Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organisations have organized a peace march on the occasion of the World Peace Day.
Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot political parties participated in the event (left wing AKEL, right – wing DISY, Social Democrats Movement EDEK, Ecologists and Environmentalists Movement, United Democrats, Turkish Cypriot parties TDP, BKP and YKP) as well as teachers’, doctors’ trade unions, bicommunal dance and choir groups, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot cultural and youth organizations.
The event was also attended by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot politicians.
The Greek Cypriot organizations began Monday their march from the Eleftherias Square in the government controlled areas while the Turkish Cypriot organizations started from the occupied areas to meet at the Ledra Palace Hotel in the buffer zone.
In a joint communique read out in Greek and Turkish, the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot organizations note that Cypriots have suffered wars and “their wounds have not yet been healed”.
“All Cypriots still live under the fear of war even if they don't think about it all the time. The imperialistic powers and their local collaborators do not wish for real peace in Cyprus, since they want to protect their own interests”.
The organisations call upon all people in Cyprus, regardless of their ethnic background, to undertake an initiative, to coordinate efforts and promote the common goal for peace in a reunified Cyprus.
The joint communique also refers to the outbreak of the Second World War on September 1st 1939 and says that the World Peace Day every year on September 1st should remind us that disasters like the ones during the two world wars should not be repeated.
“The aim to create a world without war has not yet been achieved”, they note in their joint communique.
The organisations also refer to the crisis in Caucasus, “where thousands of innocent people, among them children and women have lost their lives”.
A special reference is made on the US, which “have turned the Middle East to bloodshed, while they continue their occupation and slaughter in Afghanistan and Iraq, waiting for the chance to attack against Iran”.
