Government condemns north’s UDI anniversary

By a Staff Reporter

THE GOVERNMENT condemns any form of partition and stresses that only an end to the Turkish occupation and the reunification of Cyprus will bring peace, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said on Saturday, as the north marked 31 years since they unilaterally declared independence.

“It’s 31 years since Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership made their illegal unilateral declaration of the pseudo-state, in the framework of their policy to make permanent and to legitimise the faits accomplis of the illegal Turkish invasion and occupation, and for the division of Cyprus,” said Christodoulides in a written statement, highlighting that the UN Security Council condemned the declaration, characterising it as legally invalid and calling upon all states not to recognise the pseudo-state.

Christodoulides said international condemnation was to be expected since “a lawful outcome cannot be produced as a result of an illegal act such as the use of military force,” referring to the Turkish invasion.

The government spokesman stressed that although more than 30 years had passed, the government continued its struggle aiming at the reunification of Cyprus.

Christodoulides expressed the government’s sorrow that the talks between the two communities had been suspended, explaining that it was due to “the provocative and illegal conduct of Turkey, through the unacceptable violations of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in its Exclusive Economic Zone”.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to participating in the talks, provided that the process is kept away from threats and intimidations.

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.