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It is a special honour for me to be present today, for the first time as President of the Republic of Cyprus, at the celebrations in honour of Saint Maron.Please interpret my presence here today as a minimum sign of appreciation and honour to the Maronite community, the community of which we are particularly proud. Not only for your multi-level activity, your decisive contribution to the history of the place, but for me what particularly distinguishes the Maronite community is the fact that this year marks 50 years since the Turkish invasion, 50 years of ongoing occupation, [AND] the Maronite community and its four villages are under Turkish occupation. Despite this fact, your struggles, your efforts, are on a daily level - and we must acknowledge that they are efforts and struggles that bring results.
I had the blessing - because it is a blessing - to visit the occupied villages, the two villages that I could visit, and I personally saw the struggle, the effort in difficult conditions of all these compatriots in Kormakitis and Karpasia.
It is particularly important that these heroic prisoners, under very difficult conditions, continue to keep the flame burning.
And it is for this reason that our first objective - something we are working on and will soon make announcements to the Council of Ministers - is to further strengthen the relevant plans for resettlement in the occupied villages, to give more incentives in particular to encourage young families, young couples, to consider the option of returning.
But it is not enough to have very good plans. It is not enough to give incentives. The most important thing is to create the conditions in this difficult context of occupation to make it possible for young couples, and not only young couples, to return to the occupied communities. It was for this reason that immediately after my election, as I promised when I visited Kormakitis, and despite the fact that the economic circumstances did not favor such a decision, we made a political decision to open, after 1990 when it was closed, the primary school and kindergarten in Kormakitis - because it is important to create the conditions for [YOUNG COUPLES] to return to their occupied villages.
In a few days the issue of teachers will also be resolved, opening up new perspectives for the region.
During my visit I also had the opportunity to see Agia Marina and Asomatos from afar, as well as the well-known historical monastery of Prophet Elias. The Representative on the Technical Committee for Cultural Heritage is here and important efforts are being made, starting with the monastery. This effort should start immediately and, if there is agreement, you can be sure that the Republic of Cyprus will financially support the effort, especially for the restoration of the monastery of Prophet Elias.
I am aware - and we have raised this repeatedly, it is not only in our, the present administration - of your constant request for Agia Marina and Asomatos. Always, in the context of our efforts to create appropriate conditions that will also help in the resumption of talks, this issue is raised as a confidence-building measure. And I want to assure you today that this effort will continue. An effort that I hope - with the appointment of Ms. Holguín, which opens a window of opportunity, which will create those conditions that will allow us to resume substantive talks, not talks for the sake of talks - will lead us to the liberation of our land, to the end of the occupation, to the reunification of our country.
An important effort is being made by the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. As she informed me, she will be in Cyprus again in the second half of March and from our side we will do everything possible to resume the talks and lead to the resolution of the Cyprus problem.
The present state of affairs can in no way be the future of our country.
I would also like to take my turn in welcoming - and I know the effort that John has made to start construction work on the first phase of the Multipurpose Sports Centre, which will be completed in about six months - and I would like to assure you that immediately after the completion of the first phase, with the financial contribution of the Republic of Cyprus of course, work will start on the second phase and the completion of the project, which is important for the Maronite community, especially for the young people and the young people of the Maronite community, but [WHICH] will [ALSO] serve the whole of western Nicosia.
In cooperation with His Eminence, with whom we have very frequent contacts, but also with the Representative of the community, we always evaluate and examine with a positive approach all requests, whether they concern ecclesiastical issues or issues of everyday life, both in the free areas and in the occupied ones.
Your Eminence, I would like you to take the presence here today of the Minister of Finance as a positive first response.
Your Eminence, I would like you to take the presence here today of the Minister of Finance as a positive first response.
I conclude by saying that following a request from the Maronite community and the representatives of the other communities in our country, of which we are also proud, we are in contact with the Attorney General, examining the request that will be granted - we want to be correct and within the framework of the Constitution - for the appointment of a Coordinator of religious groups in relation to the issues that concern them, particularly those living in the free territories. Because at the moment, all these issues are being dealt with by many ministries, and we believe that, particularly with regard to the issues concerning young people, the issues of education, the future of the community, such a Coordinator will be of great help.
(PM/AF/MS)
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