One woman’s revolutionary plan for Karpas
FOR ME the Karpas peninsula has traditionally been a place where I can escape from the pressures of life. When I first started going there around 15 years ago, there was nothing except a few impoverished villages, the sea, trees, hills, narrow winding roads and scrubland under a big sky.
Around ten years ago campsites began to appear on the beaches near Apostolos Andreas, which I regarded with contempt as the beginning of the end.
Today, however, I am resigned to the fact that much of the Karpas peninsula will be developed for tourism and the glorious isolation I used to feel there will be gone forever.
To be quite honest, I always knew this would happen. So rather than wish in vain that it would remain untouched, I have learned to hope it will be developed in a limited and controlled way by people who love the place for what it is – one of the few remaining wildernesses in the Mediterranean.
Businesswoman Sidika Atalay, who is planning to build a 1,900-bed marina and holiday complex at Yialousa near the tip of the peninsula, insists she is a lover of nature in general and the Karpas in particular. A native of Cyprus and in her mid-fifties she has lived abroad since she was ten.
Now, she says, it is time for her to give something back to the island of her birth.
Atalay’s project, known as Port Barbaros, will, she says, bring more to the once-virgin area than it takes away. She insists it will be built with sensitivity for the environment and for the inhabitants of nearby Yialousa.
“We are giving over a much larger area to greenery than the law requires,” she tells me pointing at the computer mock-up of the site that takes pride of place on the wall of her Nicosia office.
Port Barbaros will cover a two-kilometre strip along the northern Karpas coast and will contain four hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, a cinema, sports facilities and most importantly “the only world-class marina in the eastern Mediterranean”. The marina itself will provide berths for 420 boats along with dry dock facilities for 120 vessels.
“The main focus of the complex will be the marina, but we also want the place to be somewhere yachters can relax and enjoy themselves when they are here,” Atalay says, adding that it is also her company’s intention to provide all the facilities boaters need, including materials and expertise for the repair and servicing of their boats.
She insists, though, that it is not only yachters and holidaymakers who will benefit from Port Barbarosa.
“At present there is very little people in the village can do. There is severe unemployment and very little in the form of social activities,” she explains.
“The complex will include two village squares where local people will be able to sell locally-made products, and of course there will be work for locals on the site itself,” she adds.
Naturally, being an experienced businesswoman, Atalay is not unaware of the political complications that pervade every aspect of life in north Cyprus. She knows her project may raise objections from Greek Cypriots, in particular those who hail from Yialousa.
Atalay, however, is coolly philosophical about such issues.
“All business ventures require taking risks, and sometimes you have to pay for them,” she says. “But I believe this one will pay off”.
She concedes that when she saw the Annan plan map that gave the entire peninsula to the Greek Cypriots she was disheartened.
“But even if that had happened I believe I could have sold the plan to others in a position to realise it. The plans are that good” she says.
But there is another reason why Atalay is not concerned that she will be inundated at some future date by Greek Cypriots seeking compensation for their lost properties.
“The land we plan to build on is common land and was common land before 1974,” she says, adding that the authorities in the north had granted permission for her to build there on the understanding that the project was something that would bring benefits to the public.
“Only around 7-8,000 square metres of the site were privately-owned, and that was expropriated by our government, not by us,” she adds.
Whatever the political implications, Atalay insists she is not remotely interested in politics.
“I am a businesswoman, and I wish to create something that will benefit everyone. If Greek Cypriots return to these lands, or sail into the marina, I will be happy to see them”.
With the projected cost of the project at “at least 83 million dollars”, Atalay will not be financing the marina and its surrounding grounds alone.
“At the moment we are holding negotiations with an internationally well-known company,” she says, not giving too much away.
Assuming the finances are forthcoming, Atalay plans to start work in earnest in December.
“So far, we have been clearing the site. Very soon building will begin,” she says.
Looking ahead to the future, Atalay believes the marina and some outlets will be open in three years.
“The marina will open first, and it will take around seven years until the full plan is completed.”
While it pains me to think of any kind of development in the Karpas, I must admit I feel a glimmer of hope talking to Atalay that not all is lost. Time will tell.
