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- Ελληνικά
It was with deep emotion that I accepted the invitation of the President and the members of the Association of our beloved Morphos, "Digenis Akritas", for today's event, which takes place half a century after the most tragic moment in modern Cypriot history. Fifty years after the coup and the Turkish invasion, we are forced to meet far from the land that gave birth to us.
Half a century later, we are still experiencing the consequences of the brutal Turkish invasion, the violent uprooting, the loss of our loved ones, the missing persons and the continued occupation of our lands. Half a century later, we are deprived of the use of our properties, of access to the houses that our grandparents built with their hands. For 50 years, we cannot taste the oranges from the orange groves of our Morphos that our fathers laboriously cultivated, we cannot celebrate the Orange Festival with the splendor it deserves.
Those tragic days of 1974 left behind pain and destruction. They left behind thousands of refugees, still living far from their properties. They left behind orphaned children who, as adults, still look with sadness in their eyes for the people they lost. They left behind mothers who are still waiting for their children to return before they perish with regret in one of the greatest humanitarian dramas experienced by Hellenism.
Compatriots
Fifty years later, the chilling wail of the sirens on 15 and 20 July does not allow us to forget. It requires us to continue the struggle until the final vindication, which is none other than the reunification of our homeland. It reminds us of our debt to those who heroically fell in defence of the freedom and territorial integrity of our Cyprus.
Half a century later, the wounds remain open and the memories fresh. And they will remain open as long as we bury our children in exile, as long as parents are lost in the longing to reunite with their children. As long as the violation of the fundamental human rights of all legal residents of our country persists, as long as we are deprived of our basic freedoms, as long as we organize events like today's to reiterate the need for a solution to the Cyprus problem.
The intransigent attitude of the Turkish side remains all these years the biggest obstacle to any of our efforts to reach a just, workable and viable solution to the Cyprus problem.
The intransigent attitude of the Turkish side remains over the years the biggest obstacle to any of our efforts to reach a just, workable and viable solution to the Cyprus problem. A solution that will end the ongoing occupation and reunite the country and its people in conditions of security, peace and progress.
Despite the difficulties and challenges created by the intransigent attitude and the ongoing illegal actions of the Turkish side, for the Greek Cypriot side the reunification of our country is a one-way street. There is no other way and we will not accept the withdrawal from the positions of principle and what the United Nations Security Council defines in the relevant Resolutions.
The rhetoric unleashed by Turkey through its officials clearly demonstrates which side seeks confrontation and the perpetuation of the current state of affairs. Despite the Turkish side's claims for a two-state solution, the Greek Cypriot side remains committed to the framework of a solution of a bizonal bicommunal federation, as agreed.
I want to assure you that the President of the Republic is working tirelessly and methodically, through diplomatic channels, to return to the dialogue table, claiming the just demand for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem. It is, moreover, through our own initiatives that we have succeeded in intensifying European and international interest, with the aim of resuming the talks. The effort made in recent months by the Secretary-General, through his personal envoy, confirms his commitment to the resumption of meaningful talks.
Friends of Morphites,
Fifty years is too long. But it is not enough to break us, to make us forget our properties, our fallen and our missing. Nor are they capable of moving us away from our goal. We will not give up the effort to remove the fait accompli caused by the ongoing Turkish occupation. The present state of affairs cannot be the future of our homeland and will never be accepted.
We draw on the lessons of our history and with collectivity, unity and unanimity we will fight to claim for our children a better future in a reunited, democratic and prosperous homeland. This is the state we envision and this is the Cyprus we must leave as a legacy to future generations.
(MKE)
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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