No actions should be carried out in relation to Varosha that are not in accordance with the UNSC Resolutions, including Resolution 550 (1984) and Resolution 789 (1992), the members of the United Nations Security Council reiterated, the UN body’s President Jerry Matthews Matjila said on Wednesday.
The statement to the Press came after a Security Council closed door meeting which examined Cyprus’ appeal on the issue of Famagusta. The SC convened on the request of Cyprus’ UN representative Andreas Mavroyiannis following Turkish threats that the fenced-off area of Varoshia would be gradually opened.
In the Security Council Press Statement on Cyprus, Matjila said that “the members of the Security Council welcomed the briefing on 9 October by Assistant Secretary- General Oscar Fernandez- Taranco on the situation in Cyprus”.
He went on to say that “the members of the Security Council recalled the importance of the status of Varosha as set out in previous United Nations Security Council Resolutions, including Resolution 550 (1984) and Resolution 789 (1992), and reiterated that no actions should be carried out in relation to Varosha that are not in accordance with those Resolutions”. The Members of the Security Council, he said, stressed the importance of implementing its Resolutions.
They also reaffirmed “Resolution 2483 (2019) and the importance of an enduring, comprehensive and just settlement based on a bicommunal, bizonal federation with political equality, as set out in relevant Security Council Resolutions. In this regard, they called on the parties to engage constructively, and with a sense of urgency. They also encouraged the leaders to agree on, and implement, new confidence-building measures”.
The members of the Security Council, Matjila said, “urged the sides and all involved participants to refrain from any actions and rhetoric that might damage the chances of success for a settlement.”
Speaking after the meeting, Cyprus’ UN permanent representative Andreas Mavroyiannis expressed the Government’s satisfaction with the Council’s statement.
Specifically, he said that “on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, I would like to express our satisfaction for the Statement to the Press adopted today by the Security Council, and just read out by its President, H.E. Mr. Jerry Matthews Matjila, Permanent Representative of South Africa”.
He also expressed “gratitude and appreciation to the members of the Security Council for heeding our appeal and taking up the issue of Famagusta”.
This, he said, “follows recent threats by Turkey and its subordinate local administration in the occupied part of Cyprus, to settle the fenced area of Varoshia and create new, additional and irreversible faits accomplis on the ground”.
As you would recall Famagusta and in particular this part of the city of Varoshia, benefits from a special attention from the Security Council, in particular through Resolutions 550 (1984) and 789 (1992), Mavroyiannis added.
The special status of the fenced-off area of Famagusta, he added, has been recalled and upheld throughout the years and its priority as a potential game changer, in the efforts for a settlement of the Cyprus problem, has repeatedly been underlined.
Furthermore, he expressed hope that “the reaffirmation by the Security Council of all its relevant Resolutions and the call for their implementation is a sufficiently strong message, that will put an end to the illegal attempts underway and will prevent further such attempts in the future.”
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Turkey has ignored numerous UN resolutions calling for the withdrawal of the Turkish troops and respect of the integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in the summer of 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Efforts over the years for the legitimate citizens of Famagusta to return to the city have met with the refusal of the Turkish side, despite numerous decisions and resolutions by the UN, EU and other international institutions.
Kudret Ozersay, the “foreign minister” of the illegal regime in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus, arranged in late August a press visit for Turkish Cypriot and Turkish journalists and media in the fenced – off part of Famagusta for the first time in 45 years and has said that he will gradually open the city. Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has also recently made statements to that effect.
(Cyprus News Agency)
