MOSCOW, September 7. /TASS/: Russia hopes that negotiations on settlement in Cyprus will renew as soon as the epidemiologic situation allows, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros before his visit to Cyprus on September 8.
"As to the estimates of the settlement prospects, I would like to hear the opinion of the immediate negotiators during my contacts in Cyprus. Without a doubt, the limitations due to the spread of the coronavirus infection became a negative factor slowing down the negotiating process. I would like to hope for the renewal of community contacts as the epidemiological situation returns to normal and the internal electoral processes conclude in the Turkish Cypriot community," he said. The minister added that Russia, as the permanent member of the UN Security Council, is ready to provide assistance to the sides.
The head of Russia’s Foreign Ministry also noted that Moscow’s principal position on the opening of the Varosha resort in Famagusta is unwavering and this issue should be resolved on the basis of the existing resolutions of the UN Security Council. "Unilateral steps contradicting the generally recognized international legal base are fraught with creating additional obstacles to the renewal of negotiations on the Cyprus dispute," the top diplomat noted.
According to him, "the aggravation of arguments around the closed Famagusta region as well as Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone highlights the pressing nature of the task of the soonest relaunch of the intercommunity negotiations to resolve the entire complex of internal Cypriot issues."
"The success completely and entirely depends on the political will of the sides. There shouldn’t be any pressure or internal interference, no imposition of ready-made "recipes" and schedules," he pointed out.
The status of Varosha
Famagusta was abandoned by Greek Cypriots during the occupation of the northern part of Cyprus by the Turkish troops in 1974. 26,000 representatives of the city’s Greek community, the apparent majority of the city’s residents, were ordered to leave Famagusta in 24 hours taking only the belongings they could carry. Yet if the rest of the city remained populated by Turkish Cypriots and those relocated from Turkey, the Varosha district to the south of the main part of Famagusta became abandoned, while nominally included in the UN buffer zone, effectively being controlled by the Turkish military.
During the past two years, Ankara as well as certain representatives of Turkish Cypriot authorities have already confirmed their intent to open Varosha for tourists and residents of the northern part of Cypris. In August, Head of Foreign Ministry of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Kudret Ozersay stated that this may happen as early as this October. This approach irritates the official Nicosia since Turkish plans contradict the United Nations Security Council resolution 550 adopted in 1984. This document states that the Security Council "considers attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of that area to the administration of the United Nations."
