President of the House of Representatives Marios Garoyian has underlined the need to restore the historic truth as regards the Armenian Genocide.

“We ask for justice. We demand the restoration of the historic truth, not its falsification, which is the attempt of the Turkish government, which uses methods and so called initiatives for peace with Armenia”, he stressed.

Speaking after a mass at the Armenian Church in Nicosia, he said that “on days like this one, I believe we have the duty to remember the Armenian Genocide and reaffirm our steadfast faith towards the struggle for international recognition of that terrible crime which marked the fate and the course of the Armenian people”.

Garoyian pointed out that “justice and freedom is what we want for our common country, Cyprus, which for 35 years now suffers the consequences of the Turkish invasion and occupation”.

“We want a just, functional and viable solution, that would restore the unity of Cyprus' territory, its people, its institutions and that would safeguard human rights for all its people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins and give an end to the Turkish occupation of Cyprus, to Ankara’s policy to illegally bring settlers to the island, to Turkish guarantees and intervention rights”, he went on to say.

Garoyian said that the solution in Cyprus must be based on international law, the UN values and decisions, human rights and the EU values and principles.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.

The Parliament of Cyprus was the first in the EU to adopt a resolution recognising the Armenian Genocide, in 1982.