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I am deeply touched and proud to be among you today for the presentation of the Press and Information Office (PIO) Photographic Exhibition entitled "50 years of Turkish invasion and occupation".
This is a small sample of the rich photographic archive of the Press and Information Office, recording the horrors of war, human suffering and the desire for redemption.
Those of you who honour us with your presence tonight will also have the opportunity to watch the Press and Information Office's production film "Operation Museum". The film chronicles the overwhelming effort of the then Director of the Department of Antiquities, Vassos Karagiorgis, and the staff of the Cyprus Museum to save the Museum's exhibits during the Turkish invasion of 1974.
The exhibition and the film that we present to you today are part of a wider set of actions that are taking place in Cyprus and around the world, within the framework of the ad hoc committee set up to mark the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and illegal occupation of almost half of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
Among them are the new collector's edition of the Press and Information Office on the 50 years of Turkish invasion and occupation, which includes 110 photographs from the Press and Information Office Archive, as well as the recently released short film produced by the Press and Information Office entitled "Cyprus Problem: 50 years is far too long", which was recently released to remind everyone that the Cyprus problem remains unresolved and that the current state of affairs can in no way be considered acceptable.
All of the above are pieces of an ark of individual and collective narratives, trials and expectations. Their purpose for all of us who lived through the Turkish invasion and the refugee experience that followed is to compose an aesthetic experience in which art in wartime functions as a representation, an extension of moments and a record of memory.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For half a century since the most tragic moment in Cypriot history, generations of children have been born and raised in the harsh reality of a wounded Cyprus.
A Cyprus for whom, in a world where everything seems to be running at a dizzying pace, something always remains stagnant and unshakeable. It resists time and accompanies our every step, our every thought. It shadows joy and sheds light on the darkest paths of memory. The occupation of our country.
Anti-scenes, barbed wire, babies in the arms of mothers living a drama, barefoot children playing in refugee camps, men on their knees and tied behind their backs, black-clad women with photographs in their hands without family, the chilling wail of the sirens that sound every year on the day of black anniversaries.
This year marks fifty years since the black summer of 1974. Fifty years of human rights violations, fifty years of abandonment, fifty years of destruction of our cultural heritage, fifty years of struggle, fifty years of perseverance.
We did not give up. We claimed our rightful place in Europe and in the world. We have achieved a great deal. We will achieve more. Nevertheless, we are not used to it. We have not forgotten. I DON'T FORGET.
Fifty years is too long. Enough is enough.
Allow me to address my sincere thanks to the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus in Athens Mr. Stavros Avgoustidis for his warm hospitality, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Deputy Minister of Culture for their valuable contribution, as well as to all those who contributed to the planning and implementation of the actions for this sad anniversary. I would be remiss if I did not express my deep gratitude to my colleagues at the Press and Information Office in Cyprus, as well as to the Press Adviser here in Athens, Mr Adonis Tagliadoros, who worked with absolute respect and dedication for this important project.
I leave you with the verses of Kostas Montis from the poem "Karavas, Lapithos, July-August 1974"
Do not "extract" their lemons this year.
Their juice is the blood of eighteen-year-old children,
their juice is the harvested spring of eighteen-year-old children.
Think where to keep them in the age of ages,
think how to keep them in the age of ages.
(NYAN/NZ)
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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