Day: November 28, 2021

Cyprus, through cooperation, bilateral and trilateral agreements, contributes together with neighbouring countries to the creation of a network of security, peace, stability and cooperation, Defence Minister, Charalambos Petrides, said on Sunday.

 

Moreover, he noted that Ankara`s aggression daily jeopardizes the stability and security of the wider Eastern Mediterranean region and undermines the interests of other countries in the region.

 

Delivering a speech at a memorial service for the fallen soldiers of 286 infantry battalion during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Minister said  that tοday more than ever before the sacrifice of our heroes calls us to consider our own duty to our homeland and we must be united.

 

He noted that it is obvious that Turkey, through its actions in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone, in Karpasia peninsula and in the fenced off town of Famagusta (Varosha) is  trying to create a fait accompli and to promote the final division of our island.

 

The Defence Minister said that in the face of Ankara`s illegal actions and unacceptable positions, we strongly declare that we will continue to fight for a just and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, based on the agreed framework. He also noted that our faith and will to return to our occupied homeland strengthen our efforts for a solution and for the termination of Turkey`s illegal actions.

 

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Numerous rounds of talks under the UN aegis to reunite the island under a federal roof failed to yield results.

 

Source: Cyprus News Agency

JERUSALEM — Israel’s government on Sunday approved the immigration of several thousand Jews from war-torn Ethiopia, some of whom have waited for decades to join their relatives in Israel.

The decision took a step toward resolving an issue that has long complicated the government’s relations with the country’s Ethiopian community.

Some 140,000 Ethiopian Jews live in Israel. Community leaders estimate that roughly 6,000 others remain behind in Ethiopia.

Although the families are of Jewish descent and many are practicing Jews, Israel does not consider them Jewish under religious law. Instead, they have been fighting to enter the country under a family-unification program that requires special government approval.

Community activists have accused the government of dragging its feet in implementing a 2015 decision to bring all remaining Ethiopians of Jewish lineage to Israel within five years.

Under Sunday’s decision, an estimated 3,000 people will be eligible to move to Israel. They include parents, children and siblings of relatives already in Israel, as well as orphans whose parents were in Israel when they died.

“Today we are correcting an ongoing injustice,” said Pnina Tamano Shata, the country’s minister for immigration and herself an Ethiopian immigrant. She said the program was a response to people who have waited “too many years to come to Israel with their families” and to resolve a “painful issue.”

In a joint statement with Israel’s interior minister, she said the decision came in part as a response to the precarious security situation in Ethiopia, where tens of thousands of people have been killed over the past year in fighting between the government and Tigray forces.

It was not immediately clear when the airlift would begin. The government appointed a special project coordinator to oversee the effort.

Kasaw Shiferaw, chairman of the group Activists for the Immigration of Ethiopian Jews, welcomed Sunday’s decision but said there was still a long way to go.

“On one hand, this decision makes me happy. Three thousand people are realizing a dream and uniting with their families,” he said.

“But it’s not a final resolution. Thousands are still waiting in camps, some for more than 25 years. We expect the government to bring all of them,” he said.

Source: Voice of America