Front Page Headlines
No options are left for Varosha
As Turkish side pushes to open fenced off area, Republic looks set to be reduced to usual reactive role
- Asylum seeking trio trapped in buffer zone
- Fighter or victim? July 9 is the 200th anniversary of the execution of Archbishop Kyprianos by the Turks
- Anastasiades talks of defence cooperation with UK as he visits warship
- Opinion: Varosha’s future out of government’s control
Varosha is coming, again and again
The tragic conclusion is being sealed by Tayyip Erdogan on July 20.
- R. Denktas is determining from his grave equal sovereignty and the ‘final solution’
- Document from 1957: The British bi-zonal execution of the RoC
- Savvas Iacovides (opinion): The political leadership is delivering the RoC to a new burdensome Turkocracy
- Lazaros A. Mavros (opinion): 48 second of Julys 1974-2021
- Christodoulos K. Yiallourides (opinion): EU-Turkish agenda in a constantly turbulent basis
- Vasilios L. Constantinopoulos (opinion): Turkey beyond international law but within international force
The President did everything wrong
Study by RetailZoom on behalf of ‘Politis’. 82% of those asked believe that Nicos Anastasiades’ handlings were non-satisfactory. 58% believe that the reshuffle in which he engaged was bad to very bad. 78% of those asked state that they would not vote for the current President again for a third term as President of the Republic. Divided over Andros.
- The huge dilemma of Varosha
Hard rock for two states
Turkish blackmail: Either sovereign equality is accepted or they move forward with faits accomplis. Famagusta and natural gas in the frame.
- Guterres’ next moves in the fall: First the appointment of a representative
- Nikos Charalambous: UN technocrats are downgrading the RoC
- Channel of communication with Biden here and now
- Nikos Colocassides: The property commission a time trap for Varosha
They’re opening another section of Varosha
Ankara’s aim is for it to function as a model for the opening of the entire fenced-off town.
We are AKEL and we will raise it high
Message of determination for AKEL to lead the way in struggles once again
- Louroujina: Six decades of loneliness. The opening of a crossing would help the entire area
- Raging fire: Scenes of chaos since yesterday noon in the mountain area of Larnaca and Limassol
- Reportage: The Turkish Cypriot community is experiencing an unprecedented economic crisis
Hellish fire in 10 communities, the fires entered the homes
Firefighting planes coming from Greece and Israel. Apocalyptic pictures, villages were evacuated in the Limassol-Larnaca districts, the damage is massive! Presidents Anastasiades: The priority is to ensure no human lives are lost.
- Turks are stretching but not cutting the rope: Famagusta in a countdown
- Christos Panayiotides: The tragedy of Famagusta fenced-off town and the handlings
Main News
Turkish plans for reopening of Varosha emerging successful
Alithia, Kathimerini, Phileleftheros, Politis, Sunday Mail
Negotiations Process, Territory
OVERVIEW
Developments in Varosha and the difficulty of curbing Turkish plans for the area were among the main news items of papers published on Sunday.
Politis unpacks UN resolution 550 that deals with Varosha, and that states in paragraph 5 that any attempts to settle any part of Varosha, from any person other than its former inhabitants, as unacceptable and calls for the transfer of the area under UN administration.
The paper writes that on Thursday during his visit to the north, Turkish Foreign Minister Melvut Cavusoglu said the process to reopen Varosha will continue and will take place in a manner that is transparent, in line with international law, UN resolutions and property rights. According to Politis, Turkey’s plans obviously violate the first parameter of the UN resolution which is that the area can only be resettled by its former inhabitants, as well as the second since recent discussion has involved the opening of the area under TC administration.
An EU diplomatic source told Politis that the EU is monitoring developments to see how Turkey plans to fulfil its promise that it won’t violate the property rights of former inhabitants. The source also said that the EU will be in a tough spot in terms of imposing sanctions on Turkey if the country respects even one element of UN resolutions, namely property rights. As such, Politis writes that particular interest is placed on whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, upon his visit to the north on July 20, will refer to the now formal call to former inhabitants to state whether they intend to return under TC administration.
Former inhabitants will have to deal with the dilemma of returning or not seriously, Politis report, since returning under TC administration directly points to a recognition of the ‘TRNC’, and will mean those former inhabitants will become residents of the north and pay taxes there. Should crossings and relations between the two sides return to normal, GCs of Varosha will have dual citizenship, as do the Maronites of Kormakitis and the enclaved of Karpasia. On the other hand, if GCs return to Varosha, they will ensure that their property belongs to them and no one can henceforth challenge their property rights, which becomes especially important if a solution is not found.
Whatever the case, Politis writes that the town remains uninhabitable and will need several billions of euros to become a town suitable for habitable, and therefore the Turkish side’s growing attention to the area serves to put the GC side in a tough spot in which it has to push for the resolution of the Cyprus problem or lose the town. Also, by calling former inhabitants to return to an area that remains uninhabitable, it is likely that these will move to sell their properties to Turkish companies.
Phileleftheros reports that Turkey is moving toward creating new faits accomplis on both land and sea until the GC side accepts the claims for sovereign equality and equal international status. Until these claims are satisfied, the paper writes that the Turkish side is attempting to link the issue of Varosha with that of natural gas through blackmail tactics.
In the face of this, Phileleftheros reports that Nicosia is on a race to inform international players, and mainly the EU, whose intervention is being requested. As regards the UN, Phileleftheros writes that its intentions will become clearer in July when the UN Secretary General (UNSG) is expected to submit his two reports to the UN Security Council (UNSC).
Kathimerini reports that Ankara is planning on reopening a part of Varosha on a pilot basis as a model for the reopening of the rest of the town, with this development to take place soon. The pilot reopening will involve building repairs and the construction of necessary infrastructure that will support the habitation of the town.
The paper writes that diplomatic sources state that in response, Nicosia is moving in the background in an attempt to secure the support of the US and another EU member state, but for the time being it remains unclear how this support will be translated into action. Kathimerini reports that what is clear is that even though the EU has stressed that it will not accept a two-state solution, new Turkish provocations will not affect Ankara’s future relations with Brussels, especially as regards funding for migration and the modernisation of the customs union.
Alithia reports that Turkey is handling the issue of Varosha in a way that doesn’t incite international reaction. Citing diplomatic sources, the paper writes that in response to interventions made on the matter by the US and EU, Ankara has ensured that it will not be interfering with GC properties, and that it will even call on them to return to their properties, for which they will even arrange that internationally recognised experts, a team of which has already been created, conduct studies on the structural stability and safety of buildings.
Alithia reports that it appears that Turkish plans are securing understanding from foreign diplomats, something which has allowed the first phase of the reopening of Varosha to move forward. The paper writes that if GCs choose to claim their properties, and not necessarily to settle there, then TC authorities will move to utilise those not claimed. If GCs don’t claim their properties at all, then Turkey will state that GCs aren’t interested in their properties and that it’s a shame to leave them as they are. And in any case, there won’t be one foreign person that will stand against Turkey putting an end to the abandonment of the town which it offered to the rightful inhabitants for utilisation. Overall, Alithia writes that fault for the inability of Famagustians to return for so many years lies with the GC side which repeatedly rejected opportunities it was offered.
Cyprus Mail reports citing analysts that for all the talk of ‘mobilising’ the international community against the Turkish side’s growing encroachment into Varosha, the government seems to lack any real plan to wriggle out of what’s arguably a checkmate move by Ankara. One source, a former diplomat, said there are just two avenues for Cyprus – the EU and the UNSC. But both these avenues have been tried countless times, yielding no concrete results except for verbal, generic expressions of support to Cyprus and the need to uphold international law.
Regarding Anastasiades’ letter to US President Joe Biden, the source said that it is doubtful whether Biden will even get to read that letter, since Biden has numerous important matters to deal with, to the extent that Anastasiades’ letter probably lands at the bottom of the pile.
The source told Cyprus Mail that whatever Turkey decides to do with Varosha, the GC side is reduced to a reactive role, with the only available plan dealing with public relations management. Another source told the paper that what makes Turkey’s handling of the Varosha issue that it’s a big deal to the international community, especially if an offer is made to former inhabitants to return.