Turkey continues to display an “aggressive and expansionist policy”, therefore making the anniversary of the Genocide of Greeks in Asia Minor an order of reflection and national solidarity to thwart Ankara’s provocations and unacceptable claims, said Acting Speaker of Parliament Zacharias Koulias. He spoke before the Plenary Thursday, on the occasion of September 14, which has been established by law since 2003, as a Day of Remembrance and Honour for the Hellenism of Asia Minor, with the aim of preserving historical memory and honouring the victims of the catastrophe. Koulias said that the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922, marked the total destruction of Hellenism in Asia Minor, Thrace and Pontus, after three thousand years of presence. He said that this is the greatest calamity in the history of the Greek nation, which was marked by appalling crimes and left behind more than six hundred thousand dead and over one and a half million uprooted. He went on to say that recent statements of the representative of the Turkish Ministry of Defence that the Turkish armed forces continue to protect the rights and interests of the country and the illegal puppet regime in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus in the Aegean and the Mediterranean “without any compromise” demonstrate that Turkey persists in its aggressive and expansionist policy. He also said that on the occasion of today’s World peace day we pledge that we continue the struggle to reunite Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Source: Cyprus News Agency
