The two candidates for the mayor of Famagusta open their papers and explain to "POLITI" why they are claiming the mayor of the city.
Nikos Karoullas: "Return means reunification"
"We will definitely be together after the elections, but we must all be together before the elections. "I personally will continue to fight for the solution, the reunification and the return to our city", said the candidate for the mayor of the occupied Famagusta, Nikos Karoullas, during the submission of his independent candidacy last Thursday. Mr. Karoullas is a municipal councilor of the Democratic Alarm in the Municipality of Famagusta and his candidacy is supported by his party. "In Famagusta, it is not appropriate to appoint a mayor. The mayoralty must be claimed by many, because it is worth more than any office. Famagusta is the diamond of our soul, the purest we carry inside us since our childhood. "Our first concern is, therefore, to awaken these feelings that constitute our whole world, our whole being and to meet those of loss and pride that we bring at the same time as the people of Famagusta", said Mr. Karoullas, when asked to answer what it will be his priority if he is elected mayor of Famagusta on the 25th of August when the elections take place. The Municipality of Famagusta, he continued, as the largest occupied municipality must embrace all other occupied municipalities and communities. "To be next to, at the same time, the free municipalities and communities. "If this is achieved, if the momentum is increased in this way, then the hope of a return will grow even greater, getting even closer to becoming an act," he added.
After the statements of Ozersay - Tatar and the entry of Mr. Ozersay in Varosi with a group of technocrats, as he stated, is there still a possibility that Varosi will be returned to its legal inhabitants or the enclosed city will be opened before the solution of the Cyprus problem?
Varosi for us is both the enclosed - which is no longer so tightly closed - but also the open area of our city. For us, return also means reunification of our homeland. Famagusta is one and the same. The margins of movement, however, of a mayor of an occupied municipality are what his citizens give him or better what he can draw from his citizens. Whether Varosi is returned to its rightful inhabitants or whether the besieged city opens before the solution, this will depend on the vision we have as Cypriots on both sides of the barbed wire. Famagusta is the shame and disgrace of the pseudo-state, since to a large extent it does not allow the sensitivity that should distinguish the two communities, in order to reunite. Those who entered the city in time of peace, in our naked houses, without doors, windows and roof, are not experts. I do not know what they are, but they are definitely not Cypriots. Because a Cypriot is the one who feels that his homeland is one and the same.
Constantly engaged
Should the President of the Republic have handled the issue of occupied Famagusta differently?
We are all in the same race. If the President handles the issue of Famagusta properly or if something different should be done, we may have to see this in the reaction of the Famagusta people. If they do not react themselves, then perhaps something better could not have been done or if they react they should be considered as doing so because they are anxious to return and because they want the conditions that will lead to this goal to become better. In the struggle to return to Famagusta, in the struggle for reunification, we must all be constantly committed to our goal. This is the maximum.
Do the T / Cs of Famagusta want the city to be opened, to be returned to its legal residents? Do you have contact with the current mayor, the T / C mayor, of occupied Famagusta?
Yes, although I do not agree with the approach of the current T / C mayor, I have contacts from time to time, as I would have with anyone even if I did not agree with his views. You will know that the data in our occupied homeland have changed. Fewer and fewer now want a solution and reunification. They are used to living in our absence. They want the enclosed city to open and I'm not so sure everyone will want it returned to its rightful inhabitants. What are the benefits of a possible opening of the city under the United Nations or its return? It would give a new hope, it would be the breath in an effort that is being strangled. It would really get us on a reunion trajectory.
There is no 2nd time
Say that one day the other side calls for the return of the Varosians under the administration of the pseudo-state / Turkey. What will you do if you are the mayor of occupied Famagusta? Will you say "no" and give it to Turkey, will you leave your city for the second time?
I think your question is baseless. It is like asking someone who is dying, if he wants to live, to have his arms, legs cut off, not to see, not to hear. We have never left Famagusta. Mistakes have been made in the past, hence it has been said that it has been abandoned by the political and military authorities. There is no "second time" for the Famagustans. The race for Famagusta does not end, only with the return.
Fake news
Did you mean when you said in the past in an interview circulating on social media that you would not have a problem obtaining a pseudo-state identity?
I never made this statement and I have already responded to the form by letter dated 31/1/2014. In any case, I was referring to the unequal treatment we receive who are forced to visit Famagusta as tourists on visas. This is the message and this was written by the caption of the photo, which this form used. Denying once again what they are accusing me of, I do not want to give another follow-up to the issue. As I had written in my letter to the press, the efforts of civil society will continue to end the occupation and the reunification of Cyprus. And we will use all our strength until we achieve these goals.
Independent or DISY
Independent mayoral candidate and at the same time municipal councilor DISY… as if the two do not go hand in hand. You will either be independent or of the Democratic Alarm. Are you thinking of resigning from the position of municipal councilor?
If you ask someone who knows me, they will tell you that I lean on my two legs. I follow my own voice when I have to, but I belong to the municipal group of the Democratic Alarm. As for whether I will remain a municipal councilor, I hope not.
Were your party's efforts to elect a new mayor hurt after the setbacks of the last few days?
The efforts of the Democratic Alarm were based on the message that the candidacy should meet the conditions for the reunification of Cyprus and the return of Famagusta. Around this message, which was the main one, took place in the procedures of the Politburo of the party, submission of opinions and not regression as you have mentioned.
Will the people of Famagusta go to the polls?
Surely those who feel Famagusta will go. For a smile of the sea, a wounded memory, they have to go.
Memories are my guides
How old were you when you left Famagusta?
Memory, says Kiki Dimoula, is the main name of sorrows, singular and intransitive. I was almost 15-16 when a few hours before the Turks entered the city, nine people got into my father's car and left for a few hours, as they said, under the sounds of aerial bombardment. Yes, I have vivid memories, painful memories that work day and night as my guide on the path I have chosen. And this path for me is not of words, but precisely because of the memory of the works. The memory, as Kiki Dimoula says, may be indelible, but for me this course will end with the return to our beloved Famagusta.
Simos Ioannou: "The disappointment of participating"
The first goal of Dr. Simos Ioannou is to unite all the people of Varos and to become together a driving force for the return to Famagusta, for the solution, for the liberation and the reunification. "To mobilize even more decisively internationally for the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on Famagusta. "Let us speak to the new generation of Varosians about the historical truth, about the causes and the causes that were lost - betrayed - Varosi and half of Cyprus, about the unique heritage they carry and the need not to leave our beloved city a memory", he said Mr. Ioannou speaking to "P". Dr. Simos Ioannou was elected by AKEL as a candidate for mayor of occupied Famagusta. DIKO also supports Mr. Ioannos' candidacy.
How much room for maneuver does the mayor of occupied Famagusta have?
I believe that the mayor of Famagusta acquires more room for maneuver the greater the unity of the people of Varos. But the unity we are talking about does not mean tolerance or concealment of those who consciously or unconsciously lead us to division. It is the unity of the struggle to live again in Varosi and not to live forever with the memory of the lost Varosi. My ambition, then, is to express the people of Varos who are determined to resist the process of finalization of the occupation and the division, which will mean the final writing off of Varos. And I believe that all of us who are determined for them constitute the majority of the people of Varos. From all ages and from all political areas. This is what should be expressed in the result of August 25th.
Is there still a possibility that Varosi will be returned to its legal inhabitants or that the enclosed city will be opened before the solution of the Cyprus problem?
I believe in the return of Varos and this is the reason why I have been a municipal councilor of Famagusta since 1990. Even my action in the club of Salamis is not only because of my love for the club and sports. It was primarily love and concern for a living part of Famagusta that we brought with us. So I belong to those who continue to believe in returning to Varosi and who, above all, are struggling for this. With all the powers I have and with all the power of my soul. Along with thousands of other Varosiotes. Together with our Turkish Cypriot compatriots who share this goal. And it is very important to emphasize that the Turkish leader Mustafa Akinci has separated his position from the schemes of Ozersay and Tatar for Varosi and demands respect for the resolutions of the UN Security Council and in International Law.
We know…
Is the President of the Republic handling the issue of occupied Famagusta correctly?
President Anastasiadis is judged as a whole for his policy on the Cyprus issue. The people of Varosia know very well, and in their own skin, the results of this policy. They know what happened in Crans Montana and beyond. We know who for two years, instead of working for the resumption of talks on the basis of the Guterres framework and the agreed convergences, allowed time to pass and Turkey to create new ones. We know who were the ones who came up with the idea of discussing behind closed doors the two-state solution and the confederation. At the beginning of July, the Municipality of Famagusta organized a rally outside the Presidential Palace, with the aim of sending a message to President Anastasiadis that time is running out for Varosi, that we are at five and that something must be done immediately. On the same day, the presidency issued a statement in response to the requests of the Municipality of Famagusta, listing a series of actions it took from 2014 until today, with letters to the secretary general. of the UN with reports on Famagusta etc. It is obvious that all these actions were not enough, they were not able to prevent the current border situation and the creation of new ones in our city.
Remote script
How should the people of Varos react if the other side calls for the return of the people of Varos under the administration of the pseudo-state / Turkey?
Varosi must return to its legal inhabitants under UN administration. This is also provided for in the relevant UN resolutions. Otherwise, new accomplishments are created in relation to a critical aspect of the Cyprus problem, the territorial one, which overturns the whole logic of the solution of the Cyprus problem. What is required, of course, is our side, not to passively wait for the actions of the pseudo-government or the occupying power, but to act proactively and have the initiative of the movements. The scenario of unilateral opening is a fact that will create huge problems, because it will divide the people of Varos. Of course, I personally consider it a very remote scenario, because the condition of the buildings is such that the resettlement of the residents is currently impossible. I personally believe that at the moment only the resumption of talks will put an end to the challenges and accomplishments that some are trying to create in Famagusta. The city should be handed over to the UN administration immediately and the technical studies for the reconstruction should start together.
Will the people of Famagusta go to the polls this time? In 2016 the abstention reached 60%.
The truth is that the abstention in the municipal elections of 2016 for the city of Famagusta moved at the same levels as the other refugee and free municipalities. I do not believe that there is a lack of interest from the Famagusta people for their city. On the contrary, there is great love, a deep and personal relationship of every Varosiotis with his city. Mr. Iliadis from Varos are disappointed and bitter. Disappointed and bitter by the constant denials and mockery. Despite the fact that this disappointment is largely justified, I believe that in these critical hours we must all seek the last glimmer of hope and mobilize in the struggle for return. That is why I call on all my constituents to participate en masse in the forthcoming elections on 25 August. The mass participation in the polls of the people of Varosi, whatever their choice, will be a clear message that Varosi remains a priority in our hearts and minds. Frustration must be involved. Dynamic participation. Both in the elections and in all the action of our refugee municipality.
Peace, prosperity
Do you have contact with the T / C of Famagusta?
The Turkish Cypriots are and must be our allies in the struggle for the return of Famagusta and for the overall solution. There are many T / Cs in Famagusta who are real fighters for solution, reunification and peace. I know several people personally. It is a fact that there is no contact with the current T / C mayor. This creates a challenge, so with my election I will try to create a channel of communication as it existed with the previous T / C mayor, with whom as the Municipality of Famagusta, with the late mayor Alexis Galanos, we had reached a joint declaration . There are, therefore, in Famagusta organized groups, groups of citizens but also individuals who, yes, want the city to be returned to its rightful inhabitants and together to create a peaceful future of cooperation and prosperity in which future generations can live.
What are the benefits of a possible opening of the city under the United Nations or its return?
The opening of the city will be a huge step forward, with huge benefits for the whole of Cyprus and for all Cypriots. For refugees and non-refugees. For Varosians and not. Famagusta will emerge as a living model of peaceful coexistence of E / K and T / C, a miniature of a united Cyprus. A living proof that we can do it. At the same time, it will reveal the enormous dynamics that the total solution of the Cyprus problem, the reunification, the peace can bring. The reconstruction of the city of Varosia, the opening of the port, the restoration of the monuments of the medieval city of Famagusta will be top challenges for modern Cyprus. They will give a spectacular boost to the development and economy of our entire island. A real and solid development that will really serve the place. Reunion is the big restart the place needs. And this can begin with the opening of our city.
Memories from Famagusta
"In 1974 I was 19 years old and I was serving my military service in the area of Karpasia, and specifically in the village of Agios Symeon. On August 14, when the second phase of the Turkish invasion began, I was in a remote outpost of the battalion. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the front, our battalion made the great fold from Karpasia to the English, leaving Famagusta and leaving us alone, 10 soldiers in the village. Finally, we managed with a single-cab car of a Turkish Cypriot that was in Agios Symeon to leave the outpost after many hours and arrive late at night in Famagusta, before proceeding to England where the rest of the battalion was. The most tragic thing that stuck in my mind is that we crossed an empty city. Famagusta had already been abandoned by its inhabitants. We also went outside my house and there was no one. The image was tragic and remained etched in me. This fact proves the great betrayal and abandonment of the city by the army, not by the ordinary soldiers and conscripts but by the leadership of the army. My memories from Famagusta are sweet memories. I carry within me all the simple but beautiful moments that I lived with the ordinary people of poverty in the popular district of Agios Loukas where I grew up. I remember with immense appreciation my teachers and teachers in elementary and high school, who helped us grow socially and spiritually and become good people. I still remember the social and other events in our neighborhood where people were very close to each other. I remember our events at the club. We lived simply, popular, poor but loved. I want to return to this Famagusta, with my children ".
Source: POLITIS, Katerina Iliadi
