Nicosia: A just Cyprus solution is a requisite of international law and is dictated by the norms of civilization in the 21st century, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis notes in a message he posted on the 51st anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. A settlement is also required by prevailing circumstances, especially in a troubled region, he went on.
According to Cyprus News Agency, PM Mitsotakis adds that this is precisely why the inter-communal talks must gain momentum and move forward along the path prescribed by the UN Security Council resolutions.
At the same time, the Greek Prime Minister stresses that today’s sad anniversary triggers memories of the brutal violence, loss and uprooting it caused, but also strengthens the fight for the island’s reunification within the framework of a modern European state, without occupying forces, ready to be a beacon of stability and peace in the troubled area of the Eastern Mediterranean.
“The struggle for vindication is a common struggle. And it will be victorious. As Europe, the peoples of the world and history itself want it to be,” he concludes.
For his part, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, stresses that “it is the duty of our country to continue and strengthen efforts aimed at ending the Turkish occupation and finding a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions and the implementation of the European acquis throughout the territory of a free and reunited Cyprus.”
At the same time, Tassoulas underlines that fifty-one years following the illegal invasion of Cyprus by the Turkish army, in violation of the UN Charter and international law, the island “remains divided and is still experiencing the consequences of this barbaric attack by Turkey; the illegal Turkish military occupation of more than a third of its territory, massive violations of human rights of the Cypriot people, missing persons, displaced persons, enclaved persons, illegal colonization and destruction of Greek and Orthodox cultural heritage.”
“We pay tribute to the Greeks and Cypriots who fought and sacrificed themselves in 1974 to defend the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, with the promise that we will never forget their sacrifice,” 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 due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.