Ghost town of Varosha to be rebuilt as Cyprus peace deal expected

Building contractors from Turkey and Cyprus have signed a deal to jointly rebuild the ‘ghost town’ of Varosha in northern Cyprus, as a peace deal between the Greek and Turkish communities on the divided island is expected to be reached following a series of UN-brokered talks between their leaders in 2015.

Varosha, Cyprus. Image by Pablo / CC BY 2.0

The abandoned resort suburb of Famagusta (Mağusa), Varosha has been a buffer zone between the Greek and Turkish parts of the island since the Turkish invasion of 1974. As an extremely popular resort, in the early 1970s Varosha had a total of 20,000 hotel beds while Turkey  had a total of 15,000, according to the head of the Turkish Contractors Association. Of all the unused destinations on the island, Varosha has the greatest tourist potential. Read more: hurriyetdailynews.com