Ankara, Oct 6 (AFP/APP):Authorities in breakaway northern Cyprus are to open the coastal section of the long-fenced-off disputed town of Varosha, a Turkish Cypriot leader announced Tuesday ahead of elections at the weekend. The internationally-recognised government of the divided Mediterranean island swiftly condemned the decision as a “pre-election stunt” and said it would lodge protests to the UN Security Council and European Union. Speaking after a meeting in Ankara with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Cypriot premier Ersin Tatar told reporters that “the coast will open to the public from Thursday morning”. The Turkish army has kept Varosha fenced off since its Greek Cypriot residents fled when it invaded northern Cyprus in 1974 in response to an Athens-engineered coup attempting to unite the island with Greece. Backed by Ankara, right-winger Tatar is running in Sunday’s presidential election in northern Cyprus against the incumbent, Mustafa Akinci, seen as a pro-reunification moderate. Turkey, the only country that recognises the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), has long planned to open Varosha. Erdogan on Tuesday welcomed Tatar’s announcement as a “courageous decision”. “We hope Varosha will entirely open. We are ready to give any support to TRNC officials on this issue,” … Continue reading North Cyprus to open disputed ‘ghost town’ with Erdogan backing