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The President of the Republic addressed the following address at an event organised by the Cypriot community of Northern Greece at the Officers' Guard Club of Thessaloniki:
Your Holiness, Mr Minister, Mr Regional Governor, Mr Mayor, Mr General,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Friends,
It is with feelings of joy and special honour that I am here today in the historic city of Thessaloniki, for the first time as President of the Republic of Cyprus, only one year after my election. The ties of my country, the ties of Cyprus and the Cypriot people with Thessaloniki and the wider region of Macedonia are very strong, especially since the liberation of the region in 1912 and 1913. My presence here tonight is intended, among other things, to emphasize this fact, our strong ties, but also to acknowledge the contribution of all Cypriots, permanent residents as well as our students, whose lively and active presence further strengthens Cyprus' relations with Thessaloniki and wider Macedonia. So I am with you tonight to talk about Cyprus and our close, brotherly relations with Greece, but also to honour all of you who keep these ties strong, and who through your actions substantially support the unceasing struggle for the resolution of the Cyprus problem, for the reunification and liberation of our homeland.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This year is a special year for Cyprus, because of important historical, I would say, milestones. In 2024, as the Ambassador very aptly suggested, it will be 50 years, half a century since the illegal Turkish invasion. 50 years of occupation and division of Cyprus. 50 years of refugees, missing and trapped. 50 years of flagrant violation of human rights and relevant resolutions of the United Nations, the General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council. 50 years, ladies and gentlemen, is too long. Every day that passes, unfortunately, makes our efforts for the liberation and reunification of Cyprus and its people even more difficult, as Turkey and the occupying regime, both rhetorically and in practice, by imposing new facts on the ground, seek to consolidate partition and division, to legitimise the effects and consequences of the occupation. In this difficult context, in which we are called upon to act, it is important not to lose our commitment to the objective, which is none other than finding a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions, with one sovereignty, one citizenship, one international personality, I repeat always in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, the European acquis and of course the principles and values on which the European Union is founded.
This, moreover, is the main objective and the highest priority of my governance. From the first day in office we have been working intensively in this direction. The focus of our efforts, which I am happy to report are recognized by the international community, is to break the deadlock and resume the talks from where they were interrupted in the summer of 2017 in Crans-Montana. And this, ladies and gentlemen, I had the opportunity to convey this again to the personal envoy of the UN Secretary-General, who is in Cyprus these days for a second round of contacts. An appointment made possible after our concerted efforts and in recognition of our political will to resolve the Cyprus problem.
We truly hope that the Turkish side, despite the continued rhetoric and practice to the contrary, will finally demonstrate its will towards the resumption of talks and come to the negotiating table.
Friends,
In this difficult effort, the contribution and support of the Greek government and the Greek people remains unwavering. I would like to take this opportunity tonight to publicly thank Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for his full engagement and active support of our efforts to achieve our common aspirations.
Nicosia and Athens, Athens and Nicosia remain fully coordinated in promoting the objective of resuming negotiations at all levels, in all international fora, with priority, of course, to our common home, our great European family.
In addition to the sad milestone of 50 years since the Turkish invasion, this year, ladies and gentlemen, includes another important milestone, that of the 20th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus' accession to the European Union. A development, the most important success of the Cypriot people since the foundation of the Republic of Cyprus, which could not have been achieved without the support, once again, of the Greek government. Our accession in May 2004 to the European Union was the culmination of masterly, persistent and long-lasting diplomatic manipulations and full coordination between Athens and Nicosia. It is undoubtedly, I would like to repeat, the most important success, a historic milestone in modern Cypriot history, especially after the tragic invasion of 1974.
Ladies and gentlemen,
50 years after the Turkish invasion and 20 years since our accession to the European Union, the occupation continues and Nicosia remains the last divided capital of Europe. Taking into account these two important milestones, but also the need to end the occupation and reunite our homeland, I would like to stress the importance of a more active and proactive involvement of the European Union both in the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem and in the content of a possible solution. The European Union, taking into account the full range of Euro-Turkish relations, can, through the resolution of the Cyprus problem, lead us to a mutually beneficial state of affairs.
Moreover, the Republic of Cyprus will continue to be a member state of the Union even after the Cyprus problem is resolved. Therefore, ensuring the proper functioning of the Cypriot state affects by extension the proper functioning of the European Union itself. And as has been demonstrated very recently, with the role of the Republic of Cyprus in the response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which reflects the role of the European Union through the Republic of Cyprus, the neighbouring Member State in the region, a reunited Cyprus, a Member State of the European Union will have substantial benefits for the European Union itself and for all the States. I am delighted that he is with us tonight. Let me say a few words to all of them.
Friends,
I know you and you know me well. Especially you, the Cypriot community in Thessaloniki and Northern Greece. I know first hand and deeply appreciate your personal struggles for the democracy and freedom of our Cyprus. I know first-hand your anxieties about the ongoing occupation by Turkey, the unresolved Cyprus problem and the implications for the future of our country and our children.
Many of you are refugees persecuted by the Turkish occupier, as pro-progressive young people of the time you had no choice but to seek university education in cities outside Cyprus, such as here in hospitable Thessaloniki. A city that you loved and was loved by you, that gave you valuable skills for a new future of progress and prosperity. You took root, you endured, you created your new homes in Thessaloniki, in Thrace, in Drama, in the wider region of Macedonia. I am proud of all of you. We are proud of you and your achievements, but above all we are proud of you because you have never forgotten our homeland in your daily struggle for personal and professional recognition.
Alongside the struggle of Cyprus to heal the wounds of the invasion and get back on its feet, especially in the first difficult decades, you built clubs, created landmarks, monuments and museums, created groves for the missing and many more to remind everyone of the tragic aspects of the Cypriot drama and the sacred legacies of the continuation of our struggle.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Scattered in the soils of Central and Eastern Macedonia are the graves of the Cypriot volunteers who fell for the liberation of Macedonia one hundred and ten years ago. In western Thessaloniki, in Ambelokipi, there is a bust of Christodoulos Sozos, mayor of Limassol, who heroically sacrificed himself as a common soldier in the Balkan Wars in December 1912. A few hundred metres from where we are tonight at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, there is a monument and bust of the hero of EOKA, Kyriakos Matsis, who studied at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Aristotle University and died fighting in the heroic Kyrenia Dikomo in 1958. In a square in eastern Thessaloniki, in Nea Krini, stands the statue of Matsi. At the same time, in recent years, the remains of Greek officers and soldiers who were killed fighting for Cyprus in 1974 or who remained missing for many years have been transferred to various cities in Macedonia. The remains of the hero Georgios Katsanis, who was killed at Pentadaktylos on 29 July 1974, were buried in Sidirokastro. In Mitroisi, Serres, of the Chief Sergeant of the ELDYK, the Greek Force of Cyprus Konstantinos Kolios, in Agios Nikolaos, Halkidiki, of Sergeant Pavlos Pavloudi. To mention just three of the many cases that exist.
And of course I cannot fail to mention tonight Thanasis Zafeiriou who passed away eight years ago. Having lived for 42 years after 1974 the nightmare of the downing of the fateful Noratlas near Makedonitissa, Nicosia. In fact, he was one of the most active members of the Cypriot community in Thessaloniki.
In essence, ladies and gentlemen, the Greek Cypriots of Cyprus watered the tree of freedom in Macedonia and the Greek Cypriots of Macedonia gave their blood to Cyprus. Their sacrifices and struggles will always be our strongest link, the umbilical cord that will connect Cyprus with Macedonia, Thrace and the whole of Greece. You have been carrying the baton of these struggles for decades, ladies and gentlemen, to pass on to your children and our students. You will know well that no one, but no one, is superfluous in this effort.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Tonight I would like to address a personal message to you. And I am addressing the important, historic community of Cypriots in Thessaloniki and Northern Greece in general. As you well know, I have a special sensitivity to diaspora issues. I lived and grew up with our communities in the United States, Britain and Athens. My meetings with you are always characterized by sincerity and directness. From my student days, but also later as a diplomat, as a government representative, as a foreign minister. It means a great deal to me and I would like to thank you publicly tonight for your continued support and trust, which, I repeat, I have always enjoyed. It means a great deal to me that you are here tonight, at the beginning of a year that marks 50 years of Turkish occupation and the struggle to throw off the Turkish invader. It means so much more for the exercise of presidential duties to continue to support you as a united community of Cypriots in Thessaloniki, in Macedonia, in Thrace. We need Cyprus, my friends, to strengthen your voice, in the cities where you live, in the associations you represent and I assure you that we will remain by your side.
In this context, I would like to announce tonight that the Government will bear the costs of maintaining a monument of a symbol of Cyprus in Thessaloniki, the bust of Kyriakos Matsis within the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. This is a year of remembrance and struggle, ladies and gentlemen, and for this reason we do not forget either our roots or the symbols of our struggle. We therefore proceed immediately in cooperation with the Rectorate of the University for the restoration of the surrounding area of the bust of the Cypriot hero, a graduate of the University.
Mr. Minister, Mr. Regional Governor, Mr. Mayor,
As I have mentioned above, we have always been and remain grateful for the steady, strong and unwavering support that we as Cyprus receive from Greece and of course the Greek people. Especially this year, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, I would like to thank you, the ordinary Greek people, the people of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Thrace and all of Greece, for the unreserved support you have given to the Greeks of Cyprus who fled to these lands as persecuted refugees in 1974. Whether it was families, or students, or dozens of Cypriot children who found shelter and were accommodated for months at the Papafio Orphanage, the Children's Town of Oraiokastro, the Anatolia College, the American Agricultural School, the Mikra.
Tonight, I want you to allow me to thank you on behalf of them, on behalf of the Cypriot people, with the evangelical saying, "I have waited for you, and you have given me food, I have eaten, and you have fed me, I have been a stranger, and you have attached me, I have been naked, and you have surrounded me. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In closing, I would like to address our students, the young generation of our country, whom I am happy to see among us tonight. You have the pleasure and honour of being part of Greek education. An education which has over time made the greatest contribution to humanity. Your education in the high quality academic institutions of Thessaloniki and Greece in general - and on this occasion I would like to express on behalf of the Cypriot people our immense gratitude to the Greek governments for this timeless offer - is the best guarantee for your personal progress and development.
The knowledge, skills and especially the experience you will gain during your stay here will be your resources for your future career. Along with you, however, our societies in general will also evolve and progress. We need young people who think critically, who question, who create and who, ultimately, move us forward. So seize the opportunity you have and get the most out of it, both academically and personally. Both for your own personal development and for the development of our country. Don't forget that all of you are the future of our Cyprus.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you all very much for giving me the opportunity to be with you tonight and to simply, sincerely share some of my thoughts. Be well always.
(OP/MS)
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