The Cypriot President has discussed the issue concerning the enclaved persons with the UN Secretary General, Acting Government Spokesman Viktoras Papadopoulos said.
Asked on Monday by the press how the government will proceed as regards the unilateral decision of the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime to impose “taxes” and “fees” on the humanitarian aid given to the enclaved people in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus, he said that the Republic of Cyprus and the President of the Republic have condemned -in all international fora, where Cyprus participates, – the stance of the occupation regime regarding the enclaved.
“The President of the Republic has discussed the issue with the UN Secretary General and has submitted in writing our positions and will do so in the EU and elsewhere”, he said.
The Republic of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.
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 surrogates have violated all its terms. Since 1974, the enclaved have endured conditions of hardship and oppression because of their ethnicity, language and religion.