By George Psyllides
The Greek Cypriot leadership is now mature and courageous enough to recognize the criminal mistakes committed in the past, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday, acknowledging that in the run up to the July 15, 1974 coup, not enough was done to protect the state’s institutions.
“As a leadership, collectively, we have gained the maturity and the bravery … to recognise the criminal mistakes committed in the past,” he said during an event at the presidential palace to mark the 1974 coup and subsequent Turkish invasion.
He said the leadership could now acknowledge that in the brief history of the Republic it sometimes sought the impossible and at other times, it allowed people to turn their weapons against their brothers.
“It is obvious that when we should have, we did not do what we had to, to protect our democratic institutions,” he said. “It is equally true that we did not do what we could to create the necessary bridges between the two communities, letting the Turkish Cypriot community fall prey to Turkish propaganda and planning.”
In the 41 years that followed the coup and the invasion, Anastasiades said, people have suffered a lot and felt the pain of a divided country.
“Nothing however, compares with the pain of the mother who lost her child, the child who waits for the missing father, or the parent who waits for their children,” the president said.
A great honour was owed to the people who were lost, Anastasiades said, pledging that their sacrifice would not go in vain.
“Their memory should be the beacon guiding all our actions for the good of Cyprus.”
The first concrete honour owed to those who gave their life was to prove that “we used the freedom of half the country for one cause: to get rid of the occupation and division and form a modern, democratic state.”
The president said that no one could save a people which did not unite its forces to overcome obstacles, but especially when its political leadership did not assume its share of responsibility.
Where there was division, catastrophe was sure to follow, he said.
The president said the Greek Cypriot side was currently engaged in talks to reunify the country and though too early to evaluate the work, he assured that the election of Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci opened a window of opportunity.
He said Greek Cypriots could now negotiate with mutual respect to achieve a solution that reversed the current unacceptable state of affairs.
“At the same time we ought to be honest with ourselves and stop being hostages of slogans, oftentimes creating false hopes,” he said.
He warned that 41 years of occupation had changed important ingredients of a solution sought by the Greek Cypriot side.
Despite this, it was not approaching the procedure in a fatalistic manner but will claim what it deserved.
Anastasiades said there was no climate of confrontation in the ongoing negotiations.
“We are trying through co-operation to form the framework that makes Cypriots masters of their own country.”
