The international community, which condemns Turkey's actions in Cyprus, must intervene catalytically to prevent any new fait accompli that Turkey wishes to impose, Petros Demetriou, Director of the Office of the President of the Republic, said today.
In his address at the first official screening of the documentary "Memories of Occupied Land, a travelogue in Messaoria and Karpasia", organized by the Union of Displaced Communities of Famagusta, at the UCLan Cyprus University in Larnaca. Demetriou described the initiative as "worthy of praise, which is a continuation of the other rich and noble activity developed by the President and members of the Association" to preserve the memory of our occupied territories and to continue the struggle to return to our ancestral homes.
He added that the "documentary projecting, through a journey to the occupied villages of Mesaoria and Karpasia, their rich historical, cultural and social heritage, their special characteristics and traditions, as well as their natural beauty, evokes nostalgic memories and recollections".
"Mesaoria, Karpasia and the rest of the occupied areas of Cyprus, waiting patiently for the return of their inhabitants, are symbols of hope, expectation and perseverance for the continuation of the struggle until vindication," he said.
The President of the Republic said Petros Demetriou "communicates this political will and will in all directions at every international forum, stressing the strong will of our side to return to the negotiating table and work towards" a solution based on UN resolutions and European principles, on what has been agreed to date and leading to a sovereign and independent state, far from foreign dependencies and armies of occupation.
He noted, however, that "contrary to our strong will, the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides persist in the same intransigence they have always shown, making excessive claims and engaging in a series of provocative actions, which are far from promoting the creation of the necessary climate for the opening of negotiations".
"We are all witnesses to what has been happening recently in the enclosed area of Famagusta, especially after the recent renewed provocative and illegal actions of Turkey and its enablers," he said.
We have made and are making the necessary representations to both the European Union and the international community and the United Nations, as these actions once again contravene the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. What everyone is seeing, what everyone is condemning should finally lead them to intervene catalytically in order to prevent any new fait accompli that Turkey wishes to impose."
. Demetriou, "that we are promoting the need to adopt bold Confidence Building Measures, which, among other things, foresee as the most basic the return of the enclosed city of Famagusta to its legitimate inhabitants. Confidence-building measures that the international community has warmly welcomed, but which both Turkey and the leadership of the illegal regime have rejected out of hand, sticking to the unacceptable position of a two-state solution".
Therefore he said "it is clear that, in order to achieve any progress, it is necessary for the Turkish side to refrain from any unilateral actions, tensions or threats" while we expect it to comply with its legal and moral obligation under international law to cooperate for an effective examination of the fate of the missing persons.
After stating that "the reunification of Cyprus was and remains a top priority", he assured and conveyed on behalf of the President of the Republic "the unconditional and in every way support of the State to the work" that the occupied communities are carrying out as well as the commitment to satisfy their demands and suggestions.
For his part, the President of the Union of Displaced Communities of Famagusta (EEKA) Michalis Tziortas in his address said that the production of the documentary was an effort of more than two years and "the aim of EEKA was to create with the power of image and sound a valuable archive to become, among other things, a legacy for future generations".
He expressed satisfaction because, as he explained, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, a process of subtitling the documentary in four languages, English, French, German and Russian, is proceeding. The material will be used in exhibitions for enlightenment purposes abroad, can be used in the educational material of the Ministry of Education and will be a source of historical research by historians, archaeologists and universities in Cyprus and abroad.
In his own greeting, Metropolitan Vassilios of Constantia and Famagusta, read by Father Epiphaneios Papantoniou, said that "today's virtual tour gives everyone the opportunity, to walk again mentally "in the places where we saw the first light of the sun" and to assert within ourselves that the memory of our occupied land remains unquenched and the ardent desire to return deeply rooted in our hearts".
He added that the invasion and uprooting is "a real uprooting of man from his familiar environment, which is made up of nature and human society, monuments and churches, the values and traditions of the land. People accustomed to the vast plain of Mesaoria, the coastal region of Karpasia and the other peculiar parts of our occupied homeland, which are now in danger of being destroyed, move to an alien environment, whether mountainous or urban, living their own 'odyssey' for almost half a century.
The Mayor of occupied Famagusta, Simos Ioannou, described as "commendable" the initiative for the making of the documentary, which he said "should be our ambassador, one more document, one more weapon in our hands in our global campaign against the occupation of Famagusta province and a large part of our homeland". The Municipality of Famagusta, he said, "as the metropolitan municipality of the free but occupied province, will continue to support the actions of the Union of Communities until the much needed return to our towns and villages."[/P THE RESPONSIBLE FORCES OF THE COUNTRY SHOULD ALSO RESIST THE WORST SCENARIO, THAT OF TURKEY'S INSISTENCE ON POSITIONS THAT WE CANNOT ACCEPT," HE SAID, NOTING THAT "WE SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS THAT HAVE EUROPEAN SUPPORT."
At the same time, he expressed the conviction that "we should use every available tool at our disposal to achieve this. The timing between Turkey's demands, on this range of issues, lends itself to making moves in favour of our case."
RIK Board Vice-Chairwoman Eleni Louca congratulated the Union of Displaced Communities of Famagusta and its President Michalis Tziorta for making this work a reality. I bow to this project because I believe that it is necessary and will be a very important factor for us who were born and have lived for some years in the occupied territories to remember them, but especially for our children and our descendants to know what our land is, to know that this land is ours and we are not going to give it away to anyone".
Ms. Louca promised that RIK will use the documentary "in the best possible way to promote the memory of our occupied people because it must not be remembered. We must promise ourselves that we will go back to our occupied land," she noted.
On behalf of the documentary's contributors, Charalambos Charalambous referred to the two years, the years of the coronavirus pandemic, that it took to write the texts, the research to collect information material about each of the occupied villages, the search for photographic and other relevant accompanying material for the texts and the creation of the documentary.
He added that "almost half a century since 1974 with the oldest of the refugees having passed away, with memories fading, with the youngest having no representations of their villages and "I do not forget" becoming today "I do not remember", I hope that the documentary is a tool that will spark the interest of the young ones to know and love their villages and the adults to continue to remember them. Together we can all renew our hopes, stamina and faith to return to our native land, to a free and reunited homeland," he concluded.
After the greetings, honorary plaques were awarded to the documentary's contributors.
It is noted that the event was attended by, among others, Members of Parliament, the Province of Famagusta, the President of the Union of Municipalities, the Bishop of Karpasia, a representative of the Diocese of Kition, the Commander of KSEED, the Mayor of the occupied Lefkoniko and community leaders.
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