Day: July 20, 2022

A picket line outside the Houses of Parliament in London’s Westminster was organised on Tuesday to mark the tragic 48th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

The demonstration has become an annual initiative of the Famagusta Association of Great Britain, with the support of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK.

In a short speech at the picket, Famagusta Association President Dr Vasilis Mavrou conveyed the “anger and indignation” of the organisation’s members for Turkey’s President Erdogan’s actions with regard to the fenced-off town of Famagusta. As he explained, the area’s beachfront has been illegally opened for the public, instead of it being returned to its lawful inhabitants as a Confidence Building Measure between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities.

Dr Mavrou condemned these actions as “they do not comply with the resolutions of the UN Security Council” and the decisions of the EU and other international bodies, and they also “create conflict and tension in the relations between the two communities”.

He said that the picket was also a form of protest against the UK Government for not fulfilling its obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus as one of the Guarantor Powers of the country’s independence and territorial integrity.

“For us the 19th of July (the day before the anniversary) is the day to pay our tribute to the courageous defenders of the nation. 48 years since the invasion, our thoughts go to the youth of the town of Evagoras, Famagusta, who stood up against the invading power,” concluded the Famagusta Association President.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou has said that a meeting will take place in Athens in September during which all parties involved will coordinate actions for an international campaign to exert pressure on Turkey as regards the humanitarian issue of missing persons.

Photiou, who held a meeting on Wednesday with delegations of relatives of Greek Cypriot and Greek missing persons, said that the passing of time is the greatest enemy in the issue of missing persons and that 48 years after the Turkish invasion against Cyprus we are still looking for 870 missing persons, Greek Cypriots and Greeks.

“Parents pass away, siblings pass away, children die. Efforts must be intensified, the occupying power must be convinced and pressure must be exerted on Ankara, because the key to solving this humanitarian problem that causes so much pain to the relatives of the missing is the occupying power”, he underlined.

The international community must finally demonstrate more sensitivity for our missing persons, like it is showing now in the war in Ukraine, he stressed.

Photiou said they discussed a series of actions that will be carried out in coordination with the governments of Cyprus and Greece and the two organisations of the relatives of the missing persons. The first one will be a broad meeting in Athens in September, in the presence of all the parties involved, for coordination and decisions as regards the involvement of the international community on the issue of missing persons.

He added that more actions will follow in the UK and the US and said that they want a greater involvement of the Greeks of the diaspora to support these actions.

President of the Panhellenic Committee of Parents and Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons of the Cyprus Tragedy Maria Kalmpourtzi said that there are still 52 missing persons from Greece whose whereabouts are not known.

She said that relatives feel great injustice noting that they demand to know the fate of their beloved ones.

President of the Pancyprian Organisation of the Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners and Missing Persons Nikos Sergides said that the work conducted by the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) so far is not satisfactory explaining that “the results and the delays cause great concern”.

He said that at the meeting they decided a series of more practical ways for a better coordination so that international organisations and the United Nations are finally obliged to take measures and actions regarding the CMP’s work.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

July 20 is a day of self-awareness and national reflection, said the Minister of Finance, Constantinos Petrides, who attended, on behalf of the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, the memorial service for those who fell during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. On his part, the Deputy Minister of National Defence of Greece, Nikos Hardalias, who represented the Greek Government, said that the sacrifice of the fallen is “our ultimate legacy.”

The memorial service, led by Paphos Bishop Georgios, was held on Wednesday at the Cathedral of Apostle Barnabas, in Nicosia.

House President, Annita Demetriou, the Presidential Commissioner, Fotis Fotiou, leaders and representatives of parliamentary Parties and candidates running for the Presidency of the Republic, Nicos Christodoulides, Averof Neofytou, Andreas Mavroyiannis and Charalambos Aristotelous, were among those who attended the memorial service.

Constantinos Petrides stated that today is the anniversary of an ill-fated day. “We honour the victims, Greeks and Cypriots, who fell for this place, but until today they have not been vindicated”, he added. At the time of Petrides’ statement, a group of young people were chanting slogans against a Federal solution. From his part, the Minister of Finance indicated that “today is not a day of slogans or many words, but of self-awareness, of national reflection, to see how we can get out of the impasse”. It is a great honour to have the political and military leadership of Greece with us so that we can give this message together, he concluded.

The Deputy Minister of National Defence of Greece, Nikos Hardalias, who represented the Greek Government, said that forty-eight years later, the sacrifice of the fallen is our ultimate legacy. “It is our daily commitment and duty, for the blue of our sea, our sky, our flag, our country, to be immortal,” he added.

The Bishop of Paphos, Georgios, who delivered the memorial speech, characterised July 20 as a dreadful day for Cyprus and the entire Hellenism. “Forty-eight years later”, he continued, “today we are witnessing an unacceptable and sad situation, a quagmire to which we were led by the tactics of the Turkey but also by the inability of our side to rise above the ephemeral and effectively organise its struggle for liberation”.

The effective way out of the quagmire in which we find ourselves and the thwarting of the Turkish plans at the expense of Cyprus imply an awareness of the situation, however difficult it may be, as well as assuming our responsibilities towards history and our homeland, indicated the Bishop of Paphos. “We should admit our mistakes, in order not to indulge in mutual accusations and blaming, but to avoid repeating them,” he concluded.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus President, Nicos Anastasiades, said on Wednesday evening that “we will never accept the choice of surrendering”, noting that “our goal remains for Cyprus to evolve into a ‘normal state’ as the UN Secretary – General has described it, that is to evolve into a truly independent and sovereign state with no dependencies on third parties, a modern state which will truly give the prospect of peaceful co-existence in a secure and stable environment for all of the legal residents of the island.”

In his address at an event at the Presidential Palace, to mark the 48th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, that was read out by Finance Minister, Constantinos Petrides, the President said that he is at peace with his conscience that he did everything humanly possible not only to find a settlement to the Cyprus problem, but also to prevent the collapse of the 2017 talks in Crans Montana.

President Anastasiades said that he hoped that the further active involvement of high ranking officials from the UN Secretariat and the contacts with the parties involved “will enable the Secretary General to activate the process for discussing the bold Confidence Building Measures that we have submitted, but also to resume a fresh dialogue on an equal footing, away from extortion, threats and absurd demands.”

He noted that he has repeatedly underlined to the UN Secretary General, our EU partners, the permanent and non permanent members of the Security Council and to the international community in general that our will for the resumption of the dialogue is there, with the same determination and good will that we have shown until now to all efforts that have taken place for the settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Anastasiades added that what is needed is to create conditions which will allow to have a dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and the required good will by the interested parties, and particularly by the Turkish side, with a view to secure a positive outcome of the negotiations.

He went on to say that such conditions cannot be achieved through threats, efforts to change the crystal clear status of the fenced off city of Famagusta, as determined by the relevant UN resolutions, by questioning the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in its EEZ, or through prerequisites set out as the recognition of sovereign equality or a two state solution.

Referring to the Turkish Cypriots, he called on them to consider that only through a solution they will be able to get rid of any dependencies and promote their own identity and potentials.

He stressed that they must realize that any solution must be based on mutual respect to the rights and legitimate concerns of the two communties, since what we are trying to consolidate are not relations between two neighbouring states, but a state comprising two constituent states, with a central government, a single sovereignty and a single international representation.

The President said that for 48 years we have been experiencing an absurdity, adding that unfortunately despite the arduous efforts which he himself and his predecessors have made Turkey continues to show for almost five decades the same intransigent and unacceptable stance, alleging that its demand for a permanent presence of Turkish troops and guarantor rights is supposedly due to the fact that Turkish Cypriots feel insecure.

Anastasiades said that this demand must be considered along with the intentional misinterpration of the political equality concept through the demand that for every decision by an institution, regardless whether it concerns the vital rights of one or the other community, there should be at least one positive vote.

“Just think how functional or viable a settlement can be considered when all of the decisions of the federal state will depend exclusively on the members of one community, the one with the smaller population, which due to the military presence of Turkey will be under its full control,” he added.

Moreover, he said that the Turkish side ignores and disregards the fact that the Greek Cypriot community, has accepted, through a painful compromise, the bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, while at the same time it shows contempt for the European acquis and the international law principles.

Anastasiades elaborated on what happened during the Conference on Cyprus that took place in Crans Montana, in the summer of 2017, noting that the reason of its failure was not his withdrawal from the negotiating table but the unbending and intransigent stance shown by Turkish Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu.

He expressed the belief that if the Conference was not wrapped up, due to the insistence and the refusal of the Turkish FM to show any flexibility, but was suspended for some days or weeks, then things might have been different.

The UN and the EU would have had the opportunity to hold new negotiations and make interventions towards Turkey with a view to achieve a strategic agreement, he added.

Anastasiades said that despite the concessions and the painful compromises which the Greek Cypriot side has made, Turkey’s insistence to unacceptable conditions which are not proper for modern states has led to the derailing of every negotiating process.

The President said that the long standing goal of the Turkish side is to avoid finding a settlement so that they will be able to promote their position in favour of two states, and to continue to usurp properties, violate human rights, continue the illegal settling and the permament presence of Turkish troops on the island.

Anastasiades stressed the need for unity among the political parties and the whole people of Cyprus, noting that only through this we can bring about “peace, security and independence which we have been pursuing for so many years.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

As long as the Republic of Cyprus is shielded by the resolutions of the United Nations and the decisions of the European Union, Turkey’s goal for full political control of the island will never be achieved, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Wednesday, adding that this is our basic weapon in our effort to deal with the Turkish ploy.

Speaking at a seminar in London on the 48 years since the illegal Turkish invasion, Photiou noted that the goal set by Turkey’s deep state remains unfulfilled, because, despite the problems and weaknesses of the of Zurich-London agreements, we are and remain a state recognized by the United Nations and all other international organizations, a member state of the European Union and a state that signs agreements and partnerships with other states.

He noted that we need to defend with all our strength the Republic of Cyprus and to pursue a solution that reunites the island and terminates the Turkish occupation.

Photiou said that we have a duty to all those who fought and sacrificed their lives for our freedom, but also to the next generations whose future we must safeguard.

He spoke of the systematic efforts by Turkey to destroy religious and cultural heritage in the occupied areas and the attempt to write off every element of our historical heritage and our connection with the land of our forefathers.

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Repeated rounds of UN-backed talks to reunite the island under a federal roof have failed to yield results.

Source: Cyprus News Agency