‘Tender to be held’ for Varosha hotels (Updated)

An anonymous Turkish businessman who has taken ownership of a number of hotels in Varosha is to hold a tender for their reconstruction and structural reinforcement within the next six weeks.

A spokesperson for the north’s ‘interior ministry’ explained to the Cyprus Mail that the businessman will make a public statement within the next two months regarding the ownership and future use of the hotels.

They said the businessman had agreed to compensate the original owners of the hotels and that the ‘ministry’ would speak in public on the matter once this process had concluded.

The buildings bought by the anonymous businessman include buildings owned by Greek Cypriots and third country nationals, with one of them belonging to Italian actress Sophia Loren.

The businessman’s dealings in Varosha came to the fore during the summer when it was revealed that an anonymous businessman is accepting bookings for hotels in Varosha for 2025, claiming to have purchased them.

The businessman said he petitioned the north’s ‘interior ministry’ to receive permission to commence construction and renovation works but received no response.

He claimed this was a “good thing” as the ‘ministry’ would “give him a negative answer if something were to happen”.

The ‘interior ministry’ did not give a reason as to why it had not yet made any public announcements on the matter.

At the same time, he thanked ‘public works minister’ Erhan Arikli for his “great support” regarding the project, though the material nature of this support is not clear.

The Cyprus Mail contacted the ‘public works ministry’, which explained that as the buildings are not under public ownership, any tender being held is outside of their jurisdiction and not something of which they are aware.

The businessman was quoted by Yeni Bakis as saying the hotels will be furnished “as they were in 1974, and will be reminiscent of that period”.

He added, “Varosha is a place with a world brand and there will be an influx to Varosha from all over the world.”

In addition, he claims “thousands of people” have made reservations for the hotels.