Protest to UN at threat to settle Varosha

THE GOVERNMENT has protested to the United Nations over Turkish threats to settle the abandoned town of Famagusta with refugees from Kosovo.

“The Cyprus government has taken all the necessary steps both towards the Secretary-general of the UN and the five Permanent members of the Security Council in connection with the threats of Mr (Rauf) Denktash,” Government Spokesman Costas Serezis told his daily press briefing yesterday.

The Turkish Cypriot leader last week threatened that he would take in between three and five thousand Albanian Muslims fleeing Kosovo.

He said they would be settled in Varosha, a part of the uninhabited south eastern coastal town of Famagusta which is seen as a possible bargaining chip for the Turkish Cypriots in future settlement talks on the Cyprus problem.

The Greek Cypriot suburb was a popular tourist resort before the Turkish invasion in 1974 when its inhabitants abandoned it.

Serezis said that under UN resolutions Famagusta cannot be settled. “The only legal residents of the town are those who were displaced in 1974,” he said.

Serezis said a response had already been received from the UN to its protest which the government felt was satisfactory.

Famagusta is already patrolled by the UN even though it is not part of the 180km-long buffer zone which divides the island.

The Turkish Cypriot side has repeatedly threatened to settle Varosha over the years.

There are 14,000 tourist beds in Varosha’s 45 hotels and 60 tourist apartment blocks.

Famagusta Mayor Andreas Pouyouros said yesterday that former residents of the town want the repeated threats to end.

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