Originally published 2020-11-16.
On Sunday 15 November 2020, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus and toured Varosha, the fenced-off beach district of Famagusta that has stood empty since its Greek Cypriot residents fled the Turkish invasion in 1974. The Republic of Cyprus, the European Union and many others said the visit, and the partial reopening of Varosha behind it, defied United Nations Security Council resolutions that say the area may only be resettled by its original inhabitants.
Erdoğan went to mark the 37th anniversary of the 1983 declaration of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", a state recognised only by Turkey. During the trip he also called openly for a permanent two-state settlement. Days earlier, thousands of Turkish Cypriots had marched in Nicosia against what they called Ankara's interference in their affairs.
Why Varosha is so sensitive
Before 1974, Varosha was one of the best-known resorts in the eastern Mediterranean, a strip of high-rise hotels and golden beach that drew international visitors and celebrities. Cyprus had been an independent republic since 1960. In July 1974 a coup backed by the military junta then ruling Greece overthrew President Makarios, and Turkey invaded five days later. In August 1974, as Turkish forces advanced on Famagusta, Varosha's Greek Cypriot population fled within hours. The Turkish army then sealed the district off with fences, and for 46 years it remained a ghost town.
Because Varosha was never resettled, it became a symbol of the unresolved Cyprus problem and a possible bargaining chip in any peace deal. The UN Security Council addressed it directly. Resolution 550, adopted in 1984, declared any attempt to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants inadmissible and called for the area to be transferred to UN administration. Resolution 789 of 1992 repeated the call for Varosha to be placed under UN control as a confidence-building measure. Neither has been implemented.
The October 2020 reopening
On 8 October 2020, part of Varosha's seafront, from the former Officers' Club to the Golden Sands Hotel, was opened to visitors. The move was announced by Ersin Tatar, then prime minister of the Turkish Cypriot administration, days before the leadership election in the north, and was backed by Ankara. It split Turkish Cypriot politics: Kudret Özersay called it an election stunt, and his party's withdrawal from the coalition brought down the government.
Tatar went on to defeat the incumbent Mustafa Akıncı, a supporter of reunification as a federation, in the October run-off. Many Turkish Cypriots and international observers saw open Turkish support for Tatar as interference in the vote. For Greek Cypriot refugees from Varosha, the reopening raised fears that their homes, abandoned but still legally theirs, would be redeveloped without them. The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, described the opening as a serious violation of the ceasefire arrangements, and the UN Secretary-General expressed concern.
Erdoğan's 15 November visit
Erdoğan had announced in late October, at a news conference with Tatar in Ankara, that he would visit on 15 November and hold a picnic in Varosha. The programme in the north reportedly included anniversary ceremonies, a military parade and the opening of new facilities. In the evening, in the rain, he toured the fenced area of Varosha. He said it was time for new initiatives there and promised that Greek Cypriot owners could receive compensation if they applied to the property commission set up in the north.
His most significant words concerned the island's future. Dismissing decades of UN-led talks on a federal solution, Erdoğan said: "There must be talks for a solution on the basis of two separate states." He also said Turkey would continue searching for oil and gas in waters the Republic of Cyprus claims as its own.
On the day of the visit, Turkey's Ministry of National Defence posted an anniversary message on Twitter praising the 1983 declaration and saying Turkey stood by Turkish Cypriots in 2020 just as it had in 1974. The original post is no longer available.
37 yıl önce kendi kaderini tayin ederek bağımsızlığını ve özgürlüğünü ilan eden Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti’nin kuruluş yıl dönümü kutlu olsun.
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) November 15, 2020
Türkiye, 1974 yılında nasıl Kıbrıs Türkü kardeşlerinin yanında durduysa bugün de aynı ruhla Kıbrıs Türkü’nün yanındadır. pic.twitter.com/drR2lAdT84
(This post is no longer available on X.)
How the visit was received
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades condemned the trip as an attempt to torpedo the UN effort to restart reunification talks, and the Cypriot government called it a provocation without precedent. Greek Cypriots demonstrated at a crossing point on the UN-patrolled buffer zone. Borrell said the EU deplored the actions in Varosha and Erdoğan's statements, which should be urgently reversed. In late November 2020 the European Parliament urged Turkey to reverse its decision on Varosha and raised the possibility of sanctions, which Ankara rejected.
Turkey's position was that Varosha lies within Turkish Cypriot territory and that opening it was a sovereign matter. Critics replied that the area is covered by specific UN resolutions and that any change to its status belongs in a negotiated settlement.
Turkish Cypriots who protested
Some of the strongest criticism came from Turkish Cypriots themselves. On 10 November 2020, before the visit, thousands marched in Nicosia at a rally organised by the Democracy and Will Platform. Former leader Mustafa Akıncı attended, along with Tufan Erhürman, leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party, Cemal Özyiğit of the Communal Democracy Party, and representatives of civil society groups.
Banners read "Freedom, not enforcement", "Not intervention, but will" and "The last word belongs to the Cypriots". One placard objected to a picnic held over other people's pain, a reference to Erdoğan's planned visit to Varosha. Organisers stressed that they had no hostility towards Turkey or Turkish people, but rejected outside control of their political life.
AKEL, the main left-wing party in the Republic of Cyprus and a long-standing supporter of reunification as a bizonal, bicommunal federation, backed the marchers. It described their protest as a "common struggle for an island where the Cypriots alone, freely and democratically, will decide on their internal affairs."
What has happened since
The visit marked a turning point. At an informal UN meeting in Geneva in April 2021, the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides formally proposed a two-state solution, which the Republic of Cyprus rejected. On 20 July 2021, during another Erdoğan visit, Tatar announced a second phase of reopening in Varosha and invited Greek Cypriot owners to file claims with the Immovable Property Commission. Three days later the UN Security Council issued a presidential statement condemning the move and repeating that settling Varosha by anyone other than its inhabitants is inadmissible. Turkey rejected the statement.
Parts of Varosha have since been opened for commercial use and millions of visitors have walked its streets, but the original owners have not returned. The north of Cyprus remains under Turkish military occupation, and Varosha remains one of the clearest tests of whether UN resolutions on the island will ever be respected.
Sources: Wikipedia: Varosha, Famagusta; Kuwait Times (AFP): Erdogan says Cyprus to stay divided, visits ghost town in north; EUobserver, 16 November 2020; Duvar English: Turkish Cypriots stage protest against Ankara's interference; Cyprus Mail: Thousands protest in north over Turkish interference.
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