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On Thursday tourists were allowed to enter the place and hundreds of people crossed the gate controlled by the Turkish Cypriots into this area of the city of Famagusta. On the paved path, they walked to the beach, which once attracted even Hollywood celebrities, was a popular and luxurious resort. Now, on a highway lined with police lanes, they passed through abandoned, windowless buildings, rusty gargoyles.
The once popular complex was abandoned to its fate in 1974, when Turkey brought its troops into the northern part of the island and declared there an independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. About 39 thousand people were forced to leave the city. inhabitants, and Varosha became a city of abandoned hotels, apartment buildings and churches. The area was taken over by the Turkish army, it was closed to visitors, but the Turkish Cypriot government is only recognized by Ankara.
For some, this opening was a joy. A woman spoke with the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags that it was a historical moment that brought moments of happiness.
For others, the day was extremely gloomy. For example, Kyriak Charalambides, a former Varosha resident, did not hide his complaints at his home in Nicosia while watching the beach opening. “Although I expected that, I shudder to see those familiar places,” he told the AP. “It is a sadness that cannot be reassured … The driver is lost.”
“It’s a terrible day,” said art historian and archaeologist Anna Marangou, who was 22 when she was forced to leave her home and flee.
Former Varosha residents staged a protest at a crossing along the UN-controlled buffer zone on Thursday night. This point, one of nine that allowed access to another territory, but is now closed by Turkish Cyprus due to the danger of COVID-19.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Varosha beach opening
“How can it not be sad to see what is happening today?” Said former Famagusta mayor Simon Ionnou. “Varosha had to be handed over to her rightful masters … It is a psychological pressure.”
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades called Turkey’s move illegal. He condemned Turkey’s actions and promised to appeal to the United Nations Security Council.
Russia has said that the opening of the beach is unacceptable. Both the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed their concern about Turkey’s measure and highlighted that the escalation of tensions commemorates the efforts to resume the conversations between the two parties.
In recent months, tensions between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus have escalated over escalating maritime borders and natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean.
From a popular resort to a ghost town
Varosha was once called the “French Riviera of Cyprus”, and celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot have spent time here. During the year, the resort received up to 700 thousand. tourists.
However, in 1974. July 20 the city suddenly emptied – 39 thousand. residents were forced to leave their homes, never allowed to return to them.
After the introduction of the Turkish army, a barbed wire fence was detached in Varosha, warning signs were hung, and hotels remained abandoned.
Since 1974 Cyprus has remained divided. Two parts, including the divided capital, are separated by a green line patrolled by the United Nations forces. About 78 percent. the island’s Greek population is 59 percent controlled. territory of the country, and about 18 percent. The island’s population is Turkish, but they control about 36 percent. territories. The rest of the island (about 4%) is a United Nations-controlled buffer zone (also the Green Line or Attila).
Now the vast majority of tourists coming to Turkish Cyprus are from Turkey, they fly from their country on direct flights.
There is also an abandoned airport in North Cyprus, which has not been used since the 1970s:
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