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For the first time in 46 years, people can walk along the coast in the abandoned holiday paradise of Varosha. Residents of the area fled when it was invaded by Turkish forces in 1974. The site was closed and used as a bargaining chip in the ceasefire between northern Turkish Cyprus and southern Greek Cyprus. Since then, it has remained an empty and barricaded ghost town, writes The Guardian.
Background: People feared massacres and fled the vacation paradise.
(The case continues below the image)
The buildings of paradise from the 70s have rotted since the barricades were erected in 1974. Photo: Birol Bebek / AFP
UN backs EU concerns
On Thursday, the people of northern Cyprus celebrated the reopening of the coast in Varosha. Photo: Birol Bebek / AFP
Earlier this week, the EU came out and condemned the site’s planned reopening as a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement with the UN. Russia and the UN are now behind the EU’s condemnation and fear that the conflict in Cyprus could flare up again.
– This place is closed to the outside world as part of a ceasefire made in accordance with the UN. The reopening of the site will be a serious breach of this agreement, EU representative Josep Borell told The Guardian on Wednesday.
Former residents of the area showed up in protest when the place was reopened on Thursday. The posters said “we are the rightful owners” and prayed that the conflict would be resolved. Photo: Petros Karadjias / AP
– An inconsolable pain
Hundreds of people are said to have entered the gates when the barricades were removed on Thursday. Northern Cypriots celebrated the long-awaited reopening of the idyllic beach area. The celebration was greeted with protests from former residents of the area. At home, the terrified Kypriots of the South sat and watched the reopening on television. One of them was Kyriakos Charalambides, who fled his home in Varosha in 1974.
– Even though I knew it was coming, it gave me chills. It’s an inconsolable pain and a terrible day, Charalambides tells The Guardian.
The UN Security Council is involved
The Greek president of southern Cyprus has sent a request to the UN Security Council, requesting assistance.
“This is a clear violation of international law and should not be accepted by the UN Security Council,” said President Nicos Anastasiades.
Anastasiades demands that people who were expelled from the area in 1974 be given the first right to return to the reopened site. The government of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) states that the reopening does not concern the former inhabitants, since in the first instance only the coast is reopened.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting on Varosha on Friday.
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