Famagusta: The Ghost Town

In 1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied the northern third of the island. When Turkey’s troops moved towards Varosha, 40.000 inhabitants of the town fled, anticipating to return to their homeland. However, the Turkish military fenced off the resort, transforming the thriving Varoshia to an abandoned town.(Kitching, 2014) The UN resolution of 1984 demands the handover of the town under the UN control and excludes any effort to resettle it by anyone other than those who were coerced to leave their possessions. What are the people’s feels who visit a ghost town frozen in time, surrounded by a barbed wire fence? How would somebody feel while articulating the French Riviera of Cyprus, as it is known?

The dreadful deterioration of the once-thriving beach resort, the retreat that attracted the rich and famous actors, such as Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot, the golden sands, the high-rise hotels , the shopping precincts and the idyllic beach was substituted by a spooky place. The emotions are strong when visitors articulate the overlooking hotels and the derelict homes. (Hooper, R. and Verema, V. 2014).

Famagusta’s turbulent history demands the restoration of the justice, the return of the town’s inhabitants, the reconstruction of the town. How grievous and sorrowful is a town to be trapped in time, attracting photographers from around the world because of its eeriness instead of being vivid and vibrant like the old times? (Enoch, N. 2014).

The old infrastructure and decades of negligence and desertion have caused the structures to begun to downfall. Many people who have created their property, were forced to abandon everything due to the Turkish invasion. Any possible future enhancement would demand the site to be demolished and re-constructed.

Clothes still hang in the closets of long abandoned buildings. The photographs, the memories, the moments, all the refugees’ lives were left in their homeland, waiting for gaining life again.

References Enoch, N. (2014). From coast town to ghost town: Forty years after Turkey invaded Cyprus, photos show derelict homes, hotels and airports in Nicosia, the world's only divided capital. Mail Online. Retrieved on 1st of March, 2018 from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2689220/From-coast-town-ghost-town-Eerie-images-derelict-houses-hotels-planes-Nicosia-divided-capital-city-world-Turkey-invaded-Cyprus-40-years-ago.html#ixzz58Et58gHC

Hooper, R. and Venema, V. (2014). Varosha: The abandoned tourist resort. BBC World Service. Retrieved on 1st of March, 2018 from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25496729

Kitching, C. (2016). A bird's-eye view of the 'ghost town' of the Mediterranean: Drone footage shows decaying hotels and land reclaimed by nature at Cyprus resort once visited by Elizabeth Taylor and Brigitte Bardot. Mail Online. Retrieved on 8th of March, 2018 from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3461893/Varosha-drone-footage-shows-stunning-view-Cyprus-ghost-town.html#ixzz58Eu5LTzD