Annita Dimitriou in euronews: "47 years of occupation in Cyprus is too many"

The President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, Annita Dimitriou, gave a full interview to euronews.

The 36-year-old politician, the first female speaker of the Cypriot Parliament and the youngest in office, spoke with journalist Nikoleta Drouga on issues such as the Cyprus issue, women in politics and sexism, and the future of Europe.

Cypriot

"Things are quite difficult, I want to be honest. "Perhaps somewhat disappointing, since in any effort, we encounter a Turkey that is uncompromising, which now presents positions and policies that are contrary to international law, UN resolutions and European principles and values," said the Speaker of the Cyprus Parliament. .

He underlined the important role that parliamentary diplomacy can play on the national issue and added:

"We will not stop working for a minute until we manage to reunite and liberate our homeland. 47 years is too much for a state to be under occupation, because there are still Turkish occupation troops, refugees die unjustly every day, there are missing people, and all these tragic aspects that you are well aware of. "Our vision is to ensure security, peace and prosperity in the Republic of Cyprus, and this can only be achieved if the Cyprus issue is resolved."

Annita Dimitriou at the euronews offices in Athenseuronews

Women, politics and sexism

"It is very difficult for a woman to stand out in a traditionally male-dominated space, such as politics. We often need to work double, triple, maybe even quadruple ", said Ms. Dimitriou, answering a relevant question. And he added:

"That is why women need to be empowered, young people need to be empowered and finally to prevail, and through legislation. And this is my view: equal opportunities for anyone and anyone who really wants and has the right to exist in all positions of power. "So it is important for those of us who are in a particular position not to take the ladder, but to try with specific policies and strategies, to have such equal opportunities and to strengthen democracy," he stressed.

euronews: "With all these crises we are facing, is it not a waste of time for a woman, instead of offering through her position or function, to have to fight with phenomena such as sexism or age racism?"

A. Dimitriou: "On the contrary, I believe that all this should make us even more stubborn and make us realize that the system we serve needs to change for the better, but also, of course, Civil Society.

In Cyprus we are the first country that has enacted legislation on sexism, with a horizontal initiative, by all women MPs, from all areas, and I am very proud of that.

"Civil society must be equally represented so that we can deal effectively with what has disappointed citizens, continues to disappoint them, and expects us to do much more."

Annita Dimitriou also referred to the draft law on female genital mutilation, stressing that the Penal Code should be amended to correctly describe the crime of female genital mutilation.

Which Europe do we want?

In view of her speech at an event of the Conference on the Future of Europe, on October 21 in Athens, Annita Dimitriou told euronews:

"We want a Europe that offers truly equal opportunities. Emphasizing human rights. To ensure these basic principles, legality, international law. "But of course it also has a common policy on issues that are of particular concern to European countries, such as immigration and the environmental crisis."

gr.euronews.com