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A Greek American advocacy group wants Peloton to pull its Halloween-themed Varosha ride, saying it turns an abandoned Cypriot city into a spooky backdrop for exercise.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) wants the 15-minute Varosha ride removed from the Halloween collection and its promotions immediately, executive director Endy Zemenides said.<\/p>\n HALC also wants a public apology to the displaced residents of Varosha and their families. It wants the US fitness company to review how it chooses content and stop presenting communities living with war and displacement as holiday entertainment.<\/p>\n \u201cVarosha is not a fictional ghost town or a spooky tourist attraction,\u201d<\/em> HALC said. It is \u201ca real community in Cyprus, whose residents were forced to flee during Turkey\u2019s 1974 invasion,\u201d<\/em> the group said.<\/p>\n Read more: Christodoulides Accuses Erdo\u011fan of \u2018Maximum Hypocrisy\u2019 Over Cyprus at UN<\/p>\n More than 52 years later, displaced families still cannot return to their homes, the group said. Instead of a setting for a Halloween workout, the empty streets stand as a reminder of displacement and injustice, it said.<\/p>\n HALC has launched an online petition<\/a> urging Peloton to remove the Varosha ride and apologise.<\/p>\n \u201cPeloton has a global audience. It also has a responsibility not to turn the suffering of displaced families into a seasonal gimmick,\u201d<\/em> the group said.<\/p>\n On X, Zemenides said \u201cVarosha is not a haunted amusement park.\u201d<\/em> Its abandoned homes, hotels and streets \u201care not Halloween props,\u201d<\/em> he said.<\/p>\n If the New York company<\/a> wants to keep the Varosha ride, it could open with an introductory note explaining why the city emptied, Zemenides said. Alternatively, it could take riders through the Akamas Peninsula, the Troodos Mountains or the Paphos coast, he said.<\/p>\nVarosha ride sparks petition<\/h3>\n
A city fenced off since 1974<\/h3>\n