Call for Famagusta’s return to its lawful inhabitants

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 15333 | 25 June 2021

Signatories:

Mr Geraint DAVIES, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Thorhildur Sunna ÆVARSDÓTTIR, Iceland, SOC ; Mr Sos AVETISYAN, Armenia, SOC ; Ms Theodora BAKOYANNIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Anastasios CHATZIVASILEIOU, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Ms Christiana EROTOKRITOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Sokratis FAMELLOS, Greece, UEL ; Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Dimitrios KAIRIDIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Marietta KARAMANLI, France, SOC ; Mr George KATROUGALOS, Greece, UEL ; Mr George LOUCAIDES, Cyprus, UEL ; Baroness Doreen MASSEY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr George PAPANDREOU, Greece, SOC ; Mr Ion PRIOTEASA, Romania, SOC ; Mr Jacek PROTASIEWICZ, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Theodoros ROUSOPOULOS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Nicos TORNARITIS, Cyprus, EPP/CD ; Mr Alexandros TRIANTAFYLLIDIS, Greece, UEL

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only those who have signed it.

As Cyprus celebrated its 60th anniversary of independence last year, the Parliamentary Assembly should reaffirm its support for a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, on the basis of an agreed framework for a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with a single sovereignty, single citizenship and international personality and political equality, as set out in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the High Level Agreements, noting however that this has yet to be achieved.

Since the invasion by the Turkish troops in 1974, a section of Famagusta (Varosha) was sealed off and remains since then uninhabited, under the direct control of the Turkish military, despite UN Resolutions that provide for the return of the city’s lawful inhabitants, under UN auspices.

The Assembly should join the European Parliament which, in its Resolution of 26 November 2020 on Varosha, condemned Turkey’s illegal activities in Varosha and warned that the city’s partial “opening” weakens prospects of a solution exacerbating divisions and entrenching the permanent partition of the island.

Underlining the UN Secretary-General’s call for the resumption of negotiations on the basis of the Common Declaration of 11 February 2014 and his Six Point Framework of 30 June 2017 and the convergence achieved, the Assembly should:

• call on Turkey to act according to the UN Security Council resolutions and return Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants;
• reaffirm the Republic of Cyprus sovereign right to exploit its natural ressources to the benefit of all people of Cyprus;
• urge Council of Europe member States to exert pressure on Turkey to co-operate and refrain from actions that are inconsistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions.