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It is with great emotion that I am here with you today to welcome the proceedings of the Workshop organised by the Lyceum of Idali on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation of a large part of our island. Allow me to warmly congratulate the students, the teachers and the school's administration for this initiative.
An initiative which is a continuation of the other activities you are undertaking, proving every day that the concept of educational contribution is not limited to purely educational work. On the contrary, it also includes all those actions that develop and nurture the philanthropy of students, while inspiring them to make a creative contribution to the development of a healthy society and to the building of world peace. It is to this effort that today's Workshop contributes.
As one can understand from the title of the aptly chosen theme, "Fifty years later... Cyprus, I close my eyes and kiss your body", in the context of the Workshop, the participants will have the opportunity to delve into known and unknown aspects of the Turkish invasion of our island, as well as its tragic consequences, which we experience as a people to this day.
The open wound of 1974, with its violent displacement and refugeeism, the dead and the missing, the theft of our cultural and religious heritage, the alteration of the demographic character of our island and the blatant violation of our basic human rights has indelibly marked the modern history of our country, indicating our duty to fight for the liberation and reunification of our homeland.
The highest obligation and priority of all of us is the prevalence of justice in our land, through finding a workable and viable solution. What we seek, as the President of the Republic states, is for Cyprus to become a truly independent state, which will enable all its legitimate citizens to live and co-exist in conditions of security, peace and stability. We claim these inalienable rights, which every European citizen enjoys, to which all of us are entitled, and first and foremost you, the children. We must draw lessons both from the painful consequences of the division that preceded the invasion and from the significant achievements of the Cypriot people, who subsequently managed, through unity and unanimity, to get back on their feet and make progress in the refugee period.
With this same unanimity, having as a valuable legacy the state of the Republic of Cyprus, which is a modern European country with international recognition, we intensify our faith and our struggle for vindication and return to our ancestral homes.
Allow me to stress that, seeing all of you, the young men and women of our country, leading this peaceful struggle, we cannot but feel emotion, pride and optimism.
The exhibition that we have just inaugurated with your works, as well as your increased willingness and participation in the other activities that accompany the programme of the Conference, fills us with optimism that you will continue to fight for the liberation of our country, its progress and prosperity. The school continues to cultivate "I do not forget, I fight, I claim", through activities and experiential workshops such as today's.
In closing, I would like to warmly congratulate and praise all those who worked for the successful conduct of the Day. I hope that soon we can enjoy such initiatives in all schools in our now free country.
Thank you.
(MS/GC)
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