EU urges Turkey not to reopen Varosha militarised zone in Cyprus

Cyprus is experiencing a few weeks of intense international activity. Especially in view of the clashes with Turkey. In the middle of the elections in the north of the island, the Turkish government announced the reopening of the militarised area of Varosha while, turning a deaf ear to the international community, it has resumed gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. 

With the reopening of the ghost town of Varosha in Cyprus, Turkey has once again launched a new provocation to Greece and Europe. This area has been sealed off as a military zone for 46 years and is considered key to the Turkish-Cypriot conflict. Varosha beach is located near the port of Famagusta, the main tourist centre of Cyprus before it was abandoned after the Turkish occupation of the north of the island in 1974.

The EU asked Turkey on Tuesday to reverse "immediately" its decision to reopen Varosha's beachfront neighbourhood. EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, expressed grave concern over the decision to proceed with the “opening” of part of the fenced area of Varosha.

The EU underlined the importance of the status of Varosha, as set out in relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and will continue to be guided by these Resolutions, in particular UN Security Council Resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992), which included this neighbourhood in the area under the control of the United Nations peacekeeping forces, which are acting as observers of the conflict. 

"The EU reiterates that full respect of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions is crucial and calls for the immediate reversal of recent actions.", said Borrell. 

The town of Varosha was uninhabited with the arrival of the Turkish army in Cyprus in 1974. The coastal town was famous for its luxury hotels on the water and its fine sand beaches, but now it is a kind of ghost town where only UN observers circulate. Ankara's project, according to The Guardian, is to restore the past grandeur of the coastal city.  

The British newspaper collected statements from former residents of the coastal city who organised a demonstration on Thursday at a junction along a UN-controlled buffer zone to express their opposition to the opening. 

“How can someone not be upset by what they have seen today?” said the Greek Cypriot mayor of Famagusta, Simos Ioannou Press. “Varosha should have been handed over to its rightful owners … this is psychological pressure.” The Nicosia daily, the Cyprus Mail also pointed out that when the doors were opened hundreds of people demonstrated against this "Turkish provocation" along with a blatant violation of UN resolutions. 

The 27 "will support the United Nations to resume the Cyprus settlement as soon as possible, which is the framework to deal with many issues. We consider that Turkey needs to engage actively in finding solutions and not to engage in negative behaviour".

Mr Borrell stressed that the EU was ready to play an "active role" in supporting these negotiations, including the nomination of a representative to the UN mission when the talks resume. 

The European representatives were not the only ones to draw attention to Turkey. The UN Security Council also called on Turkey on Friday to reverse its decision. 

Also, the top representative of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, has visited Greece and Turkey to open a telephone channel to deal with the tensions that are on the table at the moment. The head of NATO is worried about the confrontation of these two NATO member countries.  

Meetings with Stoltenberg seemed to open up a small halo of light at the end of the tunnel. Turkey withdrew its survey ships from Cyprus and the international community celebrated the beginning of a de-escalation. 

But this idyllic situation did not last even four days, as vessel Oruç Reis sailed again in the waters of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Greece. The Turkish Navy has reported the deployment of the ship until October 22.  

Turkey has already warned that it would resume activity if there was no progress in the negotiations with Greece, although it has not left time to make proposals. "We will continue to search, drill and defend our rights", Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez proclaimed last Monday.

The European Union has avoided talking at its extraordinary summits about possible sanctions against Turkey, but at the next summit in December they will have no choice but to take action. The only thing they could agree on was to raise the tone against Turkey and to ask unanimously for "reducing the tension in that area". 

The next meeting between Greece and Turkey is already scheduled. On Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas will meet Çavusoglu in Ankara to discuss the situation in Eastern Mediterranean. 

We will have to wait until December to see whether the European Union will take definitive measures against the Ottoman country, with which it has several commitments that are difficult to circumvent. The migratory crisis and the gas and oil pipelines that cross Turkey towards northern Europe are a perfect excuse for Erdogan to blackmail the commissioners. 

This announcement does not come on casual dates. Elections were held last Sunday in the northern part of Cyprus. The results obtained have forced the population to a second-round next weekend, in which Ersin Tatar, so far Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (and akin to Erdogan's policies) and the current President of the Republic, Mustafa Akinci, will be debated. 

With the vote count completed, Tatar won the support of 32.35 percent of the voters, followed by Akinci with 29.84 percent and the centre-left leader of the Turkish Republican Party, Tufan Erhürman, with 21.68 percent. As they did not obtain a majority above 50% of the votes, the two main winners will meet on Sunday. 

Tatar is an advocate of the creation of two independent states as a solution to the Cyprus problem and enjoys great support in Ankara, where he came last week to announce by surprise with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the opening of part of the beach in the ghost town of Varosha. 

Akinci, however, wants to end the strong dependence of Turkey, which insufflates money and military force to TRNC and is the only country recognising it as a state. With respect to the Cyprus conflict, Akinci advocates a bizonal and bicommunal solution, with political equality, a single sovereignty, a single international legal personality and a single citizenship.

The conflict between Turkey and Cyprus began in the mid-20th century and still affects the territory and population of the island. The territorial dispute has had the intervention of different international powers. Mainly Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, in addition to the United Nations. 

Since the colonisation of the island by the British Empire this conflict has remained unresolved following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the region. It turns out that in 1878 the Ottoman Empire ceded the island's administration to the British through the Istanbul Convention. 

During WWII, Cypriots fought for the right to self-determination. But not all citizens wanted the same resolution, the relations with Turkey and Greece divided the population. This triggered a civil war between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots that ended in 1974 by dividing the north and south of the island with different ethnic populations. In the north, the population is related to Turkey; in the south, to Greece. 

The Greek Cypriots aimed to achieve independence from Britain and to annex the region to Greece. On the other hand, the Turkish Cypriots refuse to live under the Greek administration and have asked for the division of the island for self-management. 

The conflict had international implications beyond the island involving Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom, powers which, during the Zurich and London Agreements, provided a legal basis for Cypriot independence. 

The United States, the United Nations and the European Union have also been close observers of the development of the conflict. Hostilities between the two communities reached an inordinate intensity in the 1960s. As a result, in December and January 1963, the United Nations deployed a mission to monitor the fighting in the Tylliria region. 

Following the coup d'état of the Colonels in Greece (21 April 1967), the union of Cyprus with France became a credible possibility. As a result, the Turkish army occupied the northern part of the island in 1974, where the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was eventually established, unilaterally declaring its independence and the partition of the island. 

Although this proclamation lacks international recognition it still causes the international community considerable difficulties. 

The territory of the island is currently divided. To the south of the so-called Green Line (a military boundary of separation between the opposing sides established and maintained by the UN), the area inhabited by the Greek Cypriot community exercises the authority of the so-called Republic of Cyprus, which is internationally recognised and has even obtained membership of the European Union. 

In the north, the Turkish Cypriot population, close to Turkey, is still fighting for self-determination. Next Sunday, the second round of the elections will be crucial for the area where the separatists and those close to Greece will decide on the future of the region.