The desirable solution in Cyprus can only be achieved by ending the current unacceptable status quo and establishing a federal state in line with the relevant UNSC resolutions, free from foreign interventions and dependencies, Cyprus` Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Meneleaos Menelaou has said.
Speaking on Monday before the Third Committee of the General Assembly of the UN (Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Issues Committee) Menelaou said that in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus, basic human rights were brutally violated, together with the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the island, adding that 200,000 Greek Cypriots are Internally Displaced, denied the right to return to their homes and deprived of the full enjoyment of their homes and property rights.
“The unlawful exploitation of the properties of the displaced, in combination with Turkey’s deliberate policy of colonizing the occupied areas with more than 160,000 mainland Turkish settlers aim at further changing the demographic character of the island, in violation of international humanitarian law“, he said.
He went on to point out that enclaved persons, are now subjected to new violations of their fundamental freedoms and basic human rights as since October 4th due to the imposition of “taxes /fees” on the humanitarian aid by the illegal regime, in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions and the 1975 Third Vienna Agreement, “the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus is not in position to perform its task of delivering humanitarian aid“.
Menelaou also said that their right to education and to the freedom of religion continue to be violated on a daily base, schoolbooks are frequently subject to censorship and teachers experience arbitrary rejections of their appointments and churches and cemeteries are vandalized, worshippers are intimidated, requests to conduct religious services are arbitrarily rejected and priests are prevented from performing their duties.
He added that Cyprus is closely following the negative developments in Turkey after the attempted coup and is deeply concerned about the direct impact of the worsening of Turkey’s authoritarian policies, on the everyday life of the Cypriot citizens who live under Turkey’s illegal military occupation. “Cyprus reiterates the need to respect democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms in full compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Decisions of the European Court of Human Rights“, he said.
Deputy Permanent Representative also pointed out that Cyprus remains committed to the comprehensive protection of human rights and the establishment of unconditional accountability for all human rights abuses. “Full conformity with individual human rights standards for the people of Cyprus as a whole, regardless of their ethnic origin or religion, should be an integral element of any just, comprehensive, functional and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem“, he said.
Cyprus` Deputy Representative also referred to the missing persons` issue saying that this is a humanitarian issue of major concern as more than 2/3 of the remains of a total of 2,001 missing persons are yet to be found/identified and returned to their families.
“Turkey must provide full unrestricted access to all areas, including fenced military areas, provide information that will lead to the location of the missing persons, as they were last seen in the custody of the Turkish military, including evidence of deliberate removal of remains of missing persons and launch an effective investigation to establish the fate and conditions of disappearance of missing persons“, he said.
As regards the protection and preservation of the cultural heritage , Menelaou said that this is imperative for the protection of cultural and human rights. He underlined that Cyprus, who has suffered a widespread destruction and looting of religious and cultural heritage in the occupied areas, is especially proud for the adoption last May during its recent Chairmanship of the Council of Europe, of a new Convention on Offences relating to Cultural Property (Nicosia Convention) which is instrumental as it addresses legal gaps that have so far made prevention and prosecution of trafficking in cultural property difficult.
Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion. Repeated rounds of negotiations, under UN aegis, have not led to a solution to reunite the country. Since the invasion, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown. A Committee on Missing Persons has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning the remains of missing persons to their relatives.
At the end of the second phase of the Turkish invasion late in August 1974, about 20,000 Greek and Maronite Cypriots inhabiting in villages and townships primarily in the Karpas Peninsula of northeast Cyprus and in villages west of the city of Kyrenia remained behind the ceasefire line. Today, only a total of 437 (April 2013) persons remain behind the “green line,” of whom 328 are Greek Cypriot and 109 Maronite Cypriots. These persons are known as the “enclaved”.
Despite the Third Vienna Agreement, Turkey and its Turkish Cypriot subordinate regime in occupied Cyprus have violated all its terms. Since 1974, the enclaved have endured conditions of hardship and oppression because of their ethnicity, language and religion.