Christodoulides talks Turkish activity in EEZ, Varosha with UN’s Guterres

Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides said he discussed Turkish activities in the Cyprus' exclusive economic zone and statements regarding the fenced-off city of Varosha in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in Geneva on Monday.

Christodoulides said that his talks with Guterres also touched on the the memorandums signed between Turkey and Libya, while the UN official also focused on migration and the "serious challenges" facing Cuprus.

Turkey along with several Turkish Cypriot politicians have repeatedly stated their plans to resettle the ghost town that was abandoned 46 years ago following the Turkish invasion on July 20, 1974.

Since then, Varosha in the northern section of Famagusta has remained a military zone.

Tension spiked once again earlier this month after a meeting organized by the Turkish Union of Bar Associations and attended by several top Turkish Cypriot politicians. The meeting was reproached by both President Nicos Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

Reports emerged last Thursday that President Nicos Anastasiades has requested UN help through a letter to Guterres to set up a bicommunal committee on Varosha, as part of a confidence-building measure (CBM).

According to UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) any attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants is inadmissible. It also calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN Resolution 789 (1992) says that the area at present under the control of UNFICYP should be extended to include Varosha.

[Kathimerini Cyprus]