President slams Turkey’s Varoshia ‘sun beds’ jibe

Turkey’s insistence on opening up fenced-off Varoshia and belittling the Greek Cypriot response is the epitome of revisionism, slammed President Nicos Anastasiades.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said dismissively that the Greek Cypriot side thinks that placing a few sunbeds on a beach threatens international security and violates international law.

President Anastasiades told reporters Wednesday: “Usurping property is not a matter of 2-3 sunbeds”.

He added that it takes a lot of nerve to speak about “2-3 sunbeds”.

“This is the epitome of extreme revisionism, of a big idea, based only on the political needs of the Turkish President”.

He said Cyprus would not be trapped by exchanging “revisionist rhetoric” with Turkey.

“We cannot be dragged into revisionist rhetoric, one that the Turkish President adopts to serve his own purposes”.

Anastasiades reiterated that the Republic of Cyprus maintains its firm position of respect for international law and diplomatic action.

“Everything that we are watching unfold is against the international law, against the UN Charter”, he said about opening up the abandoned resort town Varoshia.

“The Turkish leadership may “invoke international law as if they were the UN, but when we suggest ways to deal with issues such as the Exclusive Economic Zone, they refuse to engage in consultation.”

Anastasiades described Turkey’s belligerence as “intolerable behaviour” by interpreting international law “as they see fit”.

During a visit to the Turkish-occupied north earlier this week, Cavusoglu said any Cyprus negotiations must be based on a two-state solution.