A few days before the majestic feast dedicated to the mother, we stand with respect to the bust of the Mother of the Missing, which stands a breath away from our bloody soil, here at the monument - a symbol of honour - at the Tomb of Makedonitissa. We stand facing the black-robed mother, the personification of the dramatic, unrelenting and unceasing struggle to find her missing child, at the four points of the horizon.
It is for this reason that it is a great honour for me to be here today, paying due tribute to her martyrdom, the pain and perseverance reflected in her eyes, continuing tirelessly to carry on her shoulders the drama of uncertainty about the undetermined fate of her missing children, Cypriots and Greeks alike.
Her feast is commemorated in the heart of spring, when life revives, opposing the passage of time. The Mother, a mirror of silence and goodness, bears her burdens unconcernedly, like a rock and a refuge for her own children and the children of the whole world.
Even though 49 long years have passed, her grief does not fade away. The mother silently searches for her offspring with a small passport photo - what she has left after the uprooting - raising it with her "two suffocatingly crowded hands."
This monumental site of the Mother of the Missing is not just a lifeless existence. The volcanic stones surrounding her statue are the markers of the forty-three (43) plus another one thousand six hundred and nineteen (1619) names on the long list of missing persons from the 1963-1964 intercommunal riots and the 1974 invasion. And beneath every stone, lies a true story of unadulterated courage and service to the country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Events like today's do not expect slogans and alabaster words. Events like this one should and must remind us of our commitment and promise to be vigilant in the struggle to overthrow the occupation and reunite our homeland. They are the reminder and imperative of our duty to find a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, without armies of occupation and guarantees, which will meet the aspirations of the people and presuppose the determination of the fate of all the missing persons. A solution that will guarantee human rights, basic freedoms and harmonious coexistence.
49 years since the brutal Turkish invasion, and we are still experiencing the tragic consequences of the occupation. For almost five decades, the principles of international law have been flagrantly violated, while in our Turkish-occupied lands, colonization, illegal exploitation of our properties and abusive desecration of our religious and cultural heritage continue.
The resolution of the Cyprus problem has been placed as a major issue on the agenda of the President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, with the effort at the moment focusing on removing the stalemate and deadlock, and restarting the talks from the point where they were interrupted. The President is continuing his series of visits to European capitals, with the aim for the EU to play a more active and leading role in creating the conditions to relaunch the negotiations and lead to a mutually beneficial state of affairs, always within the framework of the United Nations and on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation. Recognizing the burdens they have borne as a consequence of the Turkish invasion and continued occupation, we consider it our duty, as a government and state, to support them within our means. That is why, as the Ministry of Interior, we have focused from the first day we took office on the issues of providing housing assistance and rent allowance to displaced persons. On the one hand, we are revising procedures and applying - for the first time - criteria for housing assistance, with the aim of a more merit-based approach. As far as the rent allowance is concerned, the income criteria are modified and the amount is increased, based on the modern needs of society and the new data of the Cypriot market.
I should also note that we did not hesitate to confront the chronic problem of the structural adequacy of apartment buildings in the refugee settlements. We immediately attempted a comprehensive approach to this long-standing issue, avoiding temporary and makeshift solutions. We focused on the big picture: to ensure the safety of the residents a sustainable and dignified living, without ignoring on the one hand the existing risks and on the other hand the criticality of taking immediate measures.
Ladies and gentlemen,
For almost fifty years, the occupied municipalities and communities of Cyprus have been waiting patiently for the return, putting in the forefront the Manes who lost themselves and their homeland, who symbolize land, nature and birth. The Cypriot Mana, whom we honour today, becomes the cry of our martyred island and reminds us that we still have the debt of return.
Therefore, in closing, I feel obliged to thank, both personally and on behalf of the Government, the Committee of Occupied Communities for organizing this important ceremony, which preserves messages of remembrance, gratitude, but also commitment to the goal of clarifying the fate of the last case of our missing person.
(EFYs/NG)
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