Defence Minister: Turkish occupation needs to be terminated

The Turkish occupation of Cyprus must be terminated, Defence Minister Savvas Angelides stressed on Saturday adding that a settlement of the Cyprus problem must be functional and viable.

There must be no foreign troops and barbed-wire which divide the country, but a united country in which all of its legal inhabitants live in harmony, in a secure, peaceful and democratic environment, he added.

Angelides was speaking on behalf of President Nicos Anastasiades during the memorial service for National Guard Chief Lieutenant General Evangelos and other four army officers killed on July 10, 2002 near Paphos when their helicopter crashed.

Angelides said that “we have to continue their struggle and their dedication to Cyprus”, a country which is an EU member state, however 37 per cent of its territory remains under occupation, in violation of the international law principles and human rights principles, something which constitutes the greatest historic and political paradox in Europe”.

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.