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- Ελληνικά
The Minister of Education, Sports and Youth, Mrs Athina Michaelidou, delivered the following address at the "3rd Pancyprian Refugee Rally", which took place on Friday, October 20, 2023, at 19:00:30, at the Forest of Achna Square. Joining our voices today, we have gathered here, a few meters away from occupied Achna, in the area that hosted the largest refugee settlement immediately after the Turkish invasion, to assert our unwavering will to continue the struggle for the liberation and reunification of our homeland.
All the actions included in this special event, and especially the Refugee Theme Park that hosts thousands of visitors, reflect the pain, drama and consequences that our people continue to experience as a result of the tragic events of 1974. The dead, the missing, the trapped, the refugees and the uprooting constitute the harsh, ongoing reality that bleeds our souls every day. However, no matter how relentlessly time fights against oblivion, no matter how daily attempts are made to falsify our history, we remember, with the thirst for a return to our ancestral homes growing stronger.
As the President of the Republic himself has repeatedly stressed, the Government's priority is the prevalence of justice in our country, assuring, at the same time, of our readiness to come to the negotiating table with a sincere attitude. What we seek is to achieve a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem. A solution that ends the occupation and frees our country from occupying troops and anachronistic guarantee conditions.
A solution that will develop our country into an independent state, within the framework of which the interests and peaceful future of the Cypriot Hellenism will be safeguarded and the conditions will be created that will allow all the legitimate inhabitants of Cyprus to co-exist and live together in peace, in conditions of security, progress and prosperity.
We hope that, soon, the Turkish side, giving up its unreasonable demands, will respond positively to the possibility of resuming the talks and, in the light of a well-prepared negotiating effort, a comprehensive settlement compatible with the European acquis and the principles of international law will be discussed.
Friends,
Initiatives such as the Pancyprian Refugee Forum, which has now become an institution, keep the desire to return alive. I would like to warmly congratulate the President and members of the Community Council and the residents of Forest of Achna for the organisation, the rich content and the excellent programme of the event. Their indomitable will is a beacon and guide, which guides our steps and strengthens our efforts, so that soon we will be able to hand over to the younger generations a free and reunited homeland, peaceful and prosperous.
I hope that soon the bells of all our churches will ring joyfully, sending everywhere the message to end the drama that our homeland has been experiencing for almost 50 years.
I hope that soon the bells of all our churches will ring joyfully, sending everywhere the message to end the drama that our homeland has been experiencing for almost 50 years. May the patron saint of all refugees, Saint Demetrian, whose memory we will commemorate in a few days, guide this time our steps back to our ancestral homes, so that, from next year, our meeting will take place in free Achna.
GOK/IS
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