Turkey reactivates Cypriot tensions in Varosha

One crisis per week. This is almost the average of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, with his neighbouring countries. The disputes in the eastern Mediterranean, the interference in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and now an election on the island of Cyprus.

With the reopening of the ghost town of Varosha in Cyprus, Turkey has once again launched a new provocation to Greece and Europe, in a tense context, with Cyprus blocking the sanctions on Belarus at the European Council and Ankara interfering in the presidential elections in Northern Cyprus (an area recognised only by Turkey).

By holding the elections in the Turkish enclave of the island on Tuesday, Erdogan showed his support for the 'Prime Minister' of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, who is running for election as the leader of the self-proclaimed Republic.

The Turkish Cypriot population in Northern Cyprus, some 200,000 citizens, elect their prime minister this weekend and decide whether they prefer to support the nationalist line dictated by Ankara, or whether they opt for a solution that gives Northern Cyprus greater independence from its occupying force.

Although the total number of candidates amounts to 11, they are divided into two fronts: those who uphold the United Nations' negotiating line, which advocates a federal solution, and those who defend the Ankara line with the creation of two independent states.

Current president Mustafa Akinci advocates a bizonal, bicommunal solution with political equality, a single sovereignty, a single international legal personality and a single citizenship.

On the opposite side is Tatar's position, who is running as the favourite for the first round of elections and represents the nationalist protest line. He is also joined by the leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), Tufan Erhurman, who also advocates a federalist solution.

atar does not hide his loyalty to Turkey. This was seen when he decided to absent himself from a debate between the main candidates and travel to Ankara instead to announce, together with President Erdogan, the partial opening of the beach in the ghost town of Famagusta.

"It is an indisputable fact that Maras is part of (Turkish) Cyprus," Erdogan said, using the Turkish name for Varosha. "We support your decision to open the beautiful coastline in Maras to public use," he told Turkish Cypriot Premier Ersin Tatar.

The premier, who isn't internationally recognized, described the reopening as an "irreversible step."

The internationally-recognized government of Cyprus quickly condemned the move as a "pre-election stunt" and said it would lodge protests to the UN Security Council and EU.

This means not only that Ankara has been fully involved in this Sunday's elections, but also that the peace process, which has been stagnant for several decades, will be set back even further. The return of Famagusta, which was emptied after the expulsion of the population by the Turkish occupation forces, must be agreed upon by both communities, and the unilateral decision of this opening, has altered the whole process.

The coastal city of Varosha, which is part of the metropolitan area of Famagusta, was abandoned after being surrounded by fences by the Turkish army. They invaded the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 as a reaction to an attempted coup d'état to reunite the island with Greece, which has since split in two.

Since it was abandoned by its inhabitants, Varosha, famous for its luxury hotels on the water and for its fine sand beaches, has become a kind of ghost town. But, according to the Turkish press on Thursday, the barriers erected for the first time in 46 years have allowed journalists and spectators to move around the city among the abandoned ruins.

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.

Faced with these moves in Ankara, Greece on Thursday called for a move away from the reopening of the complex in Northern Cyprus, warning that Athens and Nicosia are ready to take the issue to a meeting of European Union leaders next week.

Turkey’s plans to reopen the abandoned beach resort in Varosha are an “unacceptable provocation,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told French newspaper Le Figaro on Friday.

Greek government spokesman Stelios Petsas said the reopening of an area in the abandoned town of Varosha to the public was incongruous with a decision at a European-leaders meeting last week.

“Turkey has to take a step back,” Petsas said, adding that otherwise Greece and Cyprus will bring the issue before an EU summit scheduled for Oct. 15-16.

On Wednesday, the EU called on Turkey to stop fuelling tensions in Cyprus. For the European Commission, the accession to the Community block that Ankara has been asking for since 2005 will not be possible if Turkish relations with Cyprus do not improve.

In a further sign of deteriorating relations, leaders across the EU agreed last week to consider sanctions if Turkey continued to explore for oil and gas in the waters claimed by the member states of Greece and Cyprus.