Maraş: Northern Cyprus region, closed for 46 years, will open on Thursday

At a joint press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Northern Cyprus Prime Minister Ersin Tatar announced that Varosha, which has been closed to housing since 1974, will open its doors on Thursday.

Tatar said: “Our people will be able to go to the beach from Thursday morning. We see the Marash problem as a national cause. I invite you all to claim this national cause,” he said.

The opening of the Maraş region, which has been closed to settlements in northern Cyprus since 1974, was one of the negotiations between the two parts of the island.

The Tatar Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, Erdogan, and the President, attended the meeting at the end of the elimination of the fault that occurred in the line of the maritime transit system that transported drinking water from Turkey to Northern Cyprus, thus a ceremony videoconference was held.

Saying that “it is an indisputable fact that Maraş is a TRNC territory,” President Erdogan said, “The opening of Maraş will disrupt many places.”

Erdogan continued as follows:

“We have decided to build the future of Cyprus in concrete realities rather than dreams. The savings belong to the Turkish authorities. We are pleased that you will be able to enter the closed area from Thursday morning. This is an opportunity to reactivate the TRNC economy As he gets older, richer and stronger, the embargo chains placed on him will start to break one by one. I wish the decision to open Maraş was beneficial to the people of TRNC. ”

Saying that they view the Marash problem as a national cause over all kinds of rivalries and political debates, Tatar said: “For this, we invite all political parties and non-governmental organizations in Cyprus to defend this national cause.” “We are moving towards a new stage in the Marash issue, which I see as a step. We hope that this irreversible step we have taken in Maraş will be beneficial for the TRNC.

The administration of northern Cyprus reacted differently to the decision announced by Erdogan and Tatar.

The president of Northern Cyprus, Mustafa Akıncı, interpreted the decision as an intervention in the presidential elections to be held on October 11.

The communication coordinator of the Northern Cyprus Presidency, Ali Bizden, posted the message from President Mustafa Akıncı on Twitter regarding the news that Maraş will be opened.

The Cypriot newspaper Yeni Düzen also criticized the statement by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay, “Maraş has opened”, made by Erdoğan and Tatar, and stated that “this is not the project to open Maraş”.

Presidential elections will be held on October 11 in Northern Cyprus.

The President of Northern Cyprus, Mustafa Akıncı, is standing for election as an independent candidate.

The leader of the National Unity Party (UBP), Prime Minister Ersin Tatar and the leader of the Turkish Republican Party (CTP), Tufan Erhürman, are also among the prominent candidates in the elections.

The leader of the government partner, the People’s Party (HP), Foreign Minister Kudret Özersay and Rauf Denktaş’s son, Serdar Denktaş, were also independent candidates.

Tatar’l to edit it on the Eastern Mediterranean issue a joint press conference addressed President Erdogan reiterated that there is no possibility of success on the stage not in the Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey and the TRNC, “will be held in the next scheduled period in the Eastern Mediterranean Conference of Turkish Cypriots in an absolutely deserved way At the last European Union Summit, we saw that the Turkish Cypriot people were once again ignored. Those who grant the rights of Turkish Cypriots behind closed doors avoid putting their hands under responsibility when it comes to to act. century that is not the place. Turkey will not allow the continuation of this injustice “, gave the message.

When the Turkish army launched an operation in Cyprus in August 1974, the people, mostly Greek or Jewish, fled within a few hours, planning to leave all their belongings behind and return shortly thereafter. The region has been abandoned for 46 years.

After the war, recently adopted by Turkey, which was declared the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the north of the island counted within its own borders.

The United Nations (UN), on the other hand, has decided that no one can settle in the region except legal owners in 1974 and earlier. Despite this decision, the Turkish army did not withdraw from the region, the area was surrounded by barbed wire.

No one has been able to enter Varosha except Turkish soldiers and UN soldiers for 46 years. Inside, there is only a UN building and a Turkish army house in use.

In the previous negotiations between the Turks and the Greek Cypriots, the Republic of Cyprus demanded the return of the former owners to the region, while the Turkish side wants the administration to remain on the Turkish side and benefit from taxes from tourism companies.