To the Reverend Priests and Deacons, the Honorable Presidents and members of the Committees of the Communities of the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain.
Dearly Beloved in the Lord,
These days of July recall memories of the tragic events that took place on the Island of Cyprus which resulted in the division of the place that unfortunately continues today, after 42 years. We remember the pronunciamento and the invasion of the Turkish army that took place on July 20 1974 which wreaked havoc, created the wave of refugees and sowed pain into the souls of its citizens.
The sorrows, the unfulfilled hopes, the unending disappointment that have been associated with the remembrance of those events and have been our daily companion for years, are numerous. And the pain gets ever more unbearable whenever we come over and over again to realize that international law, morality and the whole of the civilized world would demand immediate restitution of our uprooted brethren back to their fatherlands, their moral and legal vindication as a minimum token of relief of their untold soul-rending anguish for the bitter death of their relatives and those missing in action.
Cyprus remains divided and parted against every provision of international law. It is the only example of a sovereign state, part of which remains under foreign military occupation by an neighboring state, perpetuating the pain and the rending of the soul of our uprooted brothers, who, during all those years have been hoping that their nightmare and unexpressed agony for their brothers missing in action would eventually come to an happy end.
Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Orthodox Church has stood fast all those years as a caring and protecting Mother to whom all her persecuted children sought refuge, were embraced and protected and offered moral and spiritual support to rebuild their lives both in Cyprus as well as in the Diaspora, always in close cooperation with the Organizations and the Associations whose stated purpose was the defense of the rights of the refugees, the reunification of Cyprus, the appeasement of its citizens, Christians, Muslims and other Minorities the departure of Turkish forces and the end of the illegal occupation.
We shall never forget the events of July and August 1974. We have a sacred duty not to acquiesce, not to forget but to demonstrate at any chance we get the wrongdoing that is still continuing, the destruction of the Churches, the desecration of the graves and the of the homes of our forefathers, the division of Cyprus and of its people. This gaping wound must at long last be healed, the people pacified, allow their innate humanness to come to the surface and try to come to terms with this historical tragedy, reconciliate with their compatriot elements so that the citizens of the Island be allowed to continue with their age long historical and cultural course.
As in every year, the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK is organized a great demonstration on Saturday, 16 July in the afternoon to protest for the trampling of human rights and the ongoing occupation of Cyprus by Turkey. Memorial services were conducted in our Churches to commemorate the dead and offer supplications for the return of peace and prosperity to Cyprus.
The Greek-Orthodox Diaspora in the United Kingdom joins their voices to this just and morally imperative peaceful demonstration and declares its unconditional support and decisiveness to promote our common goal for an immediate restitution of this scandalously protracted wrongdoing. Wishing you all health, a good Summer and every success in the negotiations for the resolution of this unsolved problem in Cyprus, I remain with warm wishes and blessings in the Lord and honour.
