Nicosia: The House plenary approved on Monday a resolution that condemns the massacre of the Assyrians. The draft was submitted by independent Socialist MP Kostis Efstathiou.
According to Cyprus News Agency, Efstathiou highlighted in his introductory statement the significance of acknowledging a genocide that impacted "some of our brothers, not far from Cyprus." He emphasized that the Assyrian genocide concluded in a brutal and inhumane manner, akin to the genocides suffered by the Christian minorities of the Armenians and the Pontic Greeks.
The Cypriot parliamentarian elaborated on the historical contributions of the Assyrians, noting their advancements in philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and urban planning. He underscored the issue's relevance to Cyprus, mentioning that 300 ascetics of the order Alamanos in Syro-Palestine, persecuted by Arab raids, sought refuge in Cyprus and became known as the Alamanoi.
Efstathiou provided a historical overview of the persecutions and massacres of the Assyrians by the Ottomans, culminating in the genocide of 1933. He detailed the tactics used, which mirrored those of the Armenian and Pontian genocides, including mass massacres, death marches lacking food and water, raids, rapes, and sales in the slave markets of the East.
He stated, "The House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, a victim of ethnic cleansing, today recognizes and condemns the genocide of the Assyrians, while simultaneously declaring the seventh of August as a day of remembrance of the genocide. On 07/08/1933, mass massacres took place in the established state of Iraq, thus closing the bloody picture of persecutions, oppressions and massacres with peoples as victims."
The initiative received commendation from all parties that voted in favor.