Varosha: A Story Between Fiction and Reality

The asphalt of the road cracked under the hot sun

And along the pavements, bushes grow.

Today-September 1977-breakfast tables are still established,

The laundry is still hanging and the lamps are still on. (1)

Varosha, Swedish journalist Jan-Olof Bengtsson, September 24, 1977

VAROSHA: A STORY BETWEEN FICTION AND REALITY

Imagine that you live in a city like Famagusta. Sometimes you drive along a huge land surrounded with barbed wired fences. You are a little surprised and curious to see what time had done to the buildings. Then you just turn right and leave this area behind. What would you do? Would you rely on society’s short-term memory and get lost in your daily life just after you had turned around the corner? Would you pretend that Varosha had never existed? Or would you dream of living in that city “frozen in time”, enjoying your coffee on a terrace? This is what it feels like living in Famagusta. In each encounter with the forbidden zone of Varosha you have to make another decision.

What can be written about a place where stories are told but you had never lived? Do the buildings, streets, squares, cultural activities and its nature define a city? Or the stories told about it? Wasn’t it the epic story of Istanbul as the city “its soil and stone made of gold”, that had triggered big national migrations? If we can mix all these questions, separate reality and fiction but mention them both…why not?

It was necessary to diligently remove the documents printed for propaganda (Turkish, Greek and Cypriot) from the others achieved through various ways of research. Maybe there were no lies or exaggerations in them but were just telling their own stories in their own way. I will tell you my own story of Varosha with concrete statements; and where fiction cannot be distinguished from reality, leave everything to the readers’ imagination.

A city is not made of its buildings, its roads, its houses. A city comes to life with its creators, builders, inhabitants and with people who make it liveable. Varosha is surrounded by barbed wire today. Buildings, streets are empty, there is no one. Entering Varosha is prohibited, therefore cannot be experienced. All I have in hand is my imagination and a story build on reliable information. This is the most honest approach possible within these circumstances.

In cities around the World there are societies separated by fences and walls. In some cities there are camps, jails where no one can go in or come out. There are abandoned places, which has lost their economic liability, or unhealthy places (such as Chernobyl), which had turned into ghost towns. But there is no any other place as Varosha, where access is forbidden, with international disputes almost impossible to solve, no permit to habit, waiting for time to pass with its building stock, with hopes of one day it will be alive. I guess this require a new term in urban planning “frozen zone”.

Famagusta as social and urban fabric (can be separated in two main regions before 1974)

1. Old City

2. Varosha

Old city with its historic fabric was where Turks habited.

Varosha, with its modern fabric (built before ’74) was known mostly as Greek part of the city. It consisted of three regions:

1. Touristic zone (now enclosed with wired fences-frozen zone)

2. Residential zone

3. Social and Governmental Center

After 1974 Turkish Military Invasion (guarded with international agreements but not accepted by UN and EU), the touristic zone was enclosed with wired fences but the residential and governmental center was kept habitable. (fig.1) (2,p.173)

Fig 1. FAMAGUSTA DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN

Military Zone, Free Trade Zone, Frozen Varosha all cut the link of the city with the sea. The inaccessibility of frozen Varosha and the unresolved property issues in Southern Varosha forced the city to develop Northwest after 1974. Approximately 7km of bay area is left unusable by the city habitants.

The enclosed section of Varosha (the touristic region of Famagusta) developed as a tourism center when it took the flag from Beirut that was affected by the war, with its harbor and touristic potential. It became a famous entertainment and tourism destination. (3, p.19)

Table 1. 1973 January-June room rents

In 1973, Famagusta had received more tourists, than all the other cities added in Cyprus. According to Famagusta Chamber of Commerce and Industry, just before 1974, Famagusta with 7% of the population of the island, provided 10% of all work opportunities, 50% of all room capacities. 50% of arrivals by ships and 83% of all cargo were received from Famagusta Harbor. (4, 1985)

According to Famagusta Municipality archives, Famagusta just before 1974 with numbers (5, p.15)

• 45 hotels with 10,000* rooms

• 60 apart hotels

• 3,000 retail units

• 99 recreation centers

• 143 management offices

• 4,649 houses

• 21 banks

• 24 theaters and movies

• 380 unfinished constructions

• A library with 8,500 books in English, Greek and Turkish

*If numbers in Table 1 are calculated according to empty/full room ratios in any other touristic center, the bed capacity in starred hotels will approximately be 6,302. If the bed capacities of non-categorized hotels are added it is approximately 6,564. This calculation contradicts with Famagusta Municipality archives of 10,000 rooms.

Fig 2. FORBIDEN ZONE OF VAROSHA (NORTH VAROSHA)

46 Islamic School

47 Aya Ekateri Church

48 Stravros Church

49 Post Office

50 Customs Office

51 Customs Main Office

52 Public Relations

53 Hospital

54 Police Center

55 Fire Station

56 Police Station

57 Governmental Office

58 Municipality

59 Regional Offices

60 Telephone and Telegram

61 Electricity Management Department

62 Post Office

63 Central Market

64 Municipality Library

65 Museum

66 Fire Station

BANKS:

67 Ottoman Bank

68 Cyprus National Bank

69 Bank of Cyprus

70 Barclays Bank

71 Chartered Bank

72 Nicosia Turkish Bank

73 Turkish Is Bank

A TOURISTIC TRIP TO VAROSHA BEFORE 1974

Since it is hard to reach detailed quantitative solid information about the city life before ‘74, a fictional story with visual materials can be formed. Old brochures, photos and touristic postcards were used. This fictional story made of images is limited to what they can visualize on the readers imagination.

Fig 3. Beach of Varosha, stamp printed on 16 October 1967

Fig 4. 4 postal cards for Touristic Varosha

Fig 5. The section of Varosha Beach, named Palm Beach, which is still open today. The wired fences start at where the green trees are and include all the high-rise blocks in the view.

Fig 6. Varosha Beach looking from South to North with a hotel in the view.

Fig 7. Beaches of Varosha. Mention the long shadows of high-rise apartments on the beach. This had a special name for sunbathers - 4 o’clock shadows (16)

Fig 8. Municipality Park and the first Stadium of Famagusta. The Park was at the center of the city and was used for summer concerts.

Fig 9. Heron Square. This square, which existed on Famagusta’s business district, was aligned with Municipality’s Market on the North. On Saturdays this was the market place.

Fig 10. 1969-1972 Personal photo album (owner unknown) - Marketplace.

Fig 11. 1969-1972 Personal photo album (owner unknown) – Looking east from Dimokratia Street

Fig 12. 1969-1972 Personal photo album (owner unknown) – Looking west from Dimokratia Street

Fig 13. 1969-1972 Personal photo album (owner unknown) – Orange Festival celebrations in The Municipality Park

Fig 14. 1969-1972 Personal photo album (owner unknown) – Lion House in Aktion Street

Fig 15. June 1973.

Fig 16. Same street in Fig 15 after Varosha was closed.

Linda Walker’s words for unused, unrestored, abandoned and about to collapse churches in Northern Cyprus are also valid for the buildings of enclosed Varosha:

“This is what I call the archeology of surfaces as I gaze to the built (or unbuild), as it is, resisting time and evolving with time...What they offer with their ghost like appearances are reminiscents of abandonment, abstraction, desolation, destruction; but still makes us feel care, repair, remembrance, building, hope, love. Everything decomposes. Yet they are still there. As they are, awful. We either leave, protect or preserve (call them keepsake, romanticize, give them sacred values), or demolish them.”(6)

1974 MILITARY OPERATION AND VAROSHA

Fig 17. Famagusta, August 1974

Shortly after 1974 military operation, Greeks in Varosha had to leave their city and fled. 1974 Famagusta city and citizens escape are depicted in United States Senate Research Commission Report as follows (7):

16th August 1974. Cars and trucks move toward the English military base loaded with people (and what they can get; clothes, baskets, beds, pots, pans..). Hot, dust, no tents, thirst, and food given by the English...Before the fall of Varosha 7,000 people kept coming to the English base. Later another 8,000 joined them...

Where the Turks habit, the old city and its walls are closed by Turkish soldiers. A city once where 40,000 people lived is now empty. A group of elderly is left behind their numbers are unknown, most hiding in their homes. Some are unable to move....they are handled to Red Cross.

The area known as “Miami Beach” is safe from plunders because it is guarded and closed by the Turkish Military in September. However, it symbolizes to what happened to Cyprus economy.

Once a vibrant city with key touristic role in the Island is now a ghost town.

Separating an integrated economy will have devastating effects cause it worked, evolved and grew as a whole. In recent years tourism was the economic pioneer and almost most of the investors and owners were Greek.

Mr. Huseyin Kuruc, 56, who was appointed to Varosha one month after the military operation, tells about his observations in this interview:

10th July 2005 Sunday, Nicosia, home

• HK: “One month after Varosha was taken, I was appointed by the President, to examine the industrial facilities. Even after a month the city was alive. Roads were empty but stores were full. Military control was very tight. Roads were full of soldiers. Cars, everything was in its place. The luxury in Famagusta had astonished me. At those times the newest consumer goods were brought to Famagusta through Famagusta Harbor. It was a very developed lively city ahead of its time. We found a few industrial facilities outside the city.”

• Question: Did all the hotels in Varosha belonged to Greeks?

• HK: “No, not all. International firms had long-term investments with leasing agreements of 50-100 years on development lands. The area is subject to big amounts of compensations.”

• Question: In ’74 most of the well-developed economic cities were left on the Northern Part. Hotels, factories, lands and houses, the most important harbor (Famagusta), the most tourist attracting cities (Kyrenia and Famagusta). Greeks left with their clothes and moved to the South. Now that the Southern (Greek) side economy is doing better, why the Turks could not convert what was left to a new economic value?

• HK: The Greek properties owned after ’74 was seen as war loots. The answer to your question is simply cultural differences. Greeks had the ‘know-how’. They knew where to get the raw materials, where to buy the machinery and where to sell the goods. Probably new credits were given to those who had lost their properties. Especially with church donations, lots of money was poured to help. Industrialization of Cyprus had begun right after English colonial years when the republic was established. In the years ‘63-‘74 Turkish and Greek cultures disassociated. Being the government all Greek, most credits were given to Greeks.”

FICTIONAL VAROSHA IN TALES

Enclosed Varosha is now attracting tourists as an interesting site. This ghost city with its windowless hotels and abandonment triggers our curiosity. This curiosity is fed with stories. Stories just like the seven star hotel. This unreliable story goes like this:

It is told that the owner of the seven star hotel which was completed in 1974 and was about to be opened in 20th July had committed suicide after hearing about the operation. (8)

Among the hotels classified by Cyprus Tourism Organization and operating in Famagusta, you can see that there is no seven starred hotel, not even five starred one. (4,108)

• Q: Is the 7 star hotel story for real?

• Yes, it is. Golden Sands. It was constructed in such a way that the stair steps nose corners were covered in gold. That is where the name Golden comes from. There were no security guards in its entrance. The hotel was open and in operation for 7-8 years. There were rails as you enter which helped you park your car. Elevators were directly leading to your room. Food service was done through a service elevator leading to your room only.

Hasan Koroglu, 56, interview, taxi driver/ retired policeman. Place: Nazım Hikmet Square, Old City, Famagusta, 8th June 2005

Now let’s view the photos of the hotel from David Carter’s archive in 1982.

Fig 18. Golden Sands

Golden Sands had opened three months before the military operation. In 1974 it was classified by Cyprus Tourism Organization as 4 star with 471 rooms and 942 beds. (4, p.107,108)

Fig 19. Golden Sands, 1982. Reception.

Fig 20. Golden Sands, 1982. Stored goods with a speed boat.

Near the beach, which is now in the military zone, there is a villa that is told to be owned by a painter.

Fig 21. Enclosed Varosha. The villa, which is said to be once owned by a painter.

Fig 22. Xanthos Hadjisoteriou, painter in his Limassol studio. He was born in Famagusta in 1920. Unfortunately he died years ago. (17)

Don’t all the stories that are told and still being told about Famagusta, which trigger our imagination, show that Varosha still lives in the societies’ subconscious? As long as these stories are told, Varosha will still continue to live… in a different way.

Ghosts; the ones that are not there, yet still show their presence in those spaces are part of our urban and architectural space experience. We feel belonged with our memories, our emotional past experiences. Even though there is no one there spaces are somehow personalized. Somebody else’s office, is his office, even though he is not there we feel his existence. (9)

VAROSHA BELONGS TO.....?

Fig 23. No Comment

When the historical development of Varosha is observed, it is seen that the region is a Greek settlement. When Ottomans had concurred the island in 1571, their first action was to repair the city walls, remove Christians from the old city, to a new suburban settlement, which they called ‘varoş’ (a word of Hungarian origin used for suburb). The new comers from the Ottoman Empire were strategically placed within the city walls where they would be protected from pirate or enemy attacks. Among Cypriot archive documents dated back to 8.1.1573, ‘varoş’ (varosha) was used fort he first time to define the area. (10, s.22,25,26) Varoş is the land where Varosha settlement is now. Greeks still call the area as Varosha. During English period, as Turks kept on living in the Old City, Greeks settled along the seaside and Southern Famagusta. In this period, both societies had their own independent systems of education, religion and culture (11, s.309).

In 1960, during Cyprus Republic, Famagusta Old City and Varosha, were been governed separately with two separate societies. Turks being excluded from the government in 1963 increased this separation much further. (3, s.19)

• Q: Did only Greeks habited in Varosha?

• After ‘63 incidents, Turks moved to the Old City, making Old City totally Turkish in character. Greeks of little in number moved out of the old City. Every six months Red Crescent brought supplies with ships. At those times people within the old city were moving to Famagusta to work everyday. There were also Turkish families habiting in Varosha but they were few in number.

• Q: How the buildings in Varosha were built financially?

• Land belonged to Greeks, buildings to cooperations. Mostly international; Italian, German, English...The system was build-operate-transfer. Every six months a new hotel was being built. The development had begun in 1965-66 period.

• Q: What kind of jobs Turks were working in?

• I was a kid then. What I remember is that men used to carry potatoes at harvest times. They used to give a sack of potatoes and some money as payment. Ladies used to work in Orange harvest. They used to work in service sector mostly.

POLAT YARKAN, 52, taxi driver interview

Place: Nazım Hikmet Square, Old City, Famagusta, 8th June 2005

Another argument that strengthens the land ownership dispute is Ottoman Philanthropic Foundations owned most of the lands in Varosha. In 1898, during English Period those lands were transferred to Famagusta Greek Municipality. (12, s.80-82)

Fig 24. Shown in green, Ottoman Philanthrophic Foundations’ Lands. In 1898, all lands were transferred to Famagusta Greek Municipality under British rule.

IS THERE A FUTURE?

As Prof. Dr. Gonul Tankut had suggested there are three possible scenarios:

If abandoned buildings structures permit, buildings can be repaired, if not, partial demolishment can be done, or a new urban plan will be developed taking land ownership and land prices into consideration. (13, s.195)

Is there a return ticket to heaven?

Even after Varosha will be opened these stories will be told. I presume forty, you may presume fifty, maybe for a century no man had ever stepped his feet on these lands.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank to,

Famagusta Municipality who declined my map and information requests. The Greek frowning lady working in Famagusta Museum in Greek Side who did not give me Famagusta map. The shy woman who secretly handed me 1963 Turkish-Greek Cyprus Village Map.

Ceren Bogac, who had previously made researches on Southern Famagusta, for her brief suggestions on my researches. To Mr. Huseyin Kuruc who shared his life experiences, To Mr. Polat Yarkan who gave a break from his work to answer my questions and to Mr. Hasan Koroglu for his imagination.

REFERENCES:

1. http://www.frm.org.cy/Data/Anouncements/Europarl%20Leaflet.htm, (2005), “The Plight of Famagusta”

1. Dağlı,U., Bayındır, Ş., (1997), “Maraş Bölgesindeki Mevcut Dokunun Sürdürülebilirliğinin Sağlanmasına Yönelik Öneriler (Suggestions for Famagusta’s Existing Urban Fabric)”, Journal for Cypriot Studies, 3(2), p.173-181

1. Dağlı, U., Doratlı, N., Önal, Ş., (1998), “Gazimağusa Şehrinin Kentsel Gelişiminin Sürdürülebilirliğine Yönelik Çözüm Önerileri (Suggestions for Famagusta’s Existing Urban Fabric)”,Gazimağusa Sempozyumu’98, DAÜ Baskı İşleri Birimi, Mağusa, p.19-33

1. Keshisian, K., (1985), “Famagusta Town and District Cyprus”, Zavallis Press, Nicosia

1. Boğaç, C., (2002), “Adaptation and Place Attachment in a Physically Foreign Settlement: A Study of A Local Environment in Aşağı Maraş, Gazimağusa”, master thesis submitted to Institute of Graduate Studies and Research, p.7,13, p-p.14-17

1. Walker, L., “The Archaeology Of Surfaces”, http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml

1. http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/consequences%20-%2074%20-senate.htm, (1974), United State Senate Research Commission Report

1. Uyanık, F., (7 Eylül 2004), “KKTC’de Starbucks var mı?”, http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/news/285947.asp

1. Bell, M.M., (Dec.,1997), “The Ghosts of Place”, Theory and Society, Vol.26, No.6, Netherlands, p-p.813-820

1. 1994, ”Kıbrıs’a Dair Arşiv Belgeleri”, T.C. Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri Genel Müdürlüğü Osmanlı Arşivi Daire Başkanlığı, p.22,25,26

1. Fisher, R.J. ,(May, 2001), “Cyprus: The Failure of Mediation and the Escalation of Identity-Based Conflict to an Adversarial Impasse”, Journal of Peace Research, Vol.38, No.3, London, p.307-326”

1. Olgun, A., (1999), “Dünden Bugüne Kıbrıs Sorunu”, Kastaş Yayınları, İstanbul, p.80-83

1. Tankut, G., (1999), “Gazi Mağusa’nın Maraş Mahallesi Araştırması”, Gazimağusa Sempozyumu’99, DAÜ Basımevi, Gazimağusa, p.195

1. Günyaktı, A. (1999) “Gülseren Halk Plajı İçin Teknik Yapılabilirlik”,Gazimağusa Sempozyumu’99, DAÜ Basımevi, Gazimağusa, p.99

1. Keleş, R., Mesutoğlu, L., (1999), “Yeni Kavramlar Işığında Gazimağusa’nın Geleceğini Planlama”,Gazimağusa Sempozyumu’99, DAÜ Basımevi, Gazimağusa, p.167-168

1. Mayhew, I., (15 Şubat 2003), “Crossing the Line”, mirror online gazetesi web sayfası:http://www.mirror.co.uk/travel/page.cfm?objectid=12642109&method=full&siteid=50143

1. http://www.cypruscollector.net/arp2.html

FIGURES AND TABLES

Table 1. Keshisian, K., (1985), “Famagusta Town and District Cyprus”, Zavallis Press, Nicosia, p.109

Fig 1 (Boundaries of Cooperation, Peter R. Hocknell, 2001, Kluwer Law International, p.332, figure 7.5) This figure is colored and translated.

Fig 2 http://www.ipw.com/cyprus/Famagusta/Varosha_Map/varosha_map.html) Varosha wired area is added.

Fig 3 Keshisian, K., (1985), “Famagusta Town and District Cyprus”, Zavallis Press, Nicosia p.71

Fig 4 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 5 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 6 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 7 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 8 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 9 Keshisian, K., (1985), “Famagusta Town and District Cyprus”, Zavallis Press, Nicosia p.78

Fig 10 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/famagusta19691972.msnw

Fig 11 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/famagusta19691972.msnw

Fig 12 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/famagusta19691972.msnw

Fig 13 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/famagusta19691972.msnw

Fig 14 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/famagusta19691972.msnw

Fig 15 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 16 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 17 http://www.cyprus1974.20m.com

Fig 18 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/davidcartersphotographs1982.msnw

Fig 19 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/davidcartersphotographs1982.msnw

Fig 20 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus/davidcartersphotographs1982.msnw

Fig 21. http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 22. http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 23 http://groups.msn.com/ReturntoVaroshaFamagustaCyprus

Fig 24 Kıbrıs Gazetesi, Özel Maraş Eki, 26 Şubat 1997, p.4