The citizens of Kyrenia district municipalities reiterated their wish to return to their homes, which have been under Turkish occupation since 1974, during an event held at the Kyrenia Town Hall in Nicosia, near the ceasefire line.
The event opened with a short film about the chapels, churches and monasteries of the Turkish occupied district and closed with a musical performance. The main speaker was House of Representatives President Marios Garoyian. Mayor of the Turkish occupied village of Lapithos, Athos Eleftheriou, and Mayor of Greek village Milies of Magnesia, Apostolos Arethas, also addressed the gathering. An exhibition with photographs from the Kyrenia district had been set up at the venue of the event.
Garoyian said efforts for a Cyprus solution require Turkey's acquiescence. ''Turkey must decide that it wants a settlement of the Cyprus question so that the effort to reach an agreement at negotiations between Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will bear fruit.'' He added however that there was no such indication so far.
He noted that “without Ankara’s will for a Cyprus settlement, on the basis of the UN resolutions, the high level agreements and the international and European law, the UN effort will fail once again,” and that the UN must focus their efforts on Ankara, addressing its intransigence and division plans with more determination.
Eleftheriou noted that the people of Kyrenia district are not alone in their struggle for justice, adding that the presence of Garoyian and a Greek delegation reaffirm the unity of the people of Cyprus and the support of the people of Greece for a solution and the reunification of the island.
''We demand from the international community to exert pressure on Turkey and its occupation regime to attend substantive talks with good will, so that a just, viable and functional solution is found to the Cyprus problem,'' he added.
Arethas conveyed a message of support from the Greek municipalities twinned with Cypriot municipalities to the struggle of the people of Cyprus, and expressed hope that a just and viable settlement would be achieved during the forthcoming negotiations.
Messages of support were also sent by other Greek municipalities.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.
The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, decided on July 25 to start full-fledged negotiations on September 3rd, with a view to find a mutually acceptable solution to the Cyprus problem.
