Tatar: The goal is to knock down some buildings in Varosha

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar on Monday said his “long term goal” is to demolish some buildings in Varosha and rebuild them with the aim of boosting the north’s economy.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency, he said he had already achieved his “first goal”, which was to open some areas of Varosha to the public to allow visitors to enter.

“It is a fact that the opening of Varosha has made significant direct and indirect contributions to our economy. I hope that in the upcoming process, the problems will be resolved through the Immovable Property Commission,” he said.

He spoke in depth about his claim that the foundations administration (Evkaf) is the rightful owner of much of the land in Varosha, saying that the land was “converted to foundation property in 1571” after the Siege of Famagusta proved successful and the Ottoman Empire took the city from the Republic of Venice.

He then said the British, “contrary to the agreement made in 1878 [when the island was leased to the British Empire from the Ottoman Empire] gave away the foundation properties in Varosha to the Greek Cypriots”.

The Greek Cypriot side has long disputed this claim, saying the British government of 1960 gave the Turkish Cypriot community £1.5 million for the complete and final settlement of the Turkish Cypriot property claims, including those made by Evkaf regarding Varosha.

£1.5m in 1960 would be worth around £43.3m, or around €51.6m, in today’s money.