US calls on Turkey to backdown on Varosha

US Ambassador Judith G. Garber said Washington urges Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to reverse their decision to open Varosha.

This was conveyed during a meeting on Friday Garber has with House Speaker Annita Demetriou.

Demetriou expressed her sincere appreciation for the US position on the Cyprus problem and efforts to resolve it.

Garber affirmed the United States supports the United Nations efforts to resume negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem.

Regarding the opening of Varosha, Garber said the United States calls on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to reverse their announced actions immediately.

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar stoked tensions in announcing his intention to open up part of the fenced-off resort of Varosha.

In a written statement this week, Tatar said the initiative for Varosha aims to protect and establish rights, saying that Varosha is territory of the breakaway state.

He reaffirmed that opening Varosha would be under Turkish Cypriot rule, declaring that “anything else is out of the question”.

Tatar said the rights of Greek Cypriot property owners would be protected.

He claimed there were 36 applications submitted by former residents of the area expressing their willingness to secure their rights to their properties’

Brussels has called Turkey to row back its decision to open Varosha, said the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell earlier this week.

According to an EU declaration, the European Union “strongly condemns” Turkey’s unilateral steps and the “unacceptable” announcements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Tatar to further reopen Varosha.

“The EU welcomes the UN Security Council’s condemnation and expression of deep regret about the unilateral actions in Varosha that run contrary to the Security Council’s previous resolutions and statements.

“The EU equally calls for the immediate reversal of these actions and the reversal of all steps taken on Varosha since October 2020”, Borrell said.