"Only a lasting and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem will restore the basic freedoms and human rights for all without exception the legal residents of Cyprus", notes the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulidis in his statement to APE-MPE on the 50th anniversary of the coup and Turkish invasion in Cyprus.
At the same time, he points out that "despite the difficulties and problems, the challenges, the disappointments, we are doing everything possible to create the conditions for the resumption of talks and finding a solution that will end the occupation".
President Christodoulidis also underlines that "half a century later, the responsibilities of those who perpetrated the invasion and maintain the occupation, but also of all those who allow the continuation of the division of Cyprus by force, continue to be unfulfilled" and notes that "the fiftieth anniversary of the black anniversaries of the treacherous coup and the barbaric Turkish invasion is offered for collective national reflection".
They are offered, he says, "not only to extract lessons but also to reaffirm principles, values and positions in relation to the management of the continued occupation of a large part of the territory of an independent state, the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the United Nations and the European Union".
"What is happening today in Ukraine, where the international community is rightly reacting, happened in European Cyprus 50 years ago with the consequences of continuing to violate basic human rights," he adds.
"Consequences and actions that constitute a flagrant violation of International and European Law, the Charter of the United Nations, the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus and an undeniable violation of the fundamental freedoms and human rights of all Cypriots, who are obliged to live in their own homeland deprived of basic human rights", notes the President of the Republic of Cyprus.