The government will continue to support enclaved Greek Cypriots and Maronites, in Cyprus’ northern Turkish occupied areas, President of the Republic Nicos Anastasiades assured here tonight, as he addressed a special event to mark 100 years since the Greek Gymnasium in the village of Rizokarpaso opened its doors to its first students.
The President also said that a political settlement, which would reunite this divided island, is a top priority for his government and must secure the human rights of all the citizens of the Republic.
The solution of the Cyprus problem remains the first and foremost priority for the government, Anastasiades stressed, saying that the solution must provide for a state which respects fully the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.
“The solution must be in line with UN Security Council decisions and the acquis communautaire, given that Cyprus is a full member of the EU. We seek to ensure that all legitimate citizens of this state can live in security, in a state without any guarantees or intervention rights, and without the presence of the Turkish military. We want to create actual conditions of coexistence to have prospects for the future of these children, who now live in Karpass,” he said.
It is inconceivable for some to believe that, “through unbalanced and unfair agreements, it is possible to create those conditions which will allow a state to operate as we all want it to function and as we all anticipate it will work,” the President said.
It is also inconceivable for some to contemplate that “we can create conditions, by advocating political equality, which will give more rights to those who compose the smaller, in terms of population, community,” he pointed out.
“Political equality is one thing, numerical equality is another. And this is what we have tried to communicate to our interlocutors,” during the UN-led peace talks, the President said.
Referring to the taxes which the Turkish Cypriot regime has recently imposed on goods sent, via the UN, to the enclaved, he said the government has protested this unacceptable decision and will continue to do so to the international community.
The President praised the tenacity and the courage of the enclaved, who under very difficult circumstances, have remained in their village in Rizokarpaso and elsewhere in Turkish occupied Cyprus to live and work.
He said the government has taken certain measures to help keep the Karpass peninsula alive and enable the enclaved to remain in their ancestral homes, such as repairing houses for young couples, exemption from a medical fee at state hospitals, increase in grants to farmers and financial incentives to young farmers.
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.
