#varosha

As I feared - after Hagia Sofia, now Erdogan has moved forward with his ILLEGAL re-opening of Varosha. This goes against UN regulations, in effect since the early 1980s, which state that Varosha should remain under UN control until both the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot side reach a formidable solution for the Cyprus Issue.

In short: There’s “presidential” elections coming up on Friday on the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus. Mustafa Akinci (the current “president” and someone who favours the reunification of Cyprus) leads the exit polls. Erdogan wants to destroy Akinci, permanently divide Cyprus (so that he has full control of the Middle East), and he openly favours Akinci’s opponent, Ersin Tatar, who favours a two-state solution of the Cyprus issue (aka permament division of the island). Varosha reopens for the same reason Hagia Sofia was turned into a mosque - so that Erdogan and his allies won’t lose the upcoming elections both in the occupied Cyprus and in Turkey.

The Turkish-Cypriots living on the occupied areas of the island are also angry with this. Greek Cypriot media report that the Turkish-Cypriot journalists weren’t allowed to the sight when the bulldozers of the Turkish government stepped into the beach of Varosha (only the Turkish ones were allowed), and Akinci’s popularity has soared after this as a reaction amongst the Turkish-Cypriots.

This is a lot more serious than Hagia Sofia turning into a mosque. It can have severe consequences for the solution  of the Cyprus issue, leading to Cyprus’ permanent division. If we’re lucky, we might narrowly escape a war between Greece, France, Cyprus, and Turkey. 

Please, if you want to be informed on this, here’s some English-speaking Cypriot newspapers you can access:

https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/turkish-move-to-reopen-varosha-an-exceptionally-unacceptable-situation-says-cyprus-president/

https://cyprus-mail.com/2020/10/06/turkish-cypriot-prime-minister-says-will-open-beach-area-of-varosha/

https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/erdogan-tatar-varosha-to-open-to-the-public-on-thursday

And some articles from the Greek press:

https://www.ekathimerini.com/257775/article/ekathimerini/news/un-concerned-at-turkish-move-to-open-up-cypriot-beach

https://www.ekathimerini.com/257769/article/ekathimerini/news/greece-condemns-turkish-cypriot-decision-to-reopen-varosha

https://www.ekathimerini.com/257765/article/ekathimerini/news/eus-borrell-decision-to-reopen-varosha-may-complicate-cyprus-talks

https://www.ekathimerini.com/257765/article/ekathimerini/news/eus-borrell-decision-to-reopen-varosha-may-complicate-cyprus-talks

AVOID WEBSITES SUCH AS CNN, BBC, DAILY MAIL, BUSINESS INSIDER ETC - Mainstream US and British media either 1) side with Turkey or 2) they appear largely unaware of the complexities of the situation which diminishes their journalistic quality and thus they spread false information in their effort to remain “objective”. Not to mention that many of these sources (the DM mostly) already ‘advertise’ Varosha as a tourist destination...

Pavlos Iakovou was 17 when he met his wife, Tuolla, at the Edelweiss cafe in Famagusta, the fashionable Cypriot holiday resort where his family owned a hotel. Last week, the couple returned to some of their old haunts in the abandoned quarter of Varosha, or Maraş in Turkish, for the first time in 46 years.

Sealed off as a militarised zone and untouched since 1974, when Turkey invaded following a Greek coup, the decaying slice of 1970s glamour is now open again to visitors – Greek Cypriots included.

People on both sides of the island have long wanted Varosha restored to its former glory. The circumstances under which the area has been reopened, however, point to a changing political climate on Cyprus, as well as the wider eastern Mediterranean, as Turkey plays its cards in the battle with Cyprus and Greece over oil and gas reserves.

“When we left in 1974 we thought we’d be gone for two or three days at the most,” Iakovou said. “This is a bittersweet experience. We always refused to sell the hotel and now I can visit it. But now I don’t think we are ever going to have a solution to reunite the island.”

On 29 October, a holiday to celebrate the founding of modern Turkey, tourists from the country thronged Varosha’s streets, taking pictures in front of hotels and restaurants once favoured by Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot but now crumbling into the sparkling water.