Returning Varosha for direct flights to north Cyprus, a good deal

The reintroduction of confidence building measures by UN Special Representative Colin Stewart has been welcomed by the Education Secretary of the Cyprus Turkish Teachers’ Union (KTÖS) Burak Maviş, Yeniduzen reported.

Maviş stated with cautious optimism that the UN Special Representative Colin Stewart, has brought confidence-building measures to the agenda again.

“After the collapsed negotiations, not a single positive step has been taken in the past four years, and moreover, the political will of the Turkish Cypriot community has been removed from the negotiating table with the direct intervention in the elections held two years ago,” said Maviş, adding, “In return for the return of Maraş to its legal owners, direct flights and trade will make us breathe. will provide” .

[This suggestion has been rejected by Turkey and by President Ersin Tatar, both of whom are pressing for the TRNC to become a sovereign and independent state with equal powers. Ed.]

Maviş went on to say:

“We welcome with cautious optimism that Colin Stewart, the last of the dozens of UN Representatives on our island, has reintroduced confidence building considerations. With the addition of new bi-communal technical committees established in 2008, in 2015, work was done to the benefit of both communities in many areas and many confidence-building measures were put into practice.

“The Turkish Cypriot community has been caught between ‘comprehensive negotiations’ and has become the only party that has suffered political, economic, cultural and social damage in this endless process. The re-opening of the closed off town of Maraş [Varosha] to its owners in 1974 and the implementation of confidence-building measures such as direct flights to Ercan Airport [under UN control], direct trade from Famagusta port, and facilitating circulation within the island will at least give society a breather.

“All parties in the struggle for the protection of the rights of Turkish Cypriots arising from international agreements and the unification of our island should be compelling for the effective functioning of the bi-communal committees and for the implementation of these confidence-building measures. As KTÖS, we will be a close follower of the issue”.

LGC News Yeniduzen