The wounds and trauma from what happened in Cyprus can be healed only through harmony and consensus, pledged President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou.
She was speaking during the extraordinary session of the House to mark Saturday’s anniversary of the 1974 coup d’ état of July 15, 1974.
Turkish troops invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974, five days after the legal government of the late Archbishop Makarios III was toppled by a military coup, engineered by the military junta then ruling Greece.
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.
The House President said ‘wounds and injuries are healed through harmony, prudence, and consensus, practices that our country so desperately needs in an unstable and turbulent international geopolitical environment, where democracy itself is threatened, and nothing can be taken for granted”.
The members of Parliament observed a minute of silence in memory of the heroes and those who fell for democracy and freedom.
Demetriou said ‘we must confront the mistakes of the past only to leave them behind and move forward… To build the future with hope and optimism… To prevent ourselves from sliding into selfish, divisive, and dangerous behaviours’.
She noted that July 15 marks the beginning of the country’s suffering. She added that the treacherous coup by the junta and their collaborators gave Turkey the opportunity to implement its expansionist plans against Cyprus.
She also paid tribute to those who sacrificed themselves in an uneven and betrayed struggle to defend the independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus, as well as to the veteran fighters of Cyprus and the Greek Force in Cyprus (ELDYK). They fought with unparalleled bravery and heroism, driven by their sacred duty to the homeland and their love for freedom, said Demetriou. She also referred to the refugees who still long to return to their homeland, the relatives of those who are still missing, and the enclaved.
Fourty-nine years later, she said, ‘Turkey continues to flagrantly violate the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and international law’. She referred to colonization, the presence of the occupation forces, unilateral illegal actions, the destruction of cultural heritage in the occupied areas, and the efforts to change the status quo in the fenced-off area of Famagusta.
Demetriou noted that the pinnacle of Turkish intransigence is their insistence on a solution of two separate sovereign states, prioritizing the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots as a condition. She added that Ankara and the Turkish Cypriot leader undermine any prospect of meaningful negotiations while provocatively displaying zero willingness to continue the effort within the agreed framework for finding a just and viable solution. At the same time, she said, Ankara is creating new fait accompli in the fenced-off area of Famagusta.
“The imminent illegal visit of Erdogan to the occupied territories on the anniversary of the Turkish invasion confirms the intentions of the occupation force to complete its illicit plans for the settlement of the city and the usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties, disregarding the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and willfully ignoring the indications of the EU and the international community”, she added.
However, she expressed hope that this time the willingness to rekindle Euro-Turkish relations, as well as the new positive climate in the Greco-Turkish relations, will be reflected in Ankara’s stance regarding the Cyprus issue.
She also called on the EU and the international community to take action so that Cyprus ceases to be the only European state under occupation.
Furthermore, she urged the EU and the international community to intensify and coordinate pressure on Turkey to respect the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, cease its illegal practices and the attempt to create new fait accompli, and return to the negotiation table with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue that meets the expectations of the entire Cypriot people, including Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites, and Latins.
Source: Cyprus News Agency