Hellenes of Cyprus,
The celebration of the Palingenesis of 1821, the most important milestone in our modern history, is a moment of national pride and self-awareness for Greeks everywhere. We honour those who, after almost four centuries under the Ottoman yoke, found the courage to rise up. When this struggle began, no one could guarantee its success. On the contrary, the geopolitical relations of the time did not favour the whole project. Nevertheless, the Greeks showed unparalleled resilience and perseverance, enduring hardship, violence and deprivation, so that finally, after more than eight years of warfare, from the beginning of 1821 until the Battle of Petra in September 1829, they finally managed to regain their freedom.
The Greeks of Cyprus, as an integral part of the nation, paid a high price by actively participating in the struggle for all, whether it was Ioannis Karatzas who was martyred on the side of King Regas in Belgrade, or Archbishop Kyprianos and the primates who were executed in July 1821, or Cypriot fighters who went to Greece to fight, such as the brothers Nikolaos and Theophilos Theseas. And if one considers that the population of Cyprus at that time was about 80,000, the participation of a thousand Cypriot fighters in the revolution is by no means a negligible number.
For all of us, the descendants of the fighters of 1821, the anniversary of the Greek Revolution is also an opportunity for sober reflection on the achievements and failures of a centuries-long historical journey, with the aim, through the extraction of valuable lessons, to face the challenges that Hellenism is experiencing today.
As we leave behind us two difficult years due to the coronavirus pandemic, through the strengthening and triumph of science against a deadly virus that claimed the lives of millions of people all over the planet, unfortunately, last month we are again facing a new catastrophe, a humanitarian tragedy unfolding on European soil, in the long-suffering Ukraine.
For Greece, safeguarding the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of all states, as well as respect for international law and, of course, the UN Charter, are fundamental principles of our foreign policy. Revisionist rationale, wherever it comes from, cannot be tolerated by anyone. We condemn any use or threat of use of force against any state. In this context, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was condemned from the very first moment by the entire state and political leadership of Greece. At the same time, our main priority is the protection of the Greek community in the region, which is being tested, having already mourned victims.
At the same time, Greece and Cyprus are coordinating and co-deciding with our partners in the European Union. We are fully implementing the decisions taken, including the restrictive measures. We express our full solidarity with our partners in the European Union, especially those who are currently facing particularly large waves of refugees. And we ask other countries, especially those that are candidates for accession, to align themselves with the decisions of the European Union, particularly with regard to the adoption of restrictive measures.
Greeks of Cyprus,
The above principled position I have just described on developments in Ukraine is of course fully applicable to the case of Cyprus, which is also a victim of invasion and occupation. The non-resolution of the Cyprus problem for more than 47 years due to Turkish intransigence is a major challenge for Cyprus, Greece and the entire international community. For Greece, the Cyprus problem is the top national issue. Our unwavering goal remains the removal of the consequences of the invasion and the end of the occupation, with the full restoration of the international and European legal order.
As we know, Turkey and the current Turkish Cypriot leadership are making efforts to change the basis of the Cyprus settlement, insisting on claims that can in no way be accepted, as they are outside the agreed framework of the United Nations. At the same time, we are witnessing attempts to impose new negative fait accompli in Varosha. However, it must be understood that international legitimacy, as reflected in the relevant and binding United Nations Security Council resolutions and the United Nations parameters, dictates that the resolution of the Cyprus problem will be achieved through the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with one sovereignty, one international personality and one nationality. Greece and Cyprus have also made it absolutely clear that there can be no agreed solution without the abolition of the anachronistic system of guarantees and the complete withdrawal of the occupying troops. Greece will continue to underline the need for the immediate resumption of talks within the agreed framework. In this regard, we support the efforts of President Anastasiades and the Cypriot government to put forward targeted and bold Confidence Building Measures, which can contribute to the creation of an appropriate climate for the resumption of talks. Recently, Ankara's aggressive rhetoric has taken on new dimensions in response to the insistence of senior Turkish officials on the completely absurd and unsubstantiated demand for the demilitarization of the islands, in connection with the open questioning of their sovereignty. At the same time, our neighbouring country should realise that no one has the legitimacy to accept threats to use force to claim the abrogation of sovereign rights as defined in international law, including the law of the sea. Greece will continue to advocate dialogue with the neighbouring country. At the same time, it will continue to underline the need to respect international law in the Eastern Mediterranean and the sovereign right of the Republic of Cyprus to exploit its mineral resources. Together with Cyprus, we will continue to jointly address challenges and threats, upholding our unwavering commitment to the integrity, sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Cyprus and maintaining constant cooperation and full coordination at all levels, bilaterally, within the EU and internationally. And at the regional level, we will continue to strengthen trilateral cooperation schemes, which act as multipliers of diplomatic power. At the same time, when Greece and Cyprus are faced with revisionist and expansionist rationales, it is legitimate and necessary to have deterrent power.
Greek Cypriots,
As I mentioned in my introduction, the celebration of the anniversary of the 1821 Revolution is always an opportunity for reflection and the drawing of useful conclusions. Compared to the past, Greece and Cyprus have enjoyed a relatively long period of prosperity, but this has also created obligations. The obligation to invest in peacetime in all those areas that the fighters of the 21st century could not afford to deal with in wartime, starting with education. After all, if anything contributed decisively to the survival of the Greeks during the periods of slavery, it was the preservation of their faith, with the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a point of reference, and of their language. Or as George Seferis so eloquently observed in his famous speech in Stockholm in December 1963, "Our land is small but its tradition is immense and the thing that characterizes it is that it was handed down to us without interruption. The Greek language has never ceased to be spoken. It has accepted the alterations to which every living thing is subjected, but there is no gap."
I wish everyone a Happy Birthday.
(NΓ)
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