Mayor of Famagusta Simos Ioannou said that the international community is demonstrating its inability to hinder Ankara from violating UN Security Council resolutions regarding the Turkish occupied town of Famagusta.
Ioannou was invited by CNA to comment on the recent works carried out by the regime in the Turkish-occupied areas, aiming at opening another part of the beachfront in the fenced-off area of Varosha.
If the powerful states do not take the necessary steps, he said, Turkey will continue to fully exploit the beachfront to attract tourism.
The Mayor of Famagusta added that it shows the inability of the international community to make Turkey understand that it has to terminate this obvious violation.
He said that the US President and EU leaders must show the same sensitivity for an EU member state, the territorial integrity of which is being violated, as are the UN resolutions that were adopted many years ago and still Turkey has not complied.
He stressed that the international law must be applied to all countries, including Cyprus, “unless for them, this violation does not matter.”
“For us, it is very important, emotionally, but also politically. If the fenced-off area is completely lost, then we will have no hope for our occupied territories, and they must realise that” he said.
The Mayor of Famagusta said that he was already in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked for letters to be sent today to the UN, the EU and the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council.
He said that the Municipality will send a new letter to the UN Secretary General, which will be the fourth since the beginning of the opening of the fenced-off area. The letter, he concluded, will also be sent to the Embassies of the five Permanent Members of the UNSC, to the European Commission and the European Parliament.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. Resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.
Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, announced in July 2021 a partial lifting of the military status in Varosha. On October 8, 2020, the Turkish side opened part of the fenced area of Varosha, following an announcement made in Ankara on October 6. Both the UN Secretary-General and the EU expressed concern, while the UN Security Council called for the reversal of this course of action. In his latest report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Guterres underlines the importance of adhering fully to UN resolutions, underscoring that the position of the United Nations on this matter “remains unchanged.”
Source: Cyprus News Agency