This is not an incident due to the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, etc. and we should not give it such a dimension, the President of the Republic said tonight, referring to the incident against Turkish Cypriots, noting at the same time that any act of violence is reprehensible.
In his statements to journalists, attending the opening of an exhibition of paintings by Makis Keravnos, the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulidis, was asked what he said to Mr. Tatar in a telephone conversation they had and asked to comment on the incident with the Turkish Cypriot woman who was assaulted by Greek Cypriots , said that "any incident of violence is reprehensible and I am glad that the Police reacted immediately.
My phone call to Mr. Tatar was to explain to him that from what I had been informed, this is not an incident due to the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and so on. And we should not give it such a dimension.
In 2003 the Blessed Rauf Denktash allowed the partial lifting of the restrictions and we had the opening of the barricades considering that in a week, two weeks there would be such incidents between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots that would reinforce his own narrative that we cannot live together. It was categorically denied.
I want to welcome the immediate attitude and reaction of the Police, it is being investigated, and any incident of violence is reprehensible".
When asked by a journalist if there was a new incident at the Ledras roadblock regarding an attack by a Turk against Greek Cypriot police officers, the President said "of course", adding that "I hear some criticism that Mr. Tatar did not take me on the occasion of this incident you mention. We are a state, we are not a pseudo state, we are an EU member state, a rule of law, we are not a pseudo state. And it's good for everyone to know this."