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We are working for a solution to the Cyprus problem, pledged Defence Minister Petrides

We are working for a solution to the Cyprus problem, pledged on Sunday Defence Minister Charalambos Petrides during the memorial service of policemen Yiannakis Aeroporou and Vanios Spania as well as EOKA fighter Charalambos Ioannou at the Fasoula Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary in the Limassol district.

He said the two policemen who lost their lives during the intercommunal strife of 1963 and the Turkish invasion of 1974 set as top priority the debt to their homeland and sacrificed their youth for freedom and justice.

Ioannou, said Petrides, was a fiery patriot who participated in every call to defend his homeland.

He said on our part we have an obligation towards history and our homeland as well as a historical responsibility, with the same patience and vigor, to fight to make Cyprus a country of freedom and peace. Out national goal remains one, we work “for a solution to the Cyprus problem that will free and reunite the country and create as well as safeguard conditions of security, welfare and cooperation for all its lawful inhabitant”.

Petrides said Turkey insists for some time now, through provocative actions and unfounded claims, to create new faits accompli which are not part of the agreed framework for a solution and the UN Security Council resolutions.

Every effort to create rapprochement and a resumption of the dialogue is torpedoed by Turkey’s negative stance and setting as a precondition the acceptance of two independent states on the island, the Minister said.

Despite Turkey’s totally negative attitude, he added, “with the same commitment and without deviating from our main goal, we will continue the struggle to solve the Cyprus problem and defend the rights of our people.”

Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Repeated rounds of talks under the UN aegis, failed so far to yield results for the reunification of the island under a federal roof. The last round of negotiations took place in the summer of 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana.

Source: Cyprus News Agency