Cyprus calls Erdogan’s planned visit to Famagusta ‘provocation’

Cyprus has condemned Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's planned visit to a long-abandoned beach resort on the East Mediterranean Island.

Erdogan plans to visit the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and a seaside picnic at the Varosha beach front in the abandoned southern quarter of the Cypriot city of Famagusta on Sunday.

According to Press TV, President Nicos Anastasiades lambasted the plan as a “provocation without precedent.”

The Greek Cypriot leader claimed Erdogan's picnic in the ghost town resort would undermine international efforts to deescalate tensions in the East Mediterranean.

Such actions "do not contribute to the creation of a favorable, positive climate for the resumption of talks for the solution of the Cyprus problem," he said in a statement. "They simultaneously undermine the efforts of the UN secretary-general to call an informal five-party meeting."

Tensions began to escalate between the rivaling neighbors Turkey and Greece after the recent discovery of gas in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Varosha Beach, once dubbed a "Jewel of the Mediterranean", has been an abandoned “ghost town” ever since the Turkish military seized the seafront suburb of Famagusta in 1974. It had remained abandoned for 46 years before Turkey decided to reopen Varosha seafront.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Athens, Ankara and Cyprus' former colonial master, Great Britain, which still uses the island as a military base, constitute the five sides with conflicting interests in Cyprus.

Erdogan has repeatedly warned about the consequences of failing to reach a peaceful solution in the East Mediterranean conflict.

ME