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The European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council will discuss Turkey’s “illegal” actions in Cyprus at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, the Republic of Cyprus’ foreign ministry said.
Turkey’s actions in Varosha, a resort town in northern Cyprus that was evacuated and fenced after the island’s ethnic division following the Turkish invasion in 1974, will be on the Minister’s agenda. EU foreign affairs, as well as relations with the Gulf countries and developments in Afghanistan. , the Ministry noted on Sunday.
Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides will also brief his European counterparts on Turkey’s activities in the island’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), he said.
The so-called Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) partially reopened Varosha to visitors in October last year and cleaned up part of its beach, drawing condemnation from Greece, the European Union and the United States. United, who characterized these actions as violations of United National Regulations.
On July 20, Turkish President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan and Ersin Tatar, chairman of the TRNC, announced their intention to reopen other parts of Varosha. By lifting the military status of part of the city, 3.5% of the area will be granted civilian status, Tatar and ErdoÄŸan said.
On July 24, the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the Turkish authorities’ announcement and insisted that Turkey refrain from implementing the plans.
A presidential statement by the United Nations Security Council, which all 15 members endorsed, said that no action should be taken in relation to Varosha that does not comply with its resolutions.
The Republic of Cyprus, controlled by the Greek Cypriots, is the only recognized government on the island, which has been divided along ethnic lines since the 1974 invasion, triggered by a brief Greek Cypriot coup backed by the junta military in power in Greece. Tatar and ErdoÄŸan call on the international community to recognize the TRNC as a legitimate government as a condition for reopening UN-backed reunification talks for the island.
A UN Security Council resolution passed in 1984 declares that any attempt to colonize any part of Varosha by people other than its original inhabitants is “inadmissible”. A 1992 resolution confirming the 1984 decision called for the fenced-in resort to be placed under the control of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP).
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