Famagusta Mayor disappointed over Rehn’s statements

Alexis Galanos, the Mayor of the Turkish-occupied town of Famagusta, has expressed disappointment over recent statements made by EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn.
The EU Commissioner had said that the return of Varosha, modern town of Famagusta, to its legal inhabitants constitutes a separate issue from the negotiations on direct trade between the EU and the Turkish Cypriots, and had always been part of the UN procedure.
In a letter to Rhen, Galanos said these statements appear to ignore fundamental considerations and principles such as the fact that Famagusta, a European city and a European responsibility is kept captive to political expediencies and blackmail – isolated, empty and inaccessible to its Greek Cypriot legal inhabitants – by Turkey, a country aspiring to become a member of the EU family.
He also noted that such statements appear to ignore UN resolution 550 (11 May 1984) calling for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN and resettlement by its legal inhabitants and also the return of the Greek Cypriot legal inhabitants of Famagusta stipulated in the High Level Agreement signed by former President of Cyprus Spyros Kyprianou and former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash (19 May 1979), in which the following provision is made “After agreement on Varosha has been reached it will be implemented without awaiting the outcome of the discussion on other aspects of the Cyprus problem.”
“In view of the above, your recent statements are entirely inconsistent with international responsibilities inherent to United Nations Organisation, while at the same time, they disregard the primarily humanitarian nature of the issue of Famagusta, ignoring European principles and practice,” the Mayor added.
He underlined that “it is our strong conviction that should the Greek Cypriot legal inhabitants of Famagusta return to their city, this will automatically give the chance to Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots to establish a fruitful and productive cooperation in the town of Famagusta. That will reserve the present undesirable situation and become a precedent for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.”
He said that “it is exactly because of the above that your recent statements create frustration and pessimism amongst Cypriots and causes hope to recede, leading to a very negative attitude to any efforts for overall solution to the Cyprus problem, fact which, I am sure, it is not you objective,” expressing hope to have the opportunity to meet Rehn sometime in the future.
Famagusta, a flourishing seaside tourist resort before the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, is situated at the eastern end of the line dividing this east Mediterranean island. Ankara has ignored numerous UN resolutions calling for the immediate withdrawal of its troops Cyprus.