The President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Anastasiades visited the National Guard outpost "Aronas" today on the occasion of the Christmas holidays.
Welcoming the President of the Republic, the Minister of Defence Mr. Charalambos Petrides said that "the National Guard in the midst of the pandemic and in compliance with all health protocols has intensified its activities both inside and outside Cyprus and through diplomacy, as well as through trilateral and multilateral cooperation, and we are implementing the equipment program with the primary objective of implementing the electronic green line surveillance program where the first phase is expected to be implemented in the coming months.
Our soldiers are here with the members of the National Guard, the experiences they are gaining are the guarantees and the tools to move on to their next steps."
Speaking to the National Guard members manning the outpost, President Anastasiades said "I want to convey the wishes of the State to all of you, especially thanks because through your service you protect the integrity of the country.
I have said it in the past, I will repeat it today. We are not the force that is ordered aggressively. We are the force that is defended and strengthened defensively in such a way that its deterrent role is effective.
I don't want to make special mention of what I am doing in terms of strengthening the deterrent character of the National Guard. They have been quoted by the Minister of Defence. What I want to convey to you is our will and determination through diplomacy, through the strengthening of our relations with other countries, always invoking international law, United Nations resolutions and Security Council resolutions, as well as the European acquis, the Summit Agreements, to work in a creative way in order to prevent what Turkey unfortunately over time has been engineering or dreaming of in order to perpetuate its presence here and to control the whole of its territory. They will not succeed and they will not succeed because the revisionist positions and expansionist aspirations of the Turkish Government have no basis.
I consider it my duty to appeal to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots to realize that in addition to the 36% of the territory that is under occupation, occupied and suffering are, in addition to the Greek Cypriots who have been forcibly expelled from their ancestral homes, also themselves. The usurpation of property, the usurpation of part of a country is not always to the benefit of the usurper. The first or multiple experiences are experienced by our compatriots themselves through the occupation that affects them directly and themselves, through the control exercised by Turkey, which affects them equally, and through what they experience by adhering to completely unacceptable positions in order to resolve the Cyprus problem. I want to wish all of you personally and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year full of health, free of the pandemic, but most importantly let us wish 2022 to be the year of national results, the reunification of our country, the creation of a state that is functional and therefore sustainable, a state that respects the human rights of all as a European state".
For his part, the Chief of the National Guard, Lieutenant General Demokritos Zervakis thanked the President of the Republic for his constant interest in its upgrading, stressing that "the personnel of the National Guard has morale and knows its mission and is ready to meet the role and requirements of your and the Cypriot people. I am proud of my personnel," the National Guard Chief said.
(PM/MG)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
