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[/B]Special Plenary Session of 15 July 2023
Your Excellency Mr President of the Republic of Cyprus, Honourable Ladies and Honourable Ministers, Honourable Ladies and Honourable Members of Parliament,
Today is a day of remembrance, honour and condemnation... But also an appreciation of the past looking forward to the future. The only item on the agenda of the special plenary session is the black anniversaries of the coup d'état and the Turkish invasion.
I call on all to observe a one-minute silence in memory of the heroes and martyrs of the homeland who sacrificed for democracy and freedom.
(Observance of one-minute silence)
Eternal remembrance!
Ladies and gentlemen,
The House of Representatives is meeting today in a special plenary session to condemn the treacherous coup of 15 July and the brutal Turkish invasion, but also to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to defend the freedom, legality and constitutional order of the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time, we are confronted with a historical memory that is relentless in pointing out the tragic mistakes of the past that undermined the future of the country to Turkish incursions. We must confront the mistakes of the past if only to leave them behind and move forward... To build the future with hope and optimism... To not allow ourselves to slip into selfish, divisive, dangerous attitudes.
Wounds and traumas are healed with solidarity, prudence and consensus... Practices that the country needs so much in a volatile and turbulent international geopolitical environment, in which democracy itself is threatened and nothing can be taken for granted.
The sirens sounded again this morning. A chilling reminder of devastation and destruction. In effect, calling us to a wake-up call and to repel the extremes and division that led to the tragedy and the violent partition of our country.
July 15 marks the beginning of the country's suffering. The treasonous coup of the junta of the colonels and their collaborators gave Turkey the excuse to implement its expansionist plans against Cyprus. Under the pretext of restoring law and order, it invaded, spread death and suffering and occupied and still occupies illegally 37% of our island. Dead, captured, missing, missing, refugees, trapped: Horrific crimes that remain unpunished and victims still awaiting justice.
Friends
Every July... Gathering of remembrance for full-time debts:
To pay tribute to those who sacrificed themselves in an unequal and betrayed struggle to defend the independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus, To the heroes and heroines who resisted the Turkish invader and to all the victims of the illegal invasion.
Gratitude to the veteran fighters of Cyprus and the ELDYK, who, placing their sacred duty to their homeland and love of freedom above all else, fought with unparalleled bravery and heroism..
My thoughts to all our refugees, whose longing for return remains unfulfilled; to the relatives of all those who are still missing; to our prisoners, who for forty-nine years now have been left alone to guard Thermopylae.
Painful memories... traumas open... that we are called upon to manage in a way that does not perpetuate division, but fosters unity and nurtures hope for the future.
Colleagues
Forty-nine years later, Turkey continues to flagrantly violate United Nations Security Council resolutions and international law. Settlement, occupying troops, unilateral illegal actions sum up the trauma of Cyprus, which remains open: in our occupied territories the criminal destruction of our cultural heritage continues, in the enclosed area of Famagusta a change of status quo is attempted, Nicosia remains the only divided capital of a European state, while the annexation of our occupied homeland to Turkey looms ominously.
The culmination of Turkish intransigence is the insistence on the solution of two separate sovereign states, proposing as a condition the sovereign equality of the TCs, Ankara and the occupying leader, dynamiting any prospect of resuming substantive negotiations, while demonstrating defiantly zero will to continue the effort in the agreed framework for finding a just and viable solution.
At the same time, Ankara is plotting new fait accompli in the enclosed Famagusta region. Erdogan's impending illegal descent into the occupied territories on the day of the anniversary of the Turkish invasion confirms the occupying power's intentions to complete its nefarious plans to colonize the city and usurp Greek Cypriot properties, disregarding the UN Security Council resolutions.
We would like to hope, however, that this time the willingness to revive Euro-Turkish relations and the new positive climate in Greek-Turkish relations will be reflected in Ankara's attitude towards the Cyprus problem.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The violation of essential rights and violation of basic freedoms internationally seems to return humanity to a painful past, which we thought we had left behind. Turkey's continued occupation of half of our homeland constitutes our own tragic aspect of humanity's setback. Today, therefore, when the international balance is being dangerously upset as never before by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it is imperative that we act through solidarity and collectivity at all levels, putting forward our just demands. Seizing the momentum and opportunities created as Europe and the international community stand up to expansionism and the gross violation of international law. To demand, in our case too, the obvious, the liberation and reunification of our homeland, full respect for human rights. We must convince ourselves that the logic of two measures and two stations cannot continue, especially in our own home, the Europe of principles and values.
As the House of Representatives, we unequivocally declare our will and determination to continue to fight by every means possible, making use of every European and international platform offered to us through the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral relations and the strengthening of parliamentary diplomacy.
We call on the European Union and the international community to take action so that Cyprus ceases to be the only European state under occupation. They should intensify and coordinate pressure on Turkey to respect the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, to put an end to its illegal methods and its efforts to create new fait accompli and to return to the negotiating table with the aim of a lasting comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus problem, which will meet the aspirations of the entire Cypriot people, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Division and partition cannot be the future of this land and of our people.
We must create prospects and give hope to our young people. And only by joining forces and unity, out of the climate of confrontation and counter-confrontation, leaving behind the shadows of the past and modernising our political discourse, will we achieve this.
And for the sun to return... it takes a lot of work! And collective!
Until this country and its people are vindicated, until they breathe the air of freedom, we will not stop fighting. We must put this promise into practice as a debt to our heroes, to the victims of Turkish atrocities, but also to future generations, who unjustly received a mortgaged future.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We envision a free, reunited, peaceful and prosperous homeland. The road to achieve this is uphill and difficult... But it is also the only option. We are not allowed to deviate, because this is the future our country deserves! This future is what our children deserve!
(The text as sent by the House of Representatives)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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