Returning Varosha to its legal owners will seriously contribute to the solution of the Cyprus problem

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris (22.08.11) reports that the New Cyprus Party (YKP) held a march yesterday starting from occupied Famagusta and reaching the occupied fenced town of Varosha. The demonstration under the slogan “Return to Varosha now at once!” was supported by the Famagusta Initiative. Slogans such as “End occupation”, “Independent Cyprus, all peoples are brothers” were shouted during the march. The participants in the activity held banners writing “Our riot is against occupation”, “Varosha belongs to the Cypriots, after it was saved (74) you enter and use it, but we cannot enter in it and use it, the hotels became [military] dorms and camps”, “Abandon the mentality of conquest”, etc.

In a statement during the demonstration, Murat Kanatli, member of YKP’s executive committee, said that turning Varosha into ruins is a violation of the international law. He noted that the opening of Varosha and the return of the “old inhabitants of Famagusta” to their lands will seriously contribute to the solution of the Cyprus problem. He, inter alia, pointed out the following: “Together with giving the possibility to the inhabitants of Famagusta to return by demilitarizing the area in the process leading to the solution, the Cypriots will be able to secure economic profit by establishing joint businesses with the reconstruction of Varosha. If it is considered that the population of Varosha before 1974 was 40 thousands, a serious number of displaced Cypriots will be able to return to their old property. Even this alone is something that will strongly motivate the belief of the Cypriots in the reunification”.