Turkey remains not intransigent, but immovable in its goal of turning Cyprus into Turkey, said the Primate of the Orthodox church on the island, Archbishop George stressing that “we must adhere to the principles of Europe and the rights that all free people enjoy today”.
He made the remarks during a speech at an event on Wednesday organised by the Committees of Occupied Municipalities and Occupied Communities at the Cultural Foundation “Archangelos”, of the Holy Monastery of Kykkos, in Lakatamia, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the declaration of the ‘pseudostate’ in Cyprus’ Turkish occupied northern area.
The Archbishop said that this day, ‘apart from the condemnation of the illegal regime, should renew the faith of our people in our rights for the liberation of the occupied northern part of the country of our island and the return of all refugees to their ancestral homes”.
He said to achieve this goal, the Church will continue to be at the forefront of the struggle and I do not doubt that soo
ner or later the day of vindication will come provided that we all remain steadfast and consistent in our defence of our rights to the end”.
Archbishop George said that “we must adhere to the principles of Europe and the rights that all free people enjoy today. All Europeans are entitled to free movement, free settlement, free acquisition of property in all European countries, while we are not entitled to the same in our country”, adding that these are positions of principle and “we should stand firmly on them”.
Turkey, he continued, having succeeded in trapping us in the intercommunal talks and over time in making the international community forget the nature of our problem, which is one of invasion and occupation, no longer hides its final and permanent goal, the occupation and Turkification of the whole of Cyprus.
The Archbishop of Cyprus also said that “what is urgent today is to increase our resistance” and added that “the Turks are trying today to alienate us in another way”, as they are trying to is
lamise the free areas”.
He said that “it is necessary for the Government, appreciating the great danger, to take measures to expel these illegal immigrants, no matter what the cost to our reputation in the outside world, because illegal immigrants are not at risk in the countries from which they were sent to us”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied the island`s northern third. Numerous rounds of talks under UN aegis to reunite the island under a federal roof failed to yield results.
Source: Cyprus News Agency