The struggle “to defend the values and ideals bequeathed to us by our ancestors, overcoming every adversity and facing every challenge”, will continue until final vindication of Cyprus, Defence Minister, Vasilis Palmas, said on Sunday, during the annual memorial service for the fallen of the 3rd Company of the 211th Infantry Battalion, held at Nicosia.
Palmas, after making an extensive reference to the brave resistance put up by the 3rd Company of the 211th Infantry Battalion that defended Nicosia during the Turkish invasion of 1974, pointed out that “we have received the honoured blood-stained baton and we renew the oath to maintain the struggle we are conducting, until the final vindication of our long-suffering homeland”.
He went on to say that “we do not ignore the objective difficulties, limitations and obstacles” and noted that “the continuation of the struggle for justice is a debt to those who, faithful to the call, defended the freedom and territorial integrity of Cyprus, to those who mourned the loss of their children, grandchildren, husbands and fathers and a debt to those who are still searching, with pain and anguish, for answers about the fate of their loved ones.”
This, he emphasized, is our debt to those who died while longing for liberation and their return to the Turkish-occupied territories.
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.
