Press Releases

I am here today with strong feelings of emotion, respect, but also responsibility. These strong feelings I feel are not only for our presence here to unveil the Monument of 1974 War Prisoners, and on such an important day at that, on the Pancyprian Day of the Missing Persons, but also because we all feel the shameful breath of war in our neighbourhood again, a few miles away from our homeland.

Our neighbourhood is facing difficult times again, and these troubled times lead us as Cypriot citizens to further recall our memories of the dark days we experienced in the summer of 1974. These memories call upon us to shoulder our responsibilities, at least those that are ours, and always within our power as a country, to ensure peace, to defend human life, no matter its origins, no matter its language, no matter its colour. Our people are well aware what misery of war means.

According to the records of the International Red Cross, two thousand, six hundred and forty-seven of our compatriots were captured in the summer of 1974. Most of them were civilians and about half of them were taken to the dungeons of Turkey.

The erection of the Monument of 1974 War Prisoners here in Aglantzia is a due tribute to all those who lived through the horrors of war, perhaps more than most. To all those who were taken as prisoners during the brutal Turkish invasion of 1974 or as civilians taken away from their homes and workplaces and who experienced the barbarity of the Turkish invasion.  

I would like to warmly congratulate the Municipality of Aglantzia, its associates, and the Pancyprian Association of Prisoners of War 1974 for the initiative to erect the monument, but also for deciding to place it in the specific location, which was the final destination of those prisoners who returned.

I am here today as the President of the Republic of Cyprus to join you in paying due tribute to our heroes. Those who sacrificed themselves, those who died for God and country, those who are among us and lived through the horrors of war to guard the Thermopylae, those who defended what is most important to us today, the Republic of Cyprus, all those who are still missing and for whom, I assure you, the verification of their fate is a high priority for the state.

Today, we are at a point of reference of the 1974 Cypriot drama. Buses loaded with prisoners started from Ledra Palace to arrive at the place we are today. This is where their relatives were waiting for them, with photos of their children, their husbands, their fathers, their siblings, to see if their loved ones had returned. The lucky ones were reunited after a long time and hugged each other tightly.

For others, though, the agony was never-ending. Buses arrived and left, but their loved one never returned. The moments when the relatives could not see their loved ones on the buses resembled scenes from a Greek tragedy.

Unfortunately, the photos of loved ones remained in the hands of relatives and were later placed somewhere in their house with a candle in front of them and the picture of a saint next to them.

Years later, some of those photos were placed on wooden coffins and became memorial images on crosses. It is a surrealistic state of horror with no end.

The State has been honouring and respecting all these people who proved worthy to serve their country. No matter how rich the Greek language is, there are no proper words to express my gratitude to all of you who endured the calamities of war, or to your relatives who experienced the agony of everything you went through.

This monument is very small compared to the sacrifice of our people in 1974. It is also a beacon of historical memory for future generations, so that they never forget the heroes of our homeland, so that we never forget that war and its evils do not discriminate, do not distinguish between civilians and soldiers. So that we never forget that the consequences of war are a price we all pay, the people first and foremost. This Monument is also a Peace monument, a promise to our people, to the new generation of this country that we will do everything we can to ensure we will never again experience such a tragedy, such a betrayal, that we will do everything we can to ensure that peace in this country is non-negotiable.

I would like to take the opportunity of my presence here today to tell you that I am well aware of the bitterness you feel that the state has not responded to your reasonable requests over the years. However, I would like to assure you that, as the new Government, we take very seriously what you have sent via your letters to the Presidential Palace and we are already examining solutions with my associates. I will invite you to the Presidential Palace very soon to announce our decisions to you.  

Forty-nine years since that dreadful summer of 1974 and our country is still under occupation, our refugees await patiently for their return to their homes, and the efforts of ascerting the fate of the missing persons continue. Forty-nine years of occupation of European territory with the citizens of this country deprived of basic human rights; 49 years, almost half a century. The current state of affairs cannot be the future of our country, cannot be the solution to the Cyprus problem. This is precisely why we have been working from the very beginning for resuming the talks from where they had been interrupted in the summer of 2017. Substantial talks which will lead to the resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of an agreed framework, based on EU principles and values. I truly hope that the decision of the UN Secretary General to proceed with the appointment of a personality, in continuation of our own efforts in this direction, will pave the way which will lead us to the solution of the Cyprus problem, and I hope that in the next few days we will have the Secretary-General’s announcement to which, as the Republic of Cyprus, we have already given our consent since last week.

A consent to the effort which will lead to reunification that will free Cyprus from anachronistic guarantees and occupying troops. A solution that will effectively lift the occupation and allow all the lawful inhabitants of Cyprus to co-exist, away from any kind of separation under equal terms.

We owe it to all our heroes who fell to protect our country. We owe it to our children, to the future of our country.

Today, 29^th October, has been declared, by a decision of the House of Representatives, as the Pancyprian Day of the Missing Persons.

Ascerting the fate of all the missing persons has always been one of my main priorities as a diplomat, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and now as President. I have not forgotten, and how could I forget, the pain of the missing persons’ families and their expectation for the ascertainment of the fate of their loved ones. Their pain and agony is ours too.

Despite all the years that have passed, despite the challenges and the various obstacles, many of which should have not existed in a purely humanitarian and human issue, my determination for achieving this goal remains firm. We will stop our efforts only when all the families find peace. Only then will we find our own peace as a state.

Within this framework and with the aim of contributing even more to the efforts of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), I have deciced, regardless of what the Turkish side will do, to increase our financial contribution as the Republic of Cyprus, so that the CMP can intensify its efforts with even more teams and crews as regards excavations. There cannot be so much information, as I have been informed, but to have delays in the investigation of this information due to shortage of crew members. I have, therefore, decided that we will contribute, regardless of what the Turkish side will do, as the Republic of Cyprus, so that we have more crews.

At the same time, recognising the State's minimum debt to the parents of the fallen or the missing, the widows of the fallen and the wives of the missing, I wish to announce today my decision to grant a care allowance to all of them, in the exact same way it was granted to the prisoners and hostages of 1974. It was something we as a State should have done a long time ago. Today, I am announcing that from now on, these people will be included in the same category as regards the care allowance scheme, which exists for the 1974 prisoners and hostages of war. After all, if it were not for you, if it were not for your contribution, there would be no Republic of Cyprus today, which is the most precious thing we have.

Unfortunately, times are hard. The world community, and our neighbourhood, in particular, are being shaken by yet another war, yet another whirlwind, in which peace, humanity itself, is being tossed about. War, wherever it occurs, concerns us all. The human suffering and the pain of war is everyone’s responsibility. That is why the Republic of Cyprus has already taken action as the EU Member State geographically closest to the point of conflict, with excellent relations with all neighbouring states, so that we can help the civilians first and foremost. It is worth mentioning that the International Community, the EU as well as the parties involved in the crisis recognise and welcome the initiative and the role that we can play, and I hope that in the coming days we will be able to use the ports of the Republic of Cyprus to send humanitarian aid to Gaza. It is through such actions and initiatives that the role of our country is upgraded, both at European and international level, hoping that through such actions, our efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem will be strengthened.

In conclusion, I would like to address the people who, in 1974, were prisoners and suffered the ruthless horrors of captivity, with all the implications of what they went through, and are with us today. And let us not forget that what they experienced in 1974, they still carry them with them, 49 years later. I will not make another commitment. I will only make you a promise, from the depths of my heart and the debt I feel towards you as President of the Republic of Cyprus, which exists because of your sacrifices. I am with you not only to participate in ceremonies, which are very important, but to find solutions together to the issues which concern you, to your reasonable requests. I feel it very strongly, you are the reason why the Republic of Cyprus exists today and it is a minimum obligation of the State and of me, personally, to repay you.

Thank you.

(GS/MS)