A delegation of the Municipality of Famagusta, consisting of Mayor Simos Ioannou, Councillors Andreas Flourentzou, Michalis Vasileiou, George Tsisio and Municipal Secretary Marilena Manolis, paid an official visit to Piraeus for this purpose.
"The twinning of the two cities, which have many features in common, has been completed. Regardless of whether there is an illegal occupation of Famagusta and despite the deplorable regime, the demos is alive and well. There are cultural and sports clubs, which operate in other cities. So there is scope for cooperation and we can jointly undertake multi-level initiatives, strengthening relations between the two cities," Mayor of Piraeus Yannis Moralis said at the signing of the twinning agreement.
"An important role in this twinning and the unification of the two cities will be played by the new ferry line, as after 21 years Cyprus is again connected to Greece through the port of Piraeus", Mr.Moralis pointed out.
He added that the Municipality of Piraeus will contribute, with its forces, to the greater communication of the problem of the city of Famagusta.
For his part, Mayor of Famagusta Simos Ioannou pointed out that this twinning "was a desire of many years that became a reality."
"I am sure that we will have good cooperation.We need these big cities to help on the issue of Famagusta and we need to make a big, double struggle: on the one hand to promote the issue of Famagusta in all international fora and Piraeus, which has very good relations with other cities, will certainly help and on the other hand to keep the social fabric of our city, such as associations, cultural institutions, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry," Ioannou said.
The signing of the Twinning Protocol was attended on behalf of the Municipality of Piraeus by the Deputy Mayor of Extroversion, Tourism and European Programmes Adriana Zarakeli, the Deputy Mayor of Finance Athena Glyka-Harvalakou, the Deputy Mayor of Sanitation and Recycling Panagiotis Reppas, the Deputy Municipal Councillor for Human Resources Management and Training and Nursery Zilakou Charalampia and the Deputy Municipal Councillor for Municipal Police Haroutioun Markarian.
As stated by the Municipality of Piraeus, "the twinning of the two Municipalities aims to further develop the fraternal bonds of friendship between the two cities, with the exchange of experiences in various fields of administration, sports, art, culture, as well as the expansion of the historical ties between Piraeus and Famagusta".
"It is recalled that recently Mr. Moralis, as part of the Municipal Authority's actions to strengthen the extroversion of Piraeus, visited Cyprus, where he signed a Protocol of Cooperation with Mr. Ioannou," the Municipality of Piraeus added.
During its stay in Piraeus, the Famagusta Municipality delegation was given a guided tour of the Municipal Gallery, the Municipal Theatre and the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus by the Municipality's Director of Culture Evangelia Bafouni.
The Municipality of Piraeus has been twinned with the Municipality of Larnaca since 1995.
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