Cyprus: Security Council reaffirms position on situation of Varosha

Reacting to the latest developments in Cyprus, members of the United Nations Security Council today urged the parties to restart talks in a bid to reach a comprehensive settlement to the issue based on a plan put forward by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Ambassador Inocencio F. Arias of Spain, the Council President for the month of July, told reporters that he informed the members of the 15-nation body of the concern expressed by the Government of Cyprus about the latest developments, especially the situation of Varosha.

“The Council reiterated its well-known position, which remains unchanged, on Varosha, which is resolution 550,” he said. In that text, adopted in 1984, the Council said that it considered “attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible” and called for that area to be transferred to the administration of the United Nations.

Ambassador Arias also noted that the Council urged the parties to resume negotiations aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue on the basis of the Secretary-General’s plan, as stated in the Council’s resolution 1435.

In March, the Secretary-General met with the Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, in The Hague in a last-ditch effort to gain their approval of his latest proposals, which were first presented to the parties late last year. That plan, which underwent several revisions, would have enabled a united Cyprus to join the European Union in April.