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Our View: Greek Cypriot side is on its own over Varosha

ÁÌÌÏ×ÙÓÔÏÓ ÊËÅÉÓÔÇ ÐÏËÇ ÉÏÕÍÉÏÓ 2021
Part of Varosha that has been opened up

Although the president has agreed to call a meeting of the National Council to discuss ways to save Varosha, the takeaway from discussions on Tuesday with the municipality appeared to indicate that there was little that could be done to thwart whatever plans Turkey has in store.

Famagusta mayor Simos Ioannou met President Nicos Anastasiades and asked him what he was doing to prevent the opening of the fenced-off city.

As things stand with no ongoing Cyprus negotiations, there is not much the government can do other than make the usual rounds of embassies, the EU and the UN, which will yield nothing.

Possibly the UN secretary-general could, if he sees fit, put Varosha back on the agenda during discussions for Unficyp’s renewal at the end of the month but this will be after the fact.

If this happens, there may be some condemnation by the Security Council of whatever moves Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan announces on July 20, but more than likely it would not amount to more than a reaffirmation of toothless UN resolutions and, like previous resolutions, it will not stop Turkey doing what it wants.

According to the statements by Ioannou, it seems Anastasiades laid out what to expect from the international community, which did not inspire confidence that anything would come of the slew of representations currently being made abroad.

Ioannou said the president outlined the difficulties of getting the US and the EU to put pressure on Ankara given that a number of countries have a vested interest in maintaining good relations with Turkey. France and Italy may have made noise during the EEZ crisis but that was because of their own interests in exploiting gas resources in the region. Who among EU members, except Greece paying lip service to the resettlement of Varosha, is going to care about what is essentially an internal Cypriot issue concerning an empty abandoned town?

Ioannou said the indications were that Erdogan would announce the tourist section of the ghost town would be reopened and if international reaction was lukewarm, Turkey would move ahead with resettlement, taking international silence for assent.

The president told the municipality that if Varosha was lost, it would be the ‘tombstone’ of the Cyprus issue as territory is a cornerstone of settlement talks. Only he can tell us then what his red line is. At what point will Varosha be officially considered lost, thus ending the Cyprus issue and what will that look like?

The one hand the Greek Cypriots have left to play within the EU is that Brussels is firmly opposed to a two-state solution, for its own reasons. Other than that, the bloc is unlikely to care much what a solution will look like internally.

So when it comes to saving Varosha, unfortunately, the Greek Cypriot side is on its own, and there is not a lot it can do except ponder the number of lost opportunities to get it back that have come and gone over the past 40 years.

 

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