Speaking at the inauguration of the exhibition “Cyprus, 1974. Memory is the only homeland of the people”, co-organised by the Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy and the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, in Athens, the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus Annita Demetriou said that the struggle for peace, liberation, and reunification for an indivisible homeland continues. ‘This is what we must deliver as a nation. For this we continue and we will continue to strive until the end. And this will be the vindication,” she noted.
Demetriou stressed that the message of the exhibition is that ‘we do not forget, we fight”.
At the same time, the President of the House of Representatives stressed that our immediate and first objective is the resumption of negotiations for a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem, based on the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions. “The position of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis from the floor of th
e UN General Assembly reflects the will and the official position of our side: the discussion must take place based on a bizonal bicommunal federation, with one sovereignty, one citizenship and one international personality. The Prime Minister’s clear indication that the Turkish position on two states is not a solution finds the entire Cypriot political leadership and the Greeks of Cyprus in complete agreement. We welcome the answers given to the Turkish President. At the same time, we confirm our readiness and commitment to make a positive contribution towards a solution within the framework of international legitimacy”, she said, adding that the agreed basis for a solution of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality is the only framework and the only condition for building a viable and common future for future generations of Cypriots: Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latinos.
On his part, the President of the Greek Parliament, Konstantinos Tasoulas, said that “with
patience and response we remember the tragedy, but we also honour the exaltation of a country that, despite the tragedy, faced its problems”.
Tasoulas further said that the exhibition presents “both the trauma and the miracle, and the trauma and the leap”, because, as he explained, we must not “limit ourselves to depicting only the damage, the destruction, the humanitarian catastrophe that happened 50 years ago and which for many people is still going on. But we must also present the other side, that despite the trauma, despite the invasion, despite the occupation, despite the tragedy, Cyprus has risen again.
“The pain of destruction has become a spark of creation. And if the pain is a grudge – and if the pain causes us to describe an unbearable memory – the pain is also a wake”, the Speaker of the House of Representatives stressed, adding that “in this exhibition, you will see how the pain of the grudge has become a wake. In this uprising Greece, the Greek Parliament as a whole, stands by Cyprus”.
Source
: Cyprus News Agency