The President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou received on Monday the new Supreme President of AHEPA Savvas Tsivicos with whom she discussed the Cyprus issue, developments in Pyla, Parliament-Congress relations and diaspora issues.
A statement from the Parliament says that the House President congratulated Tsivicos for his election to the highest office of AHEPA, which is very honorable for him and for Cyprus and indicative of the significant role of the Cypriot expatriates, who serve as the best ambassadors of Cyprus abroad.
Demetriou praised AHEPA’s continuous interest and substantial action on issues that concern and affect Cyprus, with the Cyprus problem high on the agenda. She expressed her concerns on Turkey’s intensifying provocations against the Republic of Cyprus, in the light of the recent incidents in Pyla.
She said that the Cyprus problem is an international issue of invasion and occupation, and pointed out the need to immediately resume the peace talks to achieve a just and sustainable solution, in accordance with international law and the relevant UN resolutions.
She said that we must continuously brief the international community and demand its support, on the basis of principles, as is the case for Ukraine.
Demetriou referred to the role of parliamentary diplomacy and the importance of further strengthening the relations between the House of Representatives and the US Congress, noting her upcoming visit to the US.
Tsivicos informed Demetriou on AHEPA’s decision, for the international annual Conference of the organization in 2024 to take place for the first time in Cyprus.
Demetriou welcomed the decision and expressed the Parliament’s readiness to assist.
On Friday August 18, 2023 men of the occupation regime punched and kicked a group of international peacekeepers who obstructed crews illegally working on a road that would encroach on a UN controlled buffer zone.
The attack happened as peacekeepers stood in the way of work crews building a road to connect the Turkish occupied village of Arsos with the mixed Greek Cypriot-Turkish Cypriot village of Pyla, inside the buffer zone.
Members of the Security Council condemned on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, the incidents in the buffer zone, in the village of Pyla, in Larnaca district, with assaults against UN peacekeepers, reiterating their full support for UNFICYP.
They also condemned the attacks on UN peacekeepers and the damage to UN vehicles by Turkish Cypriot personnel and emphasized that “attacks against peacekeepers may constitute crimes under international law and reaffirmed their full commitment to the safety of all UN personnel.”
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. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Cyprus News Agency