Turkey Rejects UN Security Council Statement on Cyprus' Varosha Status
00:51 GMT 24.07.2021 (Updated: 10:52 GMT 24.01.2023)
© AP Photo / Bebeto Matthews
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ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey has rejected the statement of the UN Security Council pertaining to the unilateral change of status of the Varosha town in Cyprus, the Turkish foreign ministry said on Friday.
On Tuesday, Cyprus' breakaway Turkish north, backed by Ankara, unilaterally demilitarized the UN-protected quarter of Varosha. The UN Security Council condemned the move on Friday, saying that it violated all previous UN resolutions on Cyprus.
"We reject the Presidential Statement made by the UN Security Council on the second phase of the Maras initiative [Turkish toponym for Varosha] ... as well as the statements from various countries which are based on unfounded claims and inconsistent with the realities on the Island," the press release read.
The Turkish ministry described the UNSC statement as "based on Greek-Greek Cypriot black propaganda and groundless claims," stressing that the UN resolutions "are not above property and sovereignty rights."
Maraş (Varosha) is a part of Turkish Cypriot territory. Decisions taken by TRNC are in full compliance with international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions are not violated. We suggest US not to be part of Greek propaganda and recognize Turkish Cypriot soverignty. https://t.co/qF1LSihExp
— Oğuzhan Bilgin (@oguzhanbilgin) July 23, 2021
21 July 2021, 20:09 GMT
A former tourist paradise, Varosha has been closed to the public and deserted since the 1974 war which split the island in two, and became a military zone no one has been allowed to enter. Ankara insists that Varosha belongs to the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and all decisions of the TRNC authorities concerning the UN-protected town are in line with international law.
