The Republic of Cyprus will stand as a candidate to the IMO Council, and within this framework we will continue to play a leading role in this organisation, President of the Republic Mr.Nicos Christodoulides said today.
In his statements to journalists, after the ceremony at the Prisoner's Memorial and the wreath-laying ceremony on the occasion of the national anniversary of April 1, the President of the Republic, referring to the message of the Day, said that "we honour the purest, most glorious struggle in the history of Cypriot Hellenism. This struggle that led to the most precious thing we have today, the Republic of Cyprus, and we must never forget this dimension."
I want to reiterate once again that honours should not be limited to anniversary events, such as the one we are attending here today, such as the one we will be attending this afternoon.
The real honour is through our daily behaviour, it is through the way we politicise, but in particular, because we speak for the Republic of Cyprus, through our effort, our struggle to end the occupation, to liberate and reunite our homeland, something for which, whatever problems, difficulties and obstacles there may be, you can be sure that from our side we will do everything possible in every direction, so that we break the deadlock and resume the talks for the resolution of the Cyprus problem."
In response to a journalist's remark that this struggle is very difficult because of Turkish intransigence, the President of the Republic said "certainly, it is a very difficult struggle because of Turkish intransigence, but under no circumstances will we be content to say that 'it is a difficult struggle because of Turkish intransigence'. That is where we will be judged, that is where we will show whether we really do take the messages from the EOKA struggle - when it started it was a very difficult struggle, no one could have imagined the outcome, but, yes, they showed us the way and we are following exactly that course - despite the difficulties, despite the problems, we will do everything possible.
And it is in this context, through a new approach, that we want the EU to play a leading role because we believe that yes, it can and has the motivation to break the deadlock, restart the talks and resolve the Cyprus problem. We are here to fight and we will do so until we achieve our goal."
Asked what went wrong and the Cypriot candidacy for the General Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) did not proceed, the President of the Republic said that "there is no mistake, and I saw some reports today that allegedly because there was no Cypriot candidacy, Greece was forced to support Turkey."
Asked what went wrong and the Cypriot candidacy for the General Secretariat of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) did not proceed, the President of the Republic said that "there is no mistake, and I saw some reports today that supposedly because there was no Cypriot candidacy, Greece was forced to support Turkey.
Let me tell you that the agreement between Greece and Turkey to support each other in the UN Security Council and the IMO was reached long before any thought of a possible candidacy of the Republic of Cyprus.
The Republic of Cyprus will stand as a candidate in the IMO Council, as we have been doing for the last few years and in fact we have enough support and within this framework we will continue to play a leading role in this Organization. What is important? It is important through our substantial intervention in the IMO to support the rights of the Republic of Cyprus, because, you see, we are a country that since 1987, precisely because of Turkey's attitude, we have serious problems in the shipping sector.
Asked whether Turkey's election to the IMO General Secretariat would have negative consequences for Cyprus, the President of the Republic said that "I do not consider in any way that the Secretary General of the IMO, whether from Turkey or from any other country, can in any way create problems for an internationally recognised state, a state which, especially in the maritime sector, has an important role to play".
Finally, asked if there is an intention by the government to renew electricity subsidy measures, the President of the Republic said that "yes, it is something that we are discussing, it is something that (we discussed) recently in the Council of Ministers, but also through a supplementary budget, which will be submitted to Parliament, yes we will continue this measure, which we consider as particularly important."
(PM/MB)
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