The Municipality of Famagusta declared an information war against the Turks in Varosha
The Municipality of Famagusta will launch a campaign to raise awareness of the situation in the fenced city of Varosha in order to ensure the cessation of Turkish activities there, the Mayor of Famagusta, Simos Ioannou, told CNA.
According to Ioannou, the municipality has requested a meeting with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades ahead of his informal conversation with the new Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar. The Municipality of Famagusta wishes to discuss events with the head of state before he raises the issue in a dialogue with Tatar.
The Mayor of Famagusta stated that they will address the Turkish Cypriots in Turkish through the media and social networks so that they will also learn the position of the citizens of Famagusta. Referring to the forthcoming visit of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the occupied areas of Cyprus and Famagusta, Ioannou reminded that Erdogan himself was irritated by anti-Muslim sketches in France and drew a parallel: “How should we feel when the president of another country turns out to be going to Varosha for a picnic? This is not his city. He took it by war and violence”.
Ioannou also noted that the delegation of the municipality met with the ambassadors of five UN Security Council members in Cyprus and sent letters to the heads of these states, to the EU and political parties of the European Parliament. The official added that the Cypriot government must put pressure on the UN and EU to stop Turkey.
Recall that in 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied its northern third. October 8, the Turkish side illegally, in violation of numerous UN resolutions, opened part of the beach of the abandoned city of Famagusta.
Varosha, a fenced-off part of occupied Famagusta, is often described as a “ghost town”. Resolution 550 (1984) of the UN Security Council considers unacceptable any attempt to populate any part of Varosha with people who are not its residents, and calls for its transfer to the UN. Resolution 789 (1992) also called for the territory currently under UN peacekeepers’ control to be expanded to include Varosha.
