NEW HORIZONS party chief Nicos Koutsou yesterday hailed Sunday’s protest against the United Nations plan as a great success, saying those who attended were only a fraction of the thousands opposing the plan.
Around 3,000 people assembled in the Eleftheria stadium in Nicosia on Sunday to voice their opposition to the UN plan.
It was the first organised protest against the plan and it was organised by the Citizens’ Movement with the participation of former Greek defence minister Gerasimos Arsenis, as well as numerous other politicians from Greece and Cyprus.
Arsenis said there was no time for negotiations on the plan, stressing the Cyprus needed a clean decision in Copenhagen, free of footnotes concerning the settlement of the Cyprus problem.
The leader of Greek party DIKKI, Demetris Tsovolas, described the plan as “the fabrication of a sick imagination, which is worse than the current illegal situation on the island”.
Kyrenia Mayor Constantinos Rologas said the plan was unacceptable, violating all the principles of UN decisions, European courts and basic human rights.
Kyrenia Bishop Pavlos said the plan vindicated the Turkish invaders, adding the only place for sell-outs was at bargain basement shops.
“We are not ready to sell out Cyprus; Cyprus is not the property of (Greek Prime Minister Costas) Simitis or (President Glafcos) Clerides or any politician,” Bishop Pavlos said.
Koutsou said yesterday the protest had been a success despite the short notice.
He said the 3,000 who attended were just a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of citizens who, according to surveys, disagree with the plan.
“I believe it was the beginning of popular mobilisation and intervention and this time citizens won’t stay indifferent to procedures, which will determine the future of our children for the next 100 years,” Koutsou said.
Koutsou urged people to continue to express their views peacefully and within the democratic framework.
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.
