Front Page Headlines
Come, take a stroll and go back
Two avenues in the closed-off city of Maraş (Varosha) were opened to controlled access under the supervision of the military. The area has been opened to visits for limited hours. Over 2000 people visited the closed-off area of Maraş (Varosha) which is under the military’s control following instructions given by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to open a section of the area. Prime Minister Ersin Tatar also joined the visitors. The High Electoral Council (YSK) banned an opening ceremony from being held. There were soldiers and police officers supervising visitors along the road cleared. There were security tapes drawn on the sides of the roads. Journalists were not allowed to photograph an officer’s club in the area currently in use. Visitors will be allowed between 9 am and 5 pm.
- UN Security Council (UNSC) to convene today to discuss Maraş (Varosha).
- Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Tufan Erhürman: “Maraş only opened for visits” – “Steps are being taken without informing the Council of Ministers, the Deputy Prime Minister-Foreign Minister. Who do you think you are a sultan? You are making decisions on your own.”
Historic step
A section of Maraş (Varosha) was opened to the public 46 years later yesterday (Thursday). The most important tourist area in the world was visited by 2332 people in five hours.
- University students have started to arrive in the north – Charter flights are being organized for students studying in the Turkish Cypriot universities.
Despite all the meddling, the winner will be political will
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader and presidential candidate Tufan Erhürman said the people will have the final say in the elections despite interference. “No matter what the people decide on Sunday, the outcome will have to be respected because this is how democracies work,” Erhürman said.
- Tatar’s last hope: Maraş (Varosha) – The National Unity Party (UBP) leader and presidential candidate Ersin Tatar put on a show by opening a small part of Maraş (Varosha) to boost his votes in Sunday’s elections.
- “Asking for votes over a lie” – Independent presidential candidate Serdar Denktaş said water from Turkey and Maraş (Varosha) have become the main elements of Tatar’s election campaign.
- “Tatar is not in the leading role in the scenario” – Incumbent president and presidential candidate Mustafa Akıncı harshly criticized Ersin Tatar.
Joy in the north, anger in the south
Thousands of people poured into Maraş (Varosha) which opened after 46 years. Sections of the closed-off town of Maraş (Varosha), known to many as the ‘ghost town’ were opened to public access yesterday (Thursday) after 46 years. An official ceremony was not held after the High Electoral Council placed a ban. The visit to Democracy (Eleftheria) Avenue started at noon as hundreds of people entered the town through a gate opened next to the Dr Fazıl Küçük Stadium. Dozens of journalists from the TRNC, Turkey and South Cyprus covered the event. While visiting Turkish Cypriots took souvenir photos, expressing their happiness, the move sparked anger in the south. Some Greek Cypriot organisations staged a protest at the Derinya (Dherinya) crossing point against Turkey.
- Disgrace – President Mustafa Akıncı expressed anger at the government for excluding the Office of the President out of work carried out on Maraş (Varosha).
- Erhürman: Are you a sultan?”
- Oktay: The town has been filled with voices of people again
- Kılıçdaroğlu: The whole town should open
- The EU will be the second step – Greek Cypriots who protested the partial opening of Maraş (Varosha) have turned their eyes to the UNSC meeting today (Friday).
Taken
The last bounty Maraş (Varosha) made its debut. A section of Maraş (Varosha) was opened to the public 46 years later yesterday (Thursday). The Turkish Cypriot Security Forces (GKK) announced that the area can be visited on foot from 9 am to 5 pm. Members of the media from both Turkey and the north covered the opening.
- Maraş (Varosha) will be taken up at the UNSC meeting today (Friday).
Main News
TC authorities partially open access to Maraş (Varosha) after four decades
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Property, Territory, Negotiations Process
OVERVIEW
Turkish Cypriot authorities on Thursday partially opened public access to Maraş (Varosha) which had been abandoned for the past 46 years, in a move welcomed by Turkey and condemned by the Greek Cypriot side, Greece and various political circles in the north.
The area was accessible to the public for eight hours, with broadcast footage showing guards behind barricades allowing in masked visitors, some in straw hats, others waving Turkish and TRNC flags.
A gate to the fenced beach area opened at noon as live video footage broadcast by Yenidüzen and online media outlets showed people walking along a street within the fenced area and going to the beach.
They strolled down a deserted street, passing bullet-ridden buildings, a shattered bank front and deserted apartment blocks.
According to Yenidüzen, 2332 people entered the area by 5 pm.
According to an announcement, by the Turkish Cypriot Security Forces (GKK) access to the beach of the enclosed city of Famagusta will be allowed to the people and visitors from 9 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon.
While visitors are allowed to take photographs drones are not allowed, the statement said.
It also warned visitors not to leave the designated route to the beach or enter any of the surrounding buildings because of the danger posed by the poor state of the structures.
According to some reports, no documents or ID will be necessary to enter Maraş (Varosha) but there has been no official statement on the issue.
No ID checks were conducted on Thursday.
Works in the area started on Wednesday morning.
A gate and a checkpoint were erected next to the Dr Fazıl Küçük stadium from where visitors will be able to enter the beach area.
No identification was requested when the gate opened on Thursday.
National Unity Party (UBP) MP Oguzhan Hasipoğlu told reporters that entry is allowed for everyone including foreigners and not just Turkish Cypriots.
He also said that people can use the beach from the area where the military club is located up to Golden Sands hotel which is around the one-kilometre distance.
Hasipoğlu added that the procedure to open Varosha will be a gradual one and in the future, more areas in the enclosed town will open.
The section opened to visitors includes Eleftheria Avenue leading to Ermou street, the Ayia Triada or Bilal Ağa Mescid roundabout and street with the same name leading to the beachfront.
The Turkish Defence Ministry released photos showing small groups of people wandering along roads surrounded by deserted buildings and near Varosha’s sandy beach, including one woman with a large Turkish flag draped on her back.
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay welcomed the opening of Varosha.
“The beautiful beaches of Maraş (Varosha), the pearl of the Mediterranean, have been filled with sounds of people after 46 years. I have full faith that Maraş (Varosha) will be a symbol of peace and prosperity and become the heart of the TRNC economy,” Oktay said on Twitter.
Greek Cypriot protests were planned along the UN-controlled buffer zone near the fenced-off town.
Greece warned that it would join the Greek Cypriot administration in a new push for the bloc to impose sanctions on Turkey.
“Turkey must take a step back. If it does not, the issue will be discussed by EU leaders next week,” said Greek government spokesperson Stelios Petsas.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was “very concerned” about the reopening and stressed the “urgency of restoring confidence and not of creating greater divisions.”
In the meantime, the High Electoral Council (YSK) announced on Thursday morning, that based on the elections timeframe, no ceremonies can take place for the opening of Maraş (Varosha).
The council said its ruling followed a complaint filed by an associate of Serdar Denktaş, who is running as an independent.
The council had announced on Wednesday that anyone disobeying its decisions, individuals, or ‘institutions’, would be subject to penalties.
Despite the YSK’s prohibiting any ceremony or speech in the area of Maraş (Varosha) in view of the upcoming presidential elections, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar visited the beach area in Maraş (Varosha).
His supporters were applauding and some of them were wrapped in TRNC and Turkish flags.
Following a short tour of the area opened, Tatar told reporters that they had carried out a transcending and ground-breaking move by opening the area to public access.
He assured everyone that the move was not an election ploy and that the steps taken were not in contradiction or violation of international law, UN resolutions or human rights.
“What is important is that we took a historic step,” Tatar said, adding that Maraş (Varosha) would soon rid itself of its reputation of being a ghost town.
“This move will not only serve the economy but humanity as well. 46 years have been wasted. To allow and watch this city rot away was itself a crime against humanity,” Tatar said.
He also recalled that the properties within Maraş (Varosha) were under the jurisdiction of the Immovable Property Commission (IPC).
However, the move on Maraş (Varosha) continued to be criticized by President Mustafa Akıncı and the main opposition Republican Turkish Party (CTP) on Thursday.
Speaking on an election programme on Genç TV on Thursday night, Akıncı repeated his views that the move was a mistake and would have great consequences internationally not only for Turkish Cypriots but Turkey as well.
He also slammed Tatar for excluding the Office of the President from all that was taking place on Maraş (Varosha), calling it a disgrace.
“As I have stated before the issue of Maraş (Varosha) should not be made into an issue that will place the Turkish Cypriot side at odds with the UN,” he said, adding that any steps to be taken on the matter should be done in harmony with UN, by seeking the UN’s views and in accordance with international law and UNSC resolutions,” Akıncı concluded.
Speaking to Bayrak on Thursday, the leader of the CTP and presidential candidate Tufan Erhürman said that the latest development did not concern the opening of Maraş (Varosha) per se but rather letting in people to visit. “
What opened today was not Maraş (Varosha). Maraş (Varosha) has only opened to visits,” he said.
Erhürman also lambasted Tatar who even kept his coalition partner in the dark over the issue.
“Who does he think he is? A Padişah (Sultan)?” he asked, referring to Tatar.
The CTP leader said that what Tatar had done by keeping his coalition partners as well as everyone else in the dark was unacceptable and lacking responsibility.
Former Turkish Cypriot negotiator and CTP MP Ozdil Nami reacted to the news by Bayrak that Maraş (Varosha) was opened, calling it a lie.
“Maraş (Varosha) did not open. Maraş (Varosha) is still a restricted military zone. Only the coastline was opened for walks with the military’s permission,” Nami said in a tweet.
He accused Bayrak of lying for political gains and said it should be held accountable.
Also on Thursday, the Trade Unions’ Platform said that the decision on Maraş (Varosha) did not reflect the political will of the Turkish Cypriot community and was a direct intervention in the elections in the north.
In a statement issued on behalf of the platform, the General-Secretary of the Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Union (KTÖS) Şener Elcil slammed the Turkish President and government for the latest developments.
“We reject all interventions and efforts that ignore the Turkish Cypriot community, which pushes it outside of the boundaries of international law and which serves the continuation of the non-solution of the Cyprus Problem,” he said.
Elcil said that the Turkish Cypriot community will continue to defend its democratic political will and will continue its struggle for political equality.
“The basic desire of the Turkish Cypriot community, which has suffered greatly through war and displacement, is to be able to exercise political will freely and to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution to the Cyprus Problem which will allow it to become part of international law and ensure its political equality,” he said.
TCs only want equitable sharing of the natural gas, Çavuşoğlu says
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa
Energy, Regional/International Relations, EU Matters, External Security
OVERVIEW
“Turkey will not take a step back from its goals in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.
Speaking to The Peninsula newspaper in Qatar, Erdoğan reiterated Ankara’s determination to also protect the interests of the Turkish Cypriots.
“We have voiced loudly on all platforms that we will not accept any solution that disregards Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots and that confines us to the shores, and we will continue to do so,” Erdoğan stressed.
He underlined Ankara has been advocating for equitable distribution of the resources in the region and repeatedly emphasized this during all its diplomatic initiatives.
“However, some countries, particularly Greece, which are disturbed by Turkey’s presence through unilateral steps, have chosen to stir tensions in the region,” Erdoğan said.
“Turkey has demonstrated loud and clear that it supports reducing the tension and favours dialogue in the Eastern Mediterranean, not just through its statements but also its actions despite some neighbouring countries’ intentions to escalate tension. We have the assurance that we are right in terms of international law,” Erdoğan concluded.
“What Turkish Cypriots are asking for is very fair and that is equitable revenue sharing,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on Thursday.
Speaking during the Bratislava Global Security Forum in Slovakia, Çavuşoğlu accused the Greek Cypriot side of rejecting the hydrocarbons proposals submitted by the Turkish Cypriot side.
Responding to a question on Turkey’s so-called violations in the Eastern Mediterranean by the Greek Ambassador, Çavuşoğlu recalled the Turkish Cypriot side’s proposals submitted in 2011, 2012 and in 2019.
“We urge everybody to accept equitable sharing and delimitation. But unfortunately, we were constantly refused,” Çavuşoğlu said and argued that the Greek claims are maximalist. He noted that the Greek side refers to the Seville map which gives continental shelve right to small Greek islands.
“Greece and the Greek Cypriot side have used the controversial map as a tool to isolate Turkey by giving it no maritime territory outside of the Gulf of Antalya, southern Turkey,” he said and reminded that Ankara has carried out seismic research activities in the areas registered to the UN in 2004 and then granted licenses in 2009 and 2011.
Çavuşoğlu recalled the details of the Annan Plan referendum and the past processes and argued that the Greek Cypriot side does not want to share anything with the Turkish Cypriots.
“However, despite the Turkish Cypriot side’s goodwill, the Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades told me during the Crans Montana process that the Greek Cypriots do not even want to share their hospitals with the Turkish Cypriots,” Çavuşoğlu stressed.
In another development, Çavuşoğlu also met with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias in the side-lines of the Global Security Forum to discuss bilateral and regional issues focusing on the maritime disputes in the Eastern Mediterranean.
This is the first time the two foreign ministers have met since the beginning of the problems of hydrocarbon exploration and maritime jurisdiction.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Çavuşoğlu said that they have agreed on the continuation of exploratory talks and confidence-building measures regarding the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean tensions and the two sides are working on setting a date for the meeting which will be held in Istanbul.
In another development, both Turkey and Greece have announced new navigational telex (Navtex) messages one after another.
In response to the Greek Navtex on October 29, which is the Turkish Republic Day, Turkey issued its Navtex for October 28. Both Ankara and Athens have issued their Navtexes to carry out artillery drilling exercises in the Aegean.
KEY ACTORS
Erdoğan (Turkey)
>> Turkey will not take a step back from its goals in the East Med.
>> Ankara is determined to also protect the interests of the TCs.
>> Ankara will not accept any solution that disregards Turkey & the TCs.
>> Ankara has been advocating for an equitable distribution of the resources in the region.
>> Some countries, particularly Greece, which are disturbed by Turkey’s presence through unilateral steps, have chosen to stir tensions in the region.
>> Turkey has demonstrated loud & clear that it supports reducing the tension & favours dialogue in the East Med, not just through its statements but also its actions.
>> We have the assurance that we are right in terms of international law.
Çavuşoğlu (Turkey)
>> What TCs are asking for is very fair & that is equitable revenue sharing.
>> The GC side rejected the hydrocarbons proposals submitted by the TC side, which they have rights in.
>> TC side submitted proposals on hydrocarbons in 2011, 2012 & in 2019.
>> We urge everybody to accept equitable sharing and delimitation. But unfortunately, we were constantly refused.
>> The Greek claims are maximalist.
>> Greece & the GC side have used the controversial map as a tool to isolate Turkey by giving it no maritime territory outside of the Gulf of Antalya.
>> The GC side does not want to share anything with the TCs.