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It is with feelings of honor and pride that I participate in today's modest ceremony for the 39th Missing Persons' Love Marathon. An institution that aims, among other things, not to remember, because we have never forgotten, but to further raise awareness and support the effort to clarify the fate of our missing persons, which is the most tragic aspect of the Turkish invasion of 1974.
It is a fact that every time I am in this holy place, both as President of the Republic of Cyprus and as a simple pilgrim, I feel unlimited awe towards all our compatriots and our Greek brothers, who sacrificed for the homeland, sacrificed for the Republic of Cyprus to exist today.
This place, quite naturally, has now evolved into the symbol and flag of our efforts for the liberation of our homeland. It has become a place of promise to take responsibility, a point of national reorientation, but also a reminder of the debt of each of us. Undoubtedly, the heart and soul of the modern history of Cyprus and the whole of Hellenism pulsates in this place. This is the landmark and the beacon of every struggle and every effort for freedom.
This year in particular, our country is celebrating 50 years, half a century since the tragic events of 1974. Fifty years of violation of our territorial integrity and our fundamental rights by Turkey, 50 years of displaced and missing persons, 50 years of pain, sorrow, anger and many unanswered questions. But we are also counting 50 years of unstoppable struggle and expectation for liberation, for reunification, for a solution to our national problem.
All these years represent at the same time for so many people a long Odyssey. An odyssey for the families of the victims, the refugees, the wounded, the imprisoned, the captives, and most of all for all of you, the relatives of the missing. I firmly believe, and this is what I have been working for since the first day of my election, that this Odyssey, despite the problems, difficulties and challenges, will sooner or later come to an end and we will be led safely to our own Ithaca.
Allow me to take this opportunity to welcome at this point the presence of the President of the Panhellenic Committee of Relatives of the Missing, my dear friend Maria Kalbourtzi, who, in addition to her daily struggles for so many years, bears witness through her efforts to the common struggle of Greece and Cyprus, the common pain and the common anguish for the determination of the fate of all the missing persons.
This year, as never before, we must stand united and stress in every direction that the passage of 50 years does not in any way alter the consequences of the brutal Turkish invasion: the violation of fundamental human rights by Turkey and its intransigence to resume dialogue with the sole aim of resolving the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework.
We must fight even more concertedly, persistently and purposefully for the reunification of our homeland, for finding a viable and functional solution, for a Cyprus free of occupying troops and anachronistic guarantees, a solution based on the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and the principles and values of the European Union.
In this context, to refer to a recent development, I believe it is important that Turkey's European course is substantially linked to the developments in the Cyprus problem, as has recently emerged from the conclusions of the European Council. It was something that we as a Government have been pursuing from the very beginning. In the conclusions, Turkey received a clear message from Europe that its substantial involvement in the Cyprus problem, always on the agreed basis, will act as a catalyst for developments in Euro-Turkish affairs.
I have mentioned and stressed many times that the basic axis and the basic core of our governance is the human being in its entirety. By extension, humanitarian issues are high on our priorities.
The issue of the missing persons is first and foremost a humanitarian issue and only as such do we approach it. I recall, in this regard, that after our insistence and effort, a first meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader took place exclusively on the issue of the missing persons, and I hope there will be a follow-up.
As a Government, we have given a clear mandate to the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons for substantial differentiation in our approach to the issue. With the aim of encouraging and assisting the gathering of as much information as possible, we differentiated the way information was received and recorded, bypassing cumbersome procedures and creating a more friendly and trustworthy environment for witnesses.
The results were positive, as in a short period of time we had several new identifications with the contribution of our Representative to the ICRC, Mr.
The relatives of the Greek soldiers were informed in person by the Head of the Office in Greece, by the Head of the Office herself, thus paying due honor and importance to their sacrifice by the Republic of Cyprus.
This year's 39th Missing Persons' Love Marathon once again strongly and emphatically proclaims the violation of basic human rights by the Turkish side. We may be in a somewhat better place today in terms of determining the fate of a large number of our missing brothers and sisters; it may be that, after persistent efforts and facilitation, more and more information is coming to light. However, there still remains a long list of unsolved cases and with it the agony of thousands of relatives of missing persons, and of the State itself.
I want to assure you that this effort will continue until the last missing person is identified.
I would also like to take the opportunity of my presence to congratulate the Foundation of the "Pancyprian Missing Persons' Love Marathon Fund" and the Pancyprian Organization of Relatives of Captured and Missing Persons, who are essentially supporting this collective effort in various ways. The political will is there, it is a given, and our efforts are constant and uninterrupted. It is up to the Turkish side - and we are working in this direction, through the international community - to change its attitude and to cooperate to the extent it can to end a purely humanitarian issue, the drama of the relatives of the missing.
Dear relatives of the missing, I want to assure you that we are and will continue to be always by your side. Next to your problems, anxieties and sorrows. Next to every mother, sister, child, wife and relative of a missing person. Your drama is our drama. Your agony is our agony. I personally assure you that you will have me as your strong ally in the effort to determine the fate of all the missing persons, in the effort to justify the offer and the sacrifice of each and every freedom fighter of this land, until the blessed day of the reunification of our homeland, for a Cyprus, for a homeland without occupation troops and foreign guarantees, united and peaceful.
(PM/AF/EP/NZ)
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