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- Ελληνικά
The member of the Cypriot delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), MP Kostis Efstathiou, spoke today before the Plenary of the Assembly on the issue "Appeal for the return of Varosha to its legal inhabitants", the Italian Rapporteur on behalf of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, Mr. Referring to the fact that fifty years have already passed since the Turkish invasion and continued occupation of Cyprus by Turkey, Mr. Efstathiou deplored the fact that Europe was unable to react to the ethnic cleansing that took place in Cyprus, the consequent erasure of cultural heritage and the disappearance of priceless cultural monuments and the distortion of history.
The return of the closed area of Famagusta to its legal inhabitants, Mr Efstathiou said, is a global demand of the international community and the civilised world. This is what the relevant UN Resolutions and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights demand, he added. Turkey, he pointed out, cunningly presents its clear illegality as a matter of dispute between the two communities. The debate on Famagusta, he noted, should not be linked to accusations, recriminations and mutual arguments about the invasion and who is to blame and who caused it. After all, he said, every invader always has his own narrative when invading a foreign country, while, according to the law of the strongest, it is always the victim's fault.
As Efstathiou said, in the case of Famagusta, what is most important is the immediate return of the city to its inhabitants and not the opening of the city. There can be no excuse for this simple demand, he stressed, regardless of the course of the negotiations. He also pointed out that the return of the town is neither dependent nor related to the de facto and not legitimate functioning of the "Property Commission" or Turkey's narratives on the Cyprus problem.
Finally, he expressed the position that in Cyprus, there is one people, which is constituted and not divided into communities.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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