It is sad that some people are watching Turkey's provocative actions and yet it continues to be the pampered child for the sake of their own interests, President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, said on Saturday, wishing that the current situation in Ukraine would "awaken justice" and hold Turkey accountable.
This morning, the President of the Republic unveiled a memorial to the martyrs of the Turkish invasion, created at the Park of the Missing of the Limassol Municipality, in cooperation with the Office of the Presidential Commissioner and the Pancyprian Organization of the Relatives of Captured and Missing Persons.
Saying that the memorial is a constant reminder of the responsibility and the debt we have as a state, as a people, as a nation to determine the fate of all the missing persons, President Anastasiades said that, "Unfortunately, despite the investigation of a large number of cases and despite what our side is doing, the fate of another 775 Greek Cypriots and Greeks missing remains unclear".
"This is as a result of the usual and inhumane tactics of the occupying power to persist in its refusal to provide the information held in its files and despite the promises made to the United Nations that 30 sites would be indicated in order to investigate and possibly find missing persons," he added.
Reiterating the State's support for efforts to advance the issue and the work of the Missing Persons' Committee, the President appealed "to anyone who has any information that could help determine the fate of even one missing person, not to hesitate to provide it, even in complete anonymity".
At the same time, he stressed that "what we primarily demand is that the United Nations, our European family, the European Union and the international community at large hold Turkey accountable."
"They are doing something similar today and we applaud it, calling on Russia to withdraw and stop its acts of war, the invasion of Ukraine, while at the same time accusing it of war crimes, similar to those committed by Turkey in Cyprus," he added.
Expressing everyone's sympathy for the people of Ukraine and those who are suffering, the President said he wanted to believe that the current state of affairs, however unpleasant and however negative its consequences, "will awaken the law that does not distinguish between sovereign and non-sovereign nations".
Stating that sovereign states are those recognised by the UN and that Cyprus is just as much a sovereign state as Ukraine, he suggested that we too were equally subjected to the same barbaric, unacceptable invasion by a more powerful one, under exactly the same pretexts.
"That is why we do not cease to insist and insist, and we are making the case to the EU, to the UN Secretary General, from every international forum that the time has finally come to realize that international law will prevail when we all respect it indiscriminately, when all states do not distinguish between violations and favorites and violations and missing persons," he added.
Our side, he continued, is doing its utmost to achieve "an honourable solution, a just solution, a solution that enshrines human rights, that gives the relatives of the missing the right to know the fate of their children, their fathers, their brothers and sisters".
Despite efforts "with many sacrifices, with many concessions to achieve peace," he said, "unfortunately, Turkey's new revisionist policy is leading to stagnation, which is particularly dangerous."
He said that we are all witnesses, "especially the UN and the EU, and not only, of its (Turkey's) subtle neutrality at this time, when we are all united in Europe in taking measures, even if they are unpleasant, even if they are against the interests of our countries".
The President stressed that "it is sad to watch the provocative actions in the Aegean, Cyprus, Syria, Libya, Iraq, the refusal to apply sanctions, the blackmail to accept Finland or Sweden into NATO and yet, despite this, Turkey continues to be the pampered child of some for the sake of their own interests." "These are the realities," he added, noting that "these are the realities for which we are called upon to continue the struggle."
He assured that the struggle will continue with the help and support of Greece, "because only by fighting can we win, because only by respecting international law can we win, because only by making use of the multilayered relationship we have developed with states in the region and beyond."
He concluded his address, President Anastasiades congratulated the Mayor of Limassol, the President of the Pancyprian Organization of Relatives of Captured and Missing Persons, the artist and the architects of the project who contributed to this monumental symbol and reiterated that the state will continue to struggle to determine the fate of the missing persons.
Source: CNA
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