62 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations co-sign a Joint Statement on Varosha

AKEL among 62 Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations co-sign a Joint Statement on Varosha in relation with the upcoming developments on the issue. The Joint Statement and co-signing organizations follow below:

 

JOINT STATEMENT ON VAROSHA

The unilateral initiative that contradicts the UN Security Council resolutions on the closed part of Varosha, one of the symbols of our divided island, undermines not only the peace process and regional stability but also the relations between our two communities.

The United Nations Security Council Resolutions 550 and 789 request the transfer of the fenced area to the United Nations in order to allow the return of the legal owners. On the 9th of October 2020, the Security Council issued another statement asking the parties to avoid any unilateral action that could escalate tensions on the island. Our recent past has demonstrated to us on multiple occasions that initiatives contrary to international law and UN decisions bear heavy political costs, eventually benefiting no side. Such initiatives are neither in the interests of the Turkish Cypriots, who have been paying a heavy price due to the non-solution, nor of Turkey, which has been facing multiple economic and political problems in the middle of a pandemic.

Statements and actions in the field since the start of the opening of Varosha have signaled to us that this initiative has been directly led by Turkey, thus bypassing the Turkish Cypriots. This constitutes yet another intervention to the Turkish Cypriot affairs.

Needless to say, we have always supported opening of Varosha before a comprehensive settlement as long as it is done in line with relevant UN resolutions. Any peaceful initiative should be done in the spirit of reconciliation and should promote cooperation and rapprochement. Fait accompli initiatives of a forced and unilateral nature feed into the nationalistic narratives and groups on both sides of the divide, increase the chances of political retaliations and further poison the climate, which is already damaged, especially after the interruption of crossings. In the end, it is the Cypriots who suffer the most.

Adding insult to the injury, the celebratory nature of this initiative, built as it is on the painful memories of the legal residents of Varosha, pains our conscience.

We call for an end to the unilateral initiative on Varosha and urge that any initiatives be carried out only with the participation of the United Nations and legal owners. The only way for Varosha to contribute to peace and stability is to turn it into an area of cooperation and reconciliation. Our priority in this geography is to end the political deadlock that ruined our lives and to contribute to cooperation and peace, not only on this island but also in the region.

This path is the only way to protect the interests and well-being of the people of Cyprus and of the region.

 

 Organisations:

 

1. Mağusa İnsiyatifi (Famagusta Initiative) 
2. Unite Cyprus Now 
3. Sol Hareket (Left Movement) 
4. Barış Derneği (Peace Association) 
5. AKEL (The Progressive Party of Working People) 
6. YKP (New Cyprus Party)  
7. TKP-YG (Communal Liberation Party New Forces) 
8. ΠΕΟ (Pancyprian Federation of Labour)
9. DEV-İŞ (Revolutionary Trade Unions Federation) 
10. KTOEÖS (Cyprus Turkish Secondary Education Teachers Union) 
11. KTÖS (Cyprus Turkish Teacher’s Trade Union) 
12. ÇAĞ-SEN (Cyprus Turkish State Employees Union) 
13. KOOP-SEN (Cooperative Workers Union) 
14. BES (Municipal Workers Union) 
15. ΕΔΟΝ (The United Democratic Youth Organization)
16. Sol Hareket Gençlik Komitesi (Left Movement Youth Committee)
17. Προοδευτική Κίνηση Φοιτητών (Proodeftiki Students Union) 
18. United Cyprus Platform (Overseas Cypriots),
19. Cypriot Refugees Union of Greece
20. Αμμόχωστος η Πόλη Μας – Mağusa Kentimiz
21. ΠΟΓΟ (Pancyprian Federation of Women’s Organisations)
22. Womens Initiative for Peace Cyprus (WINPEACE) 
23. ΟΠΕΚ – OPEK (Association for Social Reform)
24. Antifa λευkoşa 
25. Αριστερή Κίνηση Θέλουμεν Ομοσπονδία  (Leftist Movement – We want Federation)
26. Πρωτοβουλία Σοσιαλιστών (Socialists’ Inititiative)
27. Συσπείρωση Ατάκτων (Sispirosi Atakton) 
28. Yeni Kıbrıs Derneği/ Νεοκυπριακός Σύνδεσμος 
29. Αριστερή Πτέρυγα (Left Wing)
30. Εργατική Δημοκρατία (Workers’ Democracy)
31. Cypriots’ Voice – Φωνή Κυπρίων – Kıbrıslıların Sesi 
32. Σπιριθκιά (Spirithkia) 
33. Hava Trafik Kontrolörleri Sendikası (Trade Union of Air Traffic Controllers) 
34. Παγκύπριο Συμβούλιο Ειρήνης / Kıbrıs Barış Konseyi 
35. Ενόρασις (Enorasis) 
36. Ανατροπή (Anatropi) 
37. Gender Advisory Team 
38. NEDA-New Internationalist Left 
39. Cyprus Writer’s Union
40. Cyprus Publisher’s Association – KYa B
41. Movement for a Federal Cyprus
42. United Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot Teachers Platform
43. İskele Citizens Initiative
44. Socialist İnitiative Bi-communal Initiative of Relatives of Missing Persons and Victims    of 1963-74 events – Together We Can
45. Epilogi Limassol cultural movement
46. Symfiliosi / Uzlaşma /  Reconciliation
47. Bi-communal Choir For Peace in Cyprus
48. Turkish Cypriot Association for Democracy (London)
49. Limassol Civil İnitiative ‘Solution-Reunification-Peace”
50. Cyprus Reunification Movement
51. IKME Sociopolitical Studies Institute
52. Hands across the Divide
53. Association of Historical Dialogue and Research
54. Stop the War Coalition
55. Kontea Heritage Foundation
56. Cyprus Sustainability Institute
57. KISA – Action for Equality, Support, Antiracism
58. INVEST IN EDUCATION
59. Cyprus Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association
60. Cyprus Association of Social Psychology
61. Αριστερά και το Κυπριακό Πρόβλημα (Left and the Cyprus Problem)
62. HASDER