to resume talks..
Turkish Cyprus Prime Minister Ersin Tatar unveiled the move in Ankara on Oct. 6 alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who said he hoped the whole of the district would be opened up.
Greece called on Turkey to step back from the reopening, warning that Athens and Nicosia stand ready to bring the issue before the European leaders meeting next week, its government spokesman said on Oct. 8.
The internationally recognised government of Cyprus, a close ally of Greece, has already condemned the move and said it would file a recourse to the United Nations Security Council. Russia said re-opening the beach was unacceptable.
The Turkish Defense Ministry released photos showing small groups of people wandering along roads surrounded by deserted buildings and near Varosha's sandy beach, including one woman with a large Turkish flag draped on her back.
"May this step, which has a big symbolic meaning and which ends a 46-year-old longing, be beneficial for the KKTC [Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus] and our brethren who live there," the ministry said.
Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti’ne ait olan, 46 yıldır yerleşime ve ziyarete kapalı tutulan Kapalı Maraş’ın bir bölümü bugün halkın ziyaretine açıldı. Sembolik anlamı büyük olan ve 46 yıllık hasreti bitiren bu adım, KKTC’ye ve orada yaşayan kardeşlerimize hayırlı olsun. pic.twitter.com/9HMe7x6V3d
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) October 8, 2020
The EU has said it is deeply concerned by the move, saying it will cause greater tensions and may complicate efforts for the resumption of Cyprus settlement talks. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also voiced concern.
The latest attempt at reunification between the two Cypriot sides collapsed in disarray in mid-2017, with each side blaming the other for the collapse.
The discovery of offshore energy resources has complicated efforts to resolve its partition.
Sources in Cyprus said the plan was to open up about 1.5 km (1 mile) of beachfront to the public and not some 6 square km (2.3 sq miles) inland, including abandoned hotels and homes, which will remain in a closed-off military zone in place since the 1970s.
Varosha's population of 39,000 people fled in 1974 during a Turkish invasion triggered by a brief coup engineered by the military then ruling Greece.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Northern Cyprus on Oct. 11, with Tatar a candidate.
