VAROSHA, Cyprus (AP) – The newly paved street with its new bike lane marks meanders through the heart of abandoned Varosha, ethnically divided in northern Cyprus, to a sunken cinema in front of the Savvas Constantinides family home.
Still, a rope prevents the Greek Cypriot cardiologist from walking down a bush-lined side street to see the house he fled as a 6-year-old refugee in 1974 as Turkish troops approached the suburb of Famagusta.
Like any tourist or tourist, the ancient Greek Cypriot residents of Varosha have to look behind the ropes for empty houses and schools, gutted hotels and looted shops.
They cannot enter their lost homes.
This is the rule imposed by the Turkish Cypriot authorities last October, when they partially opened Varosha (Maras in Turkish) to visitors amid much fanfare, after keeping it uninhabited and sealed by Turkish troops for almost half a century.
They cite public safety as many buildings collapse. But it is the absurdity of playing sightseeing in his old house that hooks Constantine, 53.
Now, Turkey and Turkish Cypriots offer the opportunity to let at least some Greek Cypriots regain their ownership of Varosha if they accept as legitimate the rule of the separatist Turkish Cypriot state, a measure that sows consternation and discord.
“There is a huge rage about what has happened here. Turkey has committed a huge crime, “Constantinople said.
“Today we are living the same crime again. … It’s as if they’re doing the autopsy and tourists are coming to witness it. It’s a shame, a shame for humanity. “
With its white sandy beaches and luxury hotels, Varosha was the pride of the thriving tourism industry on the eastern Mediterranean island.
Then, in 1974, Turkey invaded in response to a coup aimed at union with Greece. About 180,000 Greek Cypriots fled the northern third of Cyprus, including 15,000 residents in Varosha. Tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots settled in the north, the declaration of independence of which only Turkey recognizes.
Varosha remained intact, to be used as a bargaining chip in the peace negotiations, despite two UN Security Council resolutions (the last in 1992) for its return to its residents under the administration of the United Nations. ‘UN.
After decades of fruitless negotiations, Turkey and Turkish Cypriots last year changed their attack on Varosha, in a major policy change that sought to formally divide Cyprus between two “sovereign and equal states”, ignoring the agreed framework for a federation of Greeks and Turkish-speaking Zones.
This change was condemned by the United Nations, the EU, the United States, Russia and others because it seriously undermined hopes for peace.
In July, Turkey and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar lifted their stake, inviting Greek Cypriots to regain ownership and live under Turkish Cypriot administration in a small fragment of Varosha before a possible wider opening.
Applications must be addressed to the Real Estate Commission, a Turkish Cypriot legal body endorsed by the European Court of Human Rights. The CPI was created to try property cases of Greek Cypriots who wanted to regain their ownership, as a first step before potentially reaching the ECHR.
Greek Cypriots – and many Turks – saw the invitation as a Turkish Cypriot ploy to consolidate control of Varosha and ensure the implicit recognition of its dominance to its former inhabitants.
The Greek Cypriot government, which represents the island internationally, fears that a large number of applications to the CPI could trigger a massive sale of goods in Varosha and elsewhere that the north would exploit politically.
The CPI has received nearly 7,000 applications since 2006 and essentially bought Greek Cypriot properties in approximately 1,200 of those cases and the rest is still pending. He has ruled to return or change properties with land in other northern places only a dozen times.
Oz Karahan, the Turkish Cypriot president of the left-wing association for peace Cypriot Union, says Turkish Cypriots who lost property in the south empathize with Varosha refugees. He is among many Turkish Cypriots who consider the Tatar government illegitimate and claim that his election followed an unprecedented Turkish interference.
“Turkey’s new policy is clearly aimed at making Varosha part of its … illegal regime in the north,” Karahan said.
Simos Ioannou, exiled Greek Cypriot mayor of Famagusta, says the passage from Turkey tried to undermine peace talks and provoke convulsions in the south.
“I think it was done to plant a tombstone on the subject of Cyprus, to force us to live under the Turkish Cypriot administration and to encourage division among the Greek Cypriot residents of Varosha,” he said.
On his first visit to Varosha since 1973, Ioannou said refugees could have returned long ago if Turkey had heeded UN resolutions.
“But they are afraid to show that we can live peacefully with (the Turkish Cypriots),” he added.
Ioannou said it is known that 37 Varosha property owners applied to the CPI, but “very few” expressed their willingness to return under the Turkish Cypriot administration.
The house of Constantinople is located outside the outlying area where Greek Cypriots have said they can recover their properties. But he said he will not give up trying to get back what belongs to his family.
“I hope a way can be found to come back as landlords and not as tenants or tourists, but I am sure I will fight for my rights,” he added. “I owe it to my parents who worked hard to build this. I owe it to my daughter.”