Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, Dr Vasiliki Kassianidou, said on Friday that the current unacceptable state of affairs in Cyprus does not constitute a solution for Cyprus nor for its people, adding that the liberation, reunification and return to our occupied land is a non-negotiable goal for the government.
The Deputy Minister of Culture, who addressed an anti-occupation concert organised in the village of Achna, said that the Turkish invasion and the ongoing occupation “remain an open wound for Achna and for the entire island and remind us that injustice cannot be accepted, nor forgotten.”
She noted that the memory of the war and the invasion remain alive through the narratives of people and through art, “which becomes the voice of the people, transforming pain into creation, strength and sacrifice into duty.”
The Deputy Minister said that we are called upon “to stand united and determined, to demand freedom, justice and the reunification of our homeland, because memory is not only the memory of war, of refugeehood, it is also the commitment to the future.”
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.
