The situation in Cyprus, an EU member state, cannot be our normality and action is needed because the times are defining, House President Annita Demetriou said on Sunday, at a memorial service for the EOKA soldier Michael Nikolaou at the village of Mesogi, in Paphos district.
Demetriou said for the past 50 years Turkey has implemented a policy of bringing settlers to the occupied areas thus destroying monuments of cultural and ecclesiastical heritage and the identity of our homeland, aiming at eliminating every Greek and Christian element on the island.
She also accused Turkey of trying to create a new fait accompli and a new status quo on the ground, specifically in Turkish occupied Varosha and the buffer zone and in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone.
Demetriou also said that the two-state solution rhetoric cannot be accepted and is jeopardising the prospects for the resumption of the peace talks.
We need to do anything possible for the resumption of talks on the basis of the agreed framework and be persu
asive of our political will, she noted.
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