The
oldest traces of settlements in an area found near the modern town
of Famagusta, Engomi, go back to the 13th century B.C., the Bronze
Age. At the start of the Iron Age the town, now built close to the
sea, was known by the name of Salamis and its kings traced their
ancestry to the Trojan hero Teucer, brother of Ajax and son of the
king of Salamis, an island off the coast of Athens. Salamis became
one of the most important cities in Cyprus particularly during the
classical period and its magnificent remains still bear witness
to its past glory. The earthquakes of 332 and 343 A.D. destroyed
Salamina which was built again by the Emperor Constantio II who
name it Constantia. The town regained its glory and became an administrative
and religious metropolis. Numerous Arab raids from the middle of
the 7th century finally caused the destruction of the town and its
inhabitants moved to Arsinoe, a town situated south of Constantia
which was built by Ptolemy Philadelphos in the 4th century B.C.
Perhaps a small town called Ammochostos was already there and was
re-named Arsinoe.
The name "Ammochostos" is first recorded during the Byzantine
period as a substitute for the name Arsinoe, which gradually faded
away. The Byzantine period lasted a thousand years and firmly established
Cyprus as a part of the Greek Christian world. During the French
and the Venetian dominations from the 12th to the 16th century "Ammochostos"
- called Famagusta by its new masters - became one of the biggest
harbours and trade centres of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Ottoman
Turks conquered Famagusta in 1571 after a nine month siege.
Three years later they forced all Greek inhabitants out of the walled
city. The displaced Greeks settled in the outskirts of the town
and the new settlement, which with time grew larger than the walled
city, was known by the name of Varosha. However "Famagusta"
has since survived as the official name of the whole town, both
old and new, whilst Varosha is used to describe the part of the
town which was inhabited solely by Greeks. Since independence in
1960 and until the Turkish invasion of 1974, Famagusta had flourished
both culturally and economically.
Turkish invasion - Famagusta becomes a ghost town
During
the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus (14 August 1974),
the Messaoria plain was overrun by Turkish tanks and in two days
the Turkish army was in Famagusta. The town had been completely
evacuated by its Greek population who fled before the invading army
and after the town had bombed by the Turkish airforce. Unlike other
parts of occupied Cyprus, the town of Famagusta was sealed off by
the Turkish army immediately after being captured and no one was
allowed to enter that part of the town. Not even journalists. The
term "ghost town" was coined later by Swedish journalist
Jan-Olof Bengtsson, who visited the Swedish UN battalion in Famagusta
port and saw the sealed off part of the town from the battalion's
observation post. He wrote in Kvallsposten (24.9.77): "The
asphalt on the roads has cracked in the warm sun and along the sidewalks
bushes are growing. Today, September 1977, the breakfast tables
are still set, the laundry still hanging and the lamps still burning.
Famagusta is a ghost-town."
Since 1974, 74 resolutions have been adopted by the UN Security
Council and 13 by the UN General Assembly, calling inter alia for
the return of the refugees to their homes and properties. These
resolutions are being flagrantly violated by Turkey. One would assume
that in view of all these international resolutions the town would
have been returned to its people long ago. Yet, thirty years after
its capture, it remains a "ghost town". The people of
Famagusta, like all other Greek Cypriot refugees, have a burning
desire to return. It is their town. Thirty-six centuries of their
history is there.
The
oldest traces of settlements in an area found near the modern town
of Famagusta, Engomi, go back to the 13th century B.C., the Bronze
Age. At the start of the Iron Age the town, now built close to the
sea, was known by the name of Salamis and its kings traced their
ancestry to the Trojan hero Teucer, brother of Ajax and son of the
king of Salamis, an island off the coast of Athens. Salamis became
one of the most important cities in Cyprus particularly during the
classical period and its magnificent remains still bear witness
to its past glory. The earthquakes of 332 and 343 A.D. destroyed
Salamina which was built again by the Emperor Constantio II who
name it Constantia. The town regained its glory and became an administrative
and religious metropolis. Numerous Arab raids from the middle of
the 7th century finally caused the destruction of the town and its
inhabitants moved to Arsinoe, a town situated south of Constantia
which was built by Ptolemy Philadelphos in the 4th century B.C.
Perhaps a small town called Ammochostos was already there and was
re-named Arsinoe.
During
the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus (14 August 1974),
the Messaoria plain was overrun by Turkish tanks and in two days
the Turkish army was in Famagusta. The town had been completely
evacuated by its Greek population who fled before the invading army
and after the town had bombed by the Turkish airforce. Unlike other
parts of occupied Cyprus, the town of Famagusta was sealed off by
the Turkish army immediately after being captured and no one was
allowed to enter that part of the town. Not even journalists. The
term "ghost town" was coined later by Swedish journalist
Jan-Olof Bengtsson, who visited the Swedish UN battalion in Famagusta
port and saw the sealed off part of the town from the battalion's
observation post. He wrote in Kvallsposten (24.9.77): "The
asphalt on the roads has cracked in the warm sun and along the sidewalks
bushes are growing. Today, September 1977, the breakfast tables
are still set, the laundry still hanging and the lamps still burning.
Famagusta is a ghost-town."