Ghost town should reopen to ease peace talks: Turk Cypriot leader

By Simon Bahceli NICOSIA (Reuters) - An abandoned and wired-off "ghost town" on the divided island of Cyprus, once the playground of the rich and famous, should be reopened as part of efforts to revive stalled peace talks, northern Cyprus's new moderate leader said on Thursday. Varosha, an eerie collection of derelict high-rise hotels, churches and residences, once drew luxury-seeking Hollywood stars like Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor; but it has been deserted, apart from occasional patrolling Turkish soldiers, since a 1974 war that split the island. Peace talks between Cyprus's estranged Greek and Turkish communities stalled last October, but the victory of Turkish Cypriot moderate Mustafa Akinci in presidential elections in the north on Sunday has raised hopes of a revival. Varosha, part of the ancient port town of Famagusta, lined with white sand beaches, was fenced off by Turkey in August 1974, barely a month after it invaded the island and seized the north following a Greek Cypriot coup. APPEAL TO GREEK CYPRIOTS "We will ... seek an agreement whereby the closed area of Varosha is opened under U.N. auspices while at the same time relieving the bottleneck in trade and tourism by opening Famagusta port to direct trade, and Ercan Airport to direct flights," Akinci said in his inauguration speech. "It is important we open new crossings and that mobile phones be made to work on both sides," he said in the speech, broadcast live on television. Both sides have mooted reopening Varosha - its dozens of hotels imprisoned behind rusting fences and overrun by cacti, in the past. But Akinci's election as president of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has already brought signs of progress. Greek Cypriots unveiled measures on Tuesday to boost trust across the ethnically divided island, and announced that rival leaders would hold their first meeting in months. The discovery of gas off the Cyprus coast and the need to settle boundary disputes could also give extra momentum to the talks process. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades, who attends peace talks in his capacity as leader of Greek Cypriots, said he would offer 'unilateral confidence building measures' to Turkish Cypriots to boost negotiations. (Writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Ralph Boulton)