Ghost town Varosha’s beach to reopen to public on Oct 8

ANKARA

The coastline of the abandoned town of Varosha in the Turkish Cypriot city of Gazimağusa will reopen on Oct. 8, the prime minister of the Turkish Cyprus announced on Oct. 6.

The coastline of Varosha will be open for public use as of Oct. 8 morning, Ersin Tatar said in a joint news conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital Ankara.

The officials met for the inauguration ceremony of the Turkey-Turkish Cyprus water pipeline after completion of repair work a few days before the presidential election to be held in the northern part of the island on Oct. 11.

“The Varosha issue is a national cause above all political debates,” Tatar said.

“It is a fact that Varosha is a Turkish Cyprus territory. We fully support the decision to make Varosha’s coastline available to the public,” Erdoğan said.

Turkey is also ready to support the Turkish Cypriot administration to fully open the town of Varosha, he stressed.

Varosha was a famous resort region in Cyprus which boasted a capacity of 10,000 beds across more than 100 hotels; however, it has been closed since 1974.