Today marks 49 years since the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, which resulted in the Turkish military forces that invaded the island on July 20, 1974, occupying other areas of the Republic of Cyprus, evicting from their homes hundreds of thousands of people who became refugees in their own country.
On August 14, 1974, the Turkish forces, despite the ceasefire that had been agreed upon, expanded their expansionist plans, repeatedly violating every rule of international legality. Another eventful day in the modern history of the Republic of Cyprus that marks the beginning of "Attila 2".
By the afternoon of August 16, the Turks had occupied 37% of Cypriot territory. In less than three days they completed the capture of the Pentadaktilo mountain range. They also occupied the plain of Mesaoria, Morphou and Karpasia.
On August 14th, the Turks bombarded Famagusta. The inhabitants leave it, hearing the shelling. The city was captured without substantial resistance.
The city, after being sacked, was blockaded by the Turkish troops and no one was allowed to enter. Famagusta slowly turned into a "ghost town". The declarations and actions of the Turkish side in recent years to open part of the closed area (Varosia), with the aim of creating new settlements, have caused the reaction of both Nicosia and the international community.
The status of the closed area of Famagusta, protected by the United Nations Security Council resolutions 550 and 789, is blatantly violated by Ankara's expansionist policy.
The United Nations has, through many resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council, demanded respect for the independence, unity and territorial integrity of Cyprus, the return of refugees to their homes and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the island, but all these resolutions have been defiantly ignored by Turkey.
The Greek Cypriot side has repeatedly over the years requested respect for the resolutions and the return of Famagusta to its legal residents, while it has also submitted proposals to achieve this goal, but all its efforts have met with the refusal of the Turkish side.
Despite the claims that the Turkish side now insistently puts forward and promotes for a "two-state" solution, the EU side emphasizes that the only option is the solution of the Cyprus problem according to the parameters of the UN and that it remains committed to efforts to find a sustainable solution of Cyprus, on the basis of the agreed framework of the bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as provided for in the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
The President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulidis, speaking at the recent anti-occupation event of the Municipality of Famagusta, at the Cultural Center of the Municipality, in Deryneia, emphasized, among other things, that "Turkey's provocative attitude and its illegal actions in the city of Famagusta are opposed by the our determination and persistence, which have a clear goal, through assertive realism, and away from any meaningless and counterproductive communication confrontations, which I consciously choose to refrain from, to create the conditions for the resumption of meaningful conversations from where they were interrupted summer of 2017".
"We are working, I am working intensively with my partners, and I want you to have no doubt about it, for a solution based on the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, compatible with the principles and values of the EU and the European acquis, a solution of a Bizonal, Bicommunal Federation , with political equality, as provided by the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Organization. A functional and sustainable solution, for a state with a sovereignty, an international personality and a citizenship, without occupying armies and guarantees", he said.
He also noted that "following a relevant consultation with the President of the Reconstruction and Resettlement Council, a consolidated and updated study is being prepared for the occupied city of Famagusta, with an emphasis on the enclosed area".
"Study, which is expected to be completed within September, and will include the specific actions, which are required to be done immediately after the resolution of the Cyprus issue, by the State, by the public sector, for the reconstruction and resettlement in the area. Action that proves in practice that in addition to the efforts to solve the Cyprus issue, we are actually working for the day after the solution. A study that we will share with the European Union, which has previously been involved in such cases in other member states," he said.
Source: KYPE
