Erdogan’s visit to Varosha resort violates Security Council resolutions, says Athens

Athena, (ST)  – Greece affirmed that the scheduled visit of the President of the Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, today to the Varosha resort in the city of Famagusta in the northern part of Cyprus, accompanied by a government team, constitutes an unprecedented provocation that violates United Nations resolutions.

France-Presse Agency quoted the Greek Foreign Ministry as saying in a stern statement yesterday that, “we condemn this matter categorically and we expect that it will be discussed at length at the next meeting of the European Council in December.”

Yesterday, the Republic of Cyprus condemned the visit, stressing that it contradicts Security Council Resolutions 550 and 789 and undermines the efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to hold an informal five-party meeting to discuss the settlement in Cyprus.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot organizations signed a joint petition calling for the president’s visit to be canceled.

The Turkish army has occupied the northern part of Cyprus since 1974 when it invaded the north of the island and established (the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) an entity that only Ankara recognizes.

Varosha, which was described as the jewel of the Mediterranean, has remained deserted and surrounded by barbed wire since the Turkish invasion, and the Turkish forces partially reopened it on the 8th of last October, which sparked international criticism.

Raghda Sawas