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It is with great emotion that we are here today to honour the 136 heroic fallen from 46 villages and towns of occupied and other regions, whose relatives reside in the Municipality of Latsia, but also to pray for the determination of the fate of our missing.
These black memories of the treacherous coup against the elected government of the National Lord Makarios, which was the occasion for the brutal Turkish invasion, still remain alive.
49 years, almost half a century, July in Cyprus is bitter.
49 years, almost half a century, July in Cyprus is bitter. The painful events have left an indelible mark on the lives of the people of this land and the subsequent course of our country.
With pain in our souls we are still experiencing the consequences of the Turkish invasion and occupation. Our country remains divided, we are searching for the fate of missing persons, the Turkish troops who violently expelled one third of our people from their ancestral homes, killed, looted, violated international law and human rights, are still on our island.
We bow today before the sacrifice of those who fell during the Turkish invasion, those who suffered, were tortured, were captured, and those who stood firmly against the Turkish invader for freedom, democracy and love of their homeland.
Our thoughts on these July days go to our occupied towns and villages. To Famagusta, Kyrenia, Morfu, Karpasia. Our thoughts are always with the relatives of the missing, the fallen, our trapped, the thousands of refugees. Painful realities and bleeding wounds that still remain open.
Dear fellow citizens,
Latsia is a predominantly refugee municipality. After the Turkish invasion and occupation, it hosted refugees from every corner of our occupied homeland, who were forced to be uprooted from their homes in 1974, seeking temporary shelter in the three districts and the two settlements of the Municipality of Latsia.
The majority of the citizens of Latsia are refugees. People who started their lives from the beginning with hardship, with difficulties, with the pain of refugee life and with the expectation of return.
The people of Latium are characterized by philanthropy and self-sacrifice. The list of the fallen and the missing is long. Their sacrifice is a guiding beacon for all of us to continue the struggle for justice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The reunification of our homeland through a comprehensive solution within the framework of the agreed UN basis, in accordance with international law, the resolutions of the Security Council and the law, values and principles of the EU is the highest goal of the Nicos Christodoulides Government.
The President of the Republic is making every effort to achieve the resumption of the talks. In this context, he is active at every level, in the United Nations, in the European Union, in the international community, and is holding contacts with EU institutions and officials, with heads of state and government, with the Turkish Cypriot leader.
We hope that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side will come to the negotiations with a positive agenda, in a consensual spirit, without provocations and unattainable proposals.
For the Government, the present state of affairs cannot be considered as the solution of the Cyprus problem, nor the two-state solution or anything else beyond the agreed basis for a solution.
We have an obligation to continue our tireless struggle for a reunited homeland, without occupation troops, without foreign guarantees and without invasive rights, with the restoration of the unity of its territory and its people. For a modern European state, which will respect and guarantee the human rights and security of its citizens, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins. For a state that cares and provides for all with equality, without discrimination.
To the families of the missing, I convey President Christodoulides' unwavering will to continue efforts to determine the fate of all the missing.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The effort to end the occupation is a collective goal. Only united will we be able to strengthen our negotiating position, claiming what we are entitled to and what we deserve.
We owe it to our heroes, to those who fought, responded willingly and consciously to the call of our homeland, but also to our children, to the future generations of our country.
Eternal memory of the heroic martyrs of the Turkish invasion.
Eternal memory of the heroic martyrs of the Turkish invasion.
Eternal memory of the heroic martyrs of the Turkish invasion. Strength and courage to their families and to the families of our missing.
(ΘΘ/ΜΒ)
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