The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to send a strong message on the need for full respect of International Law, human rights and freedoms, the agreed and internationally accepted solution framework, including the lifting of what was done in Famagusta and the implementation of Resolutions 550 and 789 of the United Nations Security Council for Famagusta, Cypriot MP and member of the Cypriot delegation to the CSCE Giorgos Loukaidis requested in his intervention, before the Plenary of the Assembly, on Thursday.
"The Assembly must send a strong message of support for the vision of a free, peaceful, reunited, European Cyprus, where all the children of the Cypriot mother earth, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, will enjoy the fruits of their labors and struggles in conditions of security and stability", he added, according to a statement from the Parliament.
Speaking on behalf of the Political Group of the United European Left before the Plenary of the Assembly on the subject "Appeal for the return of the Varosians to their legal residents", the Italian Rapporteur on behalf of the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee, Piero Fassino, Mr Loukaidis, called on the KSSE to reject and condemn any action that reinforces the illegal dichotomous status quo, the consequences of which continue to suffer not only the Greek Cypriots with the violation of their rights but also the Turkish Cypriots who suffer from the gradual demographic, economic, social, their cultural and political assimilation by Turkey.
In his intervention, Mr. Loukaidis mentioned that decades have passed since the last time the Cyprus problem was discussed in the Plenary Session of the KSSE, which coincides, as he said, with the sad anniversary of the completion of fifty years since the Turkish invasion and continued occupation of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus from Turkey.
"Half a century", he added, "of violation of international legitimacy and massive violation of the human rights of the Cypriot people".
The reason for today's debate, noted the Cypriot MP, is the new fait accompli imposed by the occupying power on Varosia, perhaps the worst since the illegal declaration of the pseudo-state in 1983, which has since been recognized only by Turkey.
Turkey's actions in Famagusta, he underlined, on the one hand, are illegal and conflict with UN Security Council resolutions 550 and 789, which call for the return of the city to its rightful owners, under the administration of the United Nations. On the other hand, he said, if what was done in Famagusta is not revoked and on the contrary extended, they not only undermine, but may also become the tombstone of efforts to restart talks and achieve a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.
"If this negative development is seen in the wider context of the efforts of Turkey and its chosen one in the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community to deviate from the agreed framework of seeking a solution of a bi-zonal bi-communal federation with a sovereignty, a citizenship and an international personality, with political equality, as defined in the relevant UN resolutions, then the risks for Cyprus and its people are maximized," he said.
Mr Loukaidis stated that the current dichotomous status quo is not only unsustainable, but poses incalculable risks to the future and perspective of Cyprus and its people and added that the solution therefore becomes the only viable option, he added.
"This step must send a strong message today about the need to break the longest deadlock in the history of Cyprus and support the efforts of the UN Secretary General to restart the talks from the point where they were interrupted in Crans Montana in 2017, with full respect to the totality of the acquis of the talks, since we had then come as close as ever to an agreed solution," he said.
The rendering of enclosed Famagusta worldwide request
The return of the closed area of Famagusta to its legal residents is a universal request of the international community and the civilized world, and moreover the relevant United Nations Resolutions and the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights mandate this, said MP Kostis Efstathiou. speaking on the issue of Famagusta before the Plenary of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (CEE).
An announcement by the Parliament states that, in his intervention on the subject "Appeal for the return of Varosians to their legal residents", by the Italian Rapporteur on behalf of the Political Affairs and Democracy Committee, Piero Fassino, Mr. Efstathiou also said that Turkey presents artfully, its clear illegality as a matter of difference between the two communities, adding that the discussion about Famagusta should not be connected to the accusations, the mutual accusations and the arguments on both sides about the invasion and about who is to blame and who caused it.
Besides, he said, every invader always has his own narrative when he invades a foreign country, while, based on the law of the strong, it is always the victim's fault.
Referring to the fact that fifty years have already passed since the Turkish invasion and continued occupation of Cyprus by Turkey, Mr. Efstathiou criticized the fact that Europe was powerless to react to the national cleansing that took place in Cyprus, to the consequent erasure of the cultural heritage and disappearance of priceless cultural monuments but also in the distortion of History.
In the case of Famagusta, what is important is the immediate return of the city to its residents and not the opening of the city, he said, adding that there can be no justification for this simple demand regardless of the course of the negotiations.
He also pointed out that the return of the city does not depend nor is it related "to the de facto and not legal operation of the real estate commission or Turkey's narratives in the Cyprus issue".
Source: KYPE