Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades is set to discuss the divided island’s ghost town of Maras/Varosha with the UN Secretary General’s special envoy Jane Holl Lute next month, the Cyprus Mail reported.
Maras/Vorasha, once a leading tourist resort of the island, was abandoned and sealed off in 1974. Since then, the internationally recognized South Cyprus has controlled the southern two-thirds of the island, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, only recognized by Turkey, the northern third.
Turkey’s ongoing interventions and the north’s announcements regarding the fenced-off city of Varosha are the items on Nicosia’s agenda for the meeting the UN envoy in September, the Cyprus Mail said.
Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ersin Tatar last month said the abandoned tourist resort would be reopened under Turkish Cypriot administration.
A 1984 UN resolution prohibits any attempt to resettle Varosha with anyone other than its former inhabitants, who abandoned the city when Turkish troops invaded.
