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- Ελληνικά
The Republic of Cyprus is in contact with its partner states for the dispatch of humanitarian aid to Gaza, so that very soon, with the completion of the work being done in Gaza by the US, the dispatch from Cyprus will resume, President Nicos Christodoulides said today.
Welcoming a group of students and senior officers of the National Security School of Greece at the Presidential Palace, the President of the Republic said, among other things. The cooperation at the police level is excellent, as in all areas, with the Greek Government and State. There is always room for improvement, of course, but I know that especially at the level of police cooperation, we had an incident recently, the cooperation is excellent.
I consider your visit to Cyprus particularly important, especially considering your duties.
This year marks 50 years since the Turkish invasion, 50 years of occupation.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, 50 years of occupation. I am sure that, in the context of your presence here, you will see first-hand the ceasefire line, you will see the occupied territories. It is very different to read, to know, to hear and very different to see for yourself and to see in practice the situation in which Cyprus, a member state of the European Union (EU) under occupation, finds itself today.
50 years have passed, but in no way and contrary to what some people may believe, the Cypriot people have not forgotten. And we cannot come to terms with this unacceptable state of affairs that exists in Cyprus.
Our desire for the liberation and reunification of our homeland is a given and we are doing everything possible to achieve this goal, since in addition to many other negative consequences, the passage of time is creating new facts that make our efforts even more difficult.
We are at a critical juncture, I know that we often hear this phrase, but indeed at this stage, half a century later, it is a critical juncture.
There is an ongoing effort on the part of the United Nations (UN) to resume talks and we are in constant coordination with the Greek Government, and I thank through you the Greek Government and the Greek people for standing by us in this effort.
At the same time, this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus' accession to the EU.
This is the most important success, at least at the diplomatic level, of the Republic of Cyprus since its foundation in 1960, a success that was made possible precisely because of the support we had from the Greek Parliament when the issue of EU enlargement was being discussed. And Cyprus achieved it, despite the objections of some, despite assessments to the contrary, that it could not become a member of the EU with the Cyprus problem unresolved.
We are trying to use our accession to the EU to achieve our number one goal and priority, which is the resolution of the Cyprus problem.
The Republic of Cyprus is not only the Cyprus problem, we are not only a problem that concerns the international community and the EU, but through a specific strategy, the Republic of Cyprus is trying to be the solution to problems that concern the international community.
Since October, a war has been going on in our neighbourhood, a war that is very close to Cyprus.
A few days ago I travelled to Lebanon for another major challenge, which concerns the Security Forces of both Greece and Cyprus, the issue of migration. It is a very big issue. The flight to Lebanon was 20 minutes, to give you an idea of our proximity to the region.
As a country that has excellent relations with all the neighbouring states, as the EU Member State that is adjacent to this region, we are trying - always within our capabilities, without exaggeration, the capabilities of a small Member State - to do everything possible to deal with this humanitarian crisis that is developing in our region. It was important that our country was able to offer an alternative, complementary option to the sending of humanitarian aid to Gaza, which has been suspended because of the condemnable attack on members of the humanitarian organisation that helped distribute the aid.
But we are in contact with the States that we have worked with from the beginning to implement this effort, so that very soon, with the completion of the work being done in Gaza by the United States, the sending of humanitarian aid from Cyprus will resume.
