The President of the Republic Konstantinos TasoulasDuring his official visit to Cyprus, he visited the House of Representatives earlier today, where he was welcomed by President Annita Dimitriou. Following their meeting, Mr Tasoulas addressed a speech at the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, stressing that “Greece continues to proclaim in every direction that the only way for constant peace in our region is its fair, viable and viable solution”.
He also added that “Greece and Cyprus will continue to support, actively and fully, under the auspices of the UN Secretary -General, efforts to restart negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue, as this proposes the interest and prosperity of the whole Cypriot people”.
At the same time, he pointed out that “we have never accepted and neither are we going to accept. In spite of the times, we insist that violence and illegality, in no way, can not create fair. Greece is and will remain a helper and selfless national supporter of Cypriot Hellenism, a stable ally and defender of the Republic of Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus will continue together the struggle for peace, liberation and reunification of Megalonissos. “
In closing, Mr Tasoulas stressed that “I strongly believe that our up -to -date dedication to this purpose will unite, rally and motivate all the forces of the nation.”
Following is the speech of the President of the Republic Konstantinos Tasoula:
‘Mr President of the Republic,
Madam President of the House of Representatives,
Ladies and gentlemen,
With deep emotion but also great joy in Megalonissos. This time as president of the Hellenic Republic, but with the same always intense emotions that possess every Greek and every Greek woman who visits the perennial and living home of this part of Hellenism.
In Cyprus, the horizon of Hellenism is continuously “stalled”, to mention the words of George Seferis, when on March 12, 1954, he wrote to his friend, Cypriot painter Adamantio Diamantis, “Cyprus widening the feeling I had for Greece”. And on October 25 of the same year, George Seferis, in a letter to his sister Ioanna Tsatsos, describes his first impressions of Cyprus “… our young people would see from Cyprus broader our place”, referring to this emotional and emotional manner.
The bonds that unite us are centuries -old and indefinable. Our proximity to our undisputed and multifaceted. Geographical, political, cultural. As Ioannis Kapodistrias states during the Poros Conference in 1828, wishing, addressing the representatives of the protector forces, to highlight this proximity, “as far as the islands, and the history and monuments of antiquity, all of them are all about the Greeks.
Expressing my pride in my present presence here, I would like to pay tribute to the memory of the young Greek Cypriots who gave their lives in the 1955-1959 national liberation struggle for the removal of the colonies. This is also part of the recent decision of the Greek Government, with which our schools in Greece, co-ousted this year, on the 70th anniversary of the start of the struggle, with events aimed at informing and raising the awareness of the student community about this important chapter in the history of Cypriot Hellenism. We do not forget their sacrifice that has contributed to the freedom of all Cypriots as well as to the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, the United Nations Member State and, for twenty years, of the European Union.
I also wish from this step to honor the memory of all the fighters who resisted, with an unparalleled boldness in the July-August 1974 invasion, under the unassuming burden of the preceding criminal coup.
At this point let me emphasize Greece’s undiminished interest in the ongoing humanitarian issue of the missing. Fifty -one years after the Turkish invasion, the fate of more than 750 Greeks and Cypriots is still ignored. The pain for these families remains undiminished. We will not stop raising the issue of the missing and supporting the relevant efforts, in whatever way it is possible, until the fortunes of the last of them is ascertain.
Half a century has passed since the Turkish invasion of 1974 and more than one third of the territory of Cyprus remains occupied, while claiming claims, except for decades agreed, to re -establish negotiations with the aim of finding it. This is a harsh truth. But it is more precise, the only one aspect of the truth. The other side is the resistance of the Republic of Cyprus. Its refusal to accept and legitimize the perpetrators of the illegal military invasion and occupation. Its rapid re -establishment after the invasion, and its social, political and economic modernization, on the basis of which it was achieved in 2004, with the contribution of Greece, its accession to the European Union.
It is a real economic miracle that through the ashes of the 1974 invasion and occupation, the economy of Cyprus has increased throughout the period to date at an impressive pace, ensuring the progress and prosperity of its citizens. At the same time. Through the commitment to international law, and in particular the law of the sea, the effective exercise of its sovereign rights is implemented. International relations of the Republic of Cyprus are established and strengthened, as its role as a factor of stability and security in the eastern Mediterranean region is strengthened.
In this context, it is indicative of the deepening of its relations, including in the defense sector, with the United States of America, as well as with all Middle Eastern states, which proves that Cyprus, as Greece, remains reliable partners and interlocutors.
At this point I could, of course, be able to emphasize the importance of the trilateral and multilateral cooperation forms, which make Cyprus and Greece bridges of peace and prosperity between Asia, Africa and Europe. These shapes, after all, remain open in all neighboring countries, with a basic condition for respect for international law, including sea law, as well as good neighborly relations.
Fifty years of illegal military occupation are many and unbearable. Greece continues to proclaim in all directions that the only way for constant peace in our region is the just, sustainable and functional solution to the Cyprus problem.
A solution that will finally terminate the Turkish occupation and relieve the Republic of Cyprus and the Cypriot people from the occupation troops and the anachronistic and inappropriate system of guarantees and unilateral intervention rights of anyone in Cyprus. A solution that will guarantee democratic rights and freedoms of all legal residents of Cyprus. A solution that will restore the rights of the displaced and their families. A solution that will ensure the seamless implementation of the European acquis throughout the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.
The only acceptable basis for the negotiation to find the desired solution, is none other than the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, including the most recent resolution 2771/2025, for the unanimous adoption of which Greece, as a non-permanent Member State of the Security Council, worked on the basis of the Security Council, Last January.
The Security Council resolutions call on all states to respect the independence, sovereignty and integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, condemn the illegal secessionist entity in the occupied territories and call into negotiations to find a solution of bi -zonal, bi -communal, political and political, political and political, political and political.
Negotiations to resolve the Cyprus problem, as we all know, have been interrupted for many years, following the Cyprus conference convened by Crans Montana by UN Secretary -General Antonio Guterres, in the summer of 2017. For more than seven years, no prospects were visited.
As a result, primarily the active and coordinated diplomacy of the Republic of Cyprus with Greece’s full support, the Cyprus issue is again at the forefront of the United Nations Agenda. At the informal multilateral meeting that the UN Secretary -General in Geneva co -ordinated last March, it was agreed to discuss initiatives on important issues of confidence building and to continue in the informal consultations, both in Cyprus and in the form of an enlarged meeting. In the same vein, I am sure that the appointment of Maria Angela Holguin Cuéllar, as a personal envoy of the GIPE for the Cyprus issue, will contribute in this direction. Any attempt to derail the framework of the UN resolutions is manifestly rejected and illegal.
Greece and Cyprus will continue to support, actively and fully, under the auspices of the UN Secretary -General, efforts to restart negotiations to resolve the Cyprus issue, as this proposes the interest and prosperity of the whole Cypriot people.
We have never accepted, nor are we going to accept an end. In spite of the times, we insist that violence and illegality, in no way, can not create fair. Greece is and will remain a helper and selfless national supporter of Cypriot Hellenism, a stable ally and defender of the Republic of Cyprus. Greece and Cyprus will continue together the struggle for peace, liberation and reunification of Megalonissos.
I firmly believe that our commitment to this purpose will unite, rally and mobilize all the forces of the nation.
Thank you very much. “