First Vice-Chairperson of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Davor Ivo Stier has expressed the hope 'that there could be a contribution to bring finally a peaceful settlement and unity of Cyprus.'
Members of the Committee, which has convened in Larnaca, were briefed on Tuesday by Mayor and members of the Famagusta Municipal Council about the violation of the status quo in Turkish occupied Famagusta.
Speaking to CNA, Famagusta Mayor Simos Ioannou said the parliamentarians taking part in the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parlaimentary Assembly of the Council of Europe meeting in Larnaca, visited Dherynia where the Famagusta Cultural Centre, overlooking the occupied city, is temporarily housed.
In his remarks, Ioannou, said the delegation of approximately 30 officials from various countries, including Turkey and Azerbaijan, was informed about the current situation in Famagusta.
He said the briefing covered the history of the city, how it started, the occupation of the town, and the fate of the refugees since 1974 and the Turkish invasion.
'We informed the delegation about our efforts to internationalise the Cyprus issue, particularly regarding the matter of Famagusta, regarding the actions taken by the municipality to maintain the city's social fabric, its associations, and its people united until the day when they return'.
He also said the Famagusta council briefed about the actions it has undertaken lately at the European Parliament, its meetings with foreign ministers and ambassadors. We urged the Council of Europe to support us on the issues which are covered by international law. The fenced off area of Famagusta, must be returned to its legal inhabitants, according to UN Security Council resolutions 550 and 789 before a Cyprus settlement and should be under the UN aegis.
We expect, said Ioannou, that they should be equally sensitive regarding the Cyprus issue, especially as regards Famagusta, just as they are currently sensitive about the Russian invasion in Ukraine. There are Security Council Resolutions regarding Famagusta, and this clear violation should cease because it is not within European and International Law for a country to occupy a city, leave it fenced off, and try to impose its own terms for the resolution of the issue.
He also said they informed the officials from the PACE committee about the Turkish actions in occupied Famagusta in the past three years and that the violation of the status quo should come to an end.
On his part, Davor Ivo Stier, member of the Croatian parliament and vice chairman of the committee of the Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said that on Monday they examined the importance of the implementation of the judgements of the ECHR and 'here of course is very important the rulings about the right to property and of course the resolution of the question of the missing persons'.
As parliamentarians, he said, 'what we are doing is to encourage the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to work on the implementation of these rulings', noting that this 'is extremely important'.
He expressed the hope 'that there could be a contribution to bring finally a peaceful settlement and unity of Cyprus'.
Before their meeting with the Famagusta council, the CoE parliamentarians were able to view the occupied town of Famagusta through binoculars.
Source: Cyprus News Agency