People losing heart for struggle, says the archbishop

By Athena Karsera

ARCHBISHOP Chrysostomos told radio listeners yesterday that he believed the Cypriot people, and especially the refugees, had given up the struggle to return to the parts of the island held by the Turkish occupation forces.

Speaking on state radio, Chrysostomos said: “I don’t see events, demonstrations”. He described the refugees as living “in a lethargy”.

The archbishop argued that demonstrations should be held outside all foreign embassies on the island to remind the international community of the Cyprus problem.

During the interview, Chrysostomos said that Archbishop Makarios had told him, on the day before his death, that he felt he had been misled into signing the bizonal agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot side after Cyprus independence. He said that Makarios had also told him he had been discussing the building of a military, naval and air base in Paphos with the then Minister of Defence.

The archbishop repeated his belief that a solution to the Cyprus problem must be found within the framework of the United Nations resolutions, quoting the second paragraph of resolution number 3212: “Urges the speedy withdrawal of all foreign armed forces and foreign military presence and personnel from the Republic of Cyprus and the suspension of all foreign interferences in its affairs.”

Asked about a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, Archbishop Chrysostomos said he thought it would result in the loss of Hellenism on the island.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.