The city of Varosha has gone from being a star-studded holiday destination to a ghost town (Image: Costa Constanti)
In the early 1970s, Varosha in Famagusta, Cyprus was one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, welcoming celebrities including Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. To cater to the increasing crowds, many new high-rise buildings and hotels were constructed, becoming the modern tourist area of the Famagusta city.
However, in 1974, its Greek Cypriot inhabitants fled during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, when Famagusta came under Turkish control and has remained abandoned ever since. 180,000 Greek Cypriots fled the northern third of the island, including 15,000 Varosha residents, leaving behind most of their possessions and properties.
Tens of thousands of Turkish nationals relocated on the invaded part to create the de facto state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is only recognised by the capital of Turkey, Ankara.
So, this once star-studded holiday destination has now become a ghost town, frozen in time.
Varosha has been used as “a bargaining chip” that was “never played” (Image: Costa Constanti)
Since then, the neighbourhood has been used as “a bargaining chip” that was “never played”, said Hubert Faustmann, professor for History and Political Science at the University of Nicosia and director of the office of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Cyprus.
Speaking with Express.co.uk, Faustmann said that Varosha has become a “symbolic place” in many ways, “for the violence that marked the division”, but also “as the most likely territory to be returned to the Greek Cypriots”.
Greek Cypriots are further challenged by a Muslim religious foundation, Evak, that claims to be the sole owner of the town. It has documents dating from 1571, when the Ottoman Empire conquered the island, to back up its claim. However, Faustmann described this as “at best, on very, very dodgy legal grounds”.
He described the current situation in Varosha as a “dormant frozen conflict”, with no violence, but no political progress either: “We are currently in the longest period in the history of the modern form of the Cyprus problem since 1963, where there has been no substantial negotiations and no substantial improvement in the situation and Varosha is, in a way, a symbol of the negative dynamics and the deterioration in the relationship.”
However, Faustmann added, this does not mean that things stay the same. “Varosha is an example of how things can change in a frozen conflict because it’s gradually opened up.”
In 2020, the northern administration decided to reopen parts of Varosha to tourists, for the first time in decades. Travel restrictions had previously been eased in the early 2000s, when former residents had been allowed to take a look at the resort, but not to repossess their homes.
Today, Varosha tops the charts of dark tourism destinations, having just welcomed “two million tourists” (Image: Costa Constanti)
Today, Varosha tops the charts of dark tourism destinations. According to Faustmann, the city has “just welcomed two million tourists”. According to figures released in June, the ghost town has attracted more than 1.8m tourists over the past four years. In previous talks with Express.co.uk, Faustmann said that certain parts of Varosha now has guided tours with e-bikes, vehicles and coffee shops.
Visitors today will find beautiful sandy beaches and crystal clear waters, but also be faced by looted stores, ruined buildings, boarded-up homes and fenced off areas. Varosha has been reclaimed by nature, with plants growing on its buildings and turtles nesting on its beaches.
“Varosha is being used as a tourist destination… without a single inhabitant prior to 1974 returning. It’s changed in the sense that it’s open to the public, but it’s not open for return,” Faustmann said previously. While construction workers tidied up the area for tourists, these works are not enough to allow a full-scale reopening for residents.
He said in a new interview that when the Turkish Cypriots opened Varosha up, “they knew they were violating international law… they did soft steps… they found out what the international response was, there were condemnations, but nothing too painful”. Today, the situation is one “which no one is investing much political capital in”.
While the opening up of Varosha was mainly a political move, there is also economic value in it. According to Faustmann, there are rumours and newspaper articles saying that “Turkish hotel developers bought and compensated some of the original owners, are planning a Las Vegas there” and plan to open hotels.
When asked why he thinks so many are drawn to this dark tourism hotspot, Faustmann said that a “variety” of people come there, including previous residents of Varosha who want to see their houses. Additionally though, “this is where the division of Cyprus and this dorman and frozen conflict becomes feelable… not everything is fine just because hardly anybody cares anymore and it’s just going on and the partition has become normalised.”
“This is a city that is kept, still, in the way it was in 1974, you see palm trees that have never been groomed… it’s dark tourism in the sense that you can see something painful, something catastrophic in front of your eyes,” but something that is also “spectacular”.
In June 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) approved a resolution for people to return to their legal residences. The re-opening of the fenced-off areas since the division was called an “unacceptable change” to its status and a grave violation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
However, Faustmann described this resolution as “inconsequential”: “it’s just another resolution on top of UN resolutions that the Turkish side will simply ignore, and can ignore, because they feel they don’t pay a real price for it.”
He described it as “an expression of political support” and a “positioning of the international community”, but said “it’s a feel-good resolution for the Greek Cypriots… they will archive it and add it to the resolutions that already exist.”
Following the PACE resolution, Northern Cyprus’ “foreign ministry” said that the initiative to open Varosha was designed to respect property rights guaranteed under international law and the European Convention of Human Rights. Faustmann, however, strongly disagreed with this claim, saying that the Republic of Northern Cyprus “does not exist” and is “not internationally recognised”.
“They claim that they adhere to international law and the return to the rightful owners, but they have not done so,” he added. “It is a destructive move in violation of international law”.
There have been no moves towards infrastructure which would allow the return of Greek Cypriots (Image: Costa Constanti)
The official line is that Varosha is supposed to be returned, but there are huge logistical problems including that the entire infrastructure has to be rebuilt, from the sewage to electricity, which has not been used and has been decaying for half a century, so will not be a cheap effort.
Faustman previously said that while they prepare to open up further areas, “they have not made any moves towards infrastructure in terms of sewage system and electricity, which would allow the return of Greek Cypriots.”
When asked if Varosha will ever be reopened to residents and what changes would need to occur for this to happen, Faustmann said there were two scenarios. Firstly, the solution of the Turkish problem, but he said this was very unlikely. Instead, he thinks there will be a “mixed policy”, keeping some of the dark tourism, including the opening of hotels and then “will take it from there depending on the development”.
“I’m not sure if they know what they want to do with it, if they do, it’s not publicly known.”
“But they are under the obligation of a UN resolution to return Varosha under UN administration until the final solution, and they are in violation of that,” Faustmann concluded.