The pristine, azure waters lapping at the skirts of uninhabited Varosha contrast sharply with the dilapidated, crumbling buildings lining the beachfront of this abandoned suburb of Famagusta.
For the first time in 46 years, members of the public were permitted on Thursday to access the beach of Varosha in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north of ethnically divided Cyprus.
Hundreds filed through a gate manned by Turkish Cypriot police to walk on a freshly paved asphalt road leading to the beach that was the jewel of what was once Cyprus' premier tourist resort.
The road was lined on both sides with police tape to prevent pedestrians straying into windowless homes and rusting business, some swallowed up by decades-old, snake-infested undergrowth.
For some, like one woman draped in the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot flags, it was a moment of joy to witness a “historic” moment.
For others, like Greek Cypriot Varosha native Kyriakos Charalambides watching on TV from his Nicosia home, it was a moment of bitterness and sorrow. “Even though I expected this, I shuddered as I watched those familiar places,” Charalambides, a playwright, told the Associated Press. “It’s a sorrow that cannot be consoled ... Varosha is lost.”
The decision, by Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, recognised only by Ankara, to open the mile-long stretch of beach was roundly condemned by the island’s Greek Cypriot-run, the internationally-recognised government.
Varosha’s Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled as Turkish troops advanced in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by supporters of union with Greece. Since then, the area was placed under Turkish military control, cordoned off and left to the ravages of time.
Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades condemned the opening as a “flagrant violation of international law” and United Nations Security Council resolutions that consider attempts to settle any part of Varosha — Maras in Turkish — by anyone other than its inhabitants as “inadmissible.” The resolutions also call for the area to be transferred to UN administration.
The UN Security Council currently presided over by Russia, will hold closed consultations on Varosha on Friday.
Greek Cypriots fear the beach opening is only a first step to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots completely taking over Varosha.
Anastasiades said in a statement Thursday that his government has already protested to the UN, the European Union and other international organisations. He repeated that the “unilateral” action could hinder attempts at relaunching stalled talks to reunify the island.
Both UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell expressed concern at the action they said could heighten tensions and undermine fresh attempts at restarting talks.
Turkish and Turkish Cypriot officials insist the move is to everyone’s benefit and that the rights of Greek Cypriot property owners aren’t affected since it’s only the beach that’s opening for now.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said an inventory on all the properties within Varosha is currently underway to determine what will happen with the rest of Varosha.
But at least for now, the opening of the seafront and some roads where there is no private property was important,” Cavusoglu said after a meeting on Thursday with his Greek counterpart, Nikos Dendias.
“It will be useful to take such steps that are to the benefit of all, that respect private property rights, without violating UN decisions,” Cavusoglu said.
The opening took place just three days before Turkish Cypriots elect a new leader to represent them in UN-facilitated peace talks.