MARAŞ COULD BECOME ‘DARK TOURISM’ HOTSPOT

MARAŞ could become a source of income for socalled “dark tourism”, it has been suggested. Dark tourism is defined as tourism that involves “travelling to places associated with death and suffering”.

The idea has been raised by Tourism and Environment Minister Kutlu Evren, who said he had plans to turn the reopened part of Maraş into a “touristic hotspot”.

“Maraş is a place of historical interest,” he said. “We are currently looking into how we can make Maraş a dark tourism place because it is an area that has been closed for 46 years, and a place of immense interest because of its glorious past.”

Reacting to Mr Evren’s comments, Cyprus Turkish Hoteliers’ Association honorary president John Aziz Kent told CyprusToday that he fully supported the reopening of Maraş and hoped the move would provide a much-needed boost to the tourism sector.

“The Greek Cypriots aren’t interested in sharing Cyprus with the Turkish Cypriots,” he said. “They won’t even share the [island’s] natural resources, never mind sharing power.

“Therefore, opening [Maraş], and allowing its rightful owners to take back their properties is most definitely a humane act. Now what needs to be done is to start planning on how to slowly start using Maraş for the benefit of tourism.”

Mr Kent, who was the first Turkish Cypriot hotelier and who started up the Celebrity hotels group in Lapta, called on North Cyprus to “be creative and allow the marketing of Maraş as a dark tourism hotspot”.

He added that it is the “most unique place on the island that tells the tale of what has historically happened in Cyprus and why”.

“There was a need to start somewhere in opening the town to civilians in a manner that conforms to international law,” he said.

“However, North Cyprus should make use of the opened part of Maraş for dark tourism. It is an open testimony to the history of Cyprus and why the town has been left stranded in time since 1974.

“There were many attempts to reopen it but they were rejected by the Greek Cypriot side in plans put forward by [former UN Secretaries-General] Kofi Annan [in 2004] and Boutros Boutros-Ghali [in] 1994.

“Maraş is therefore a window to the past and enables tourists to see firsthand what was known as the pearl of the Mediterranean at the time, and see the former glory of one of the most beautiful towns of the 1960s and 1970s which, because of the Greek Cypriot aspiration . . . to make Cyprus a Greekruled island, gave way to the present day conditions.

“Maraş was supposed to benefit Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, but Turkish Cypriots were generally never allowed to invest there.”

Mr Kent, who is 86, said he last visited Maraş in 1973 with his wife Valerie and was refused service at the Constantina hotel – now the Palm Beach hotel – “because I was Turkish”.

“This once booming town enjoyed miles of sandy beaches and dozens of grand hotels,” he said.

“It was luxury in the Mediterranean with the most beautiful near-white sandy beach and turquoise blue waters.”