Morphou refugees hand over resolution

MORPHOU Municipality and organised bodies of the Turkish occupied town of Morphou yesterday handed over a resolution to the embassies two of the five UN Security Council permanent members, the EU Representation, President Demetris Christofias and the House President Yiannakis Omirou.

The resolution was delivered on the occasion of the 37th anniversary of the occupation of the city by the advancing Turkish troops, on August 16, 1974.

Thanking the Mayor of Morphou for the petition, US Embassy official Jessica Adams said: “We support you and the Republic of Cyprus in your efforts for unification in a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.”

Russian Ambassador in Nicosia Vyacheslav Shumskiy said that Russia, as a permanent member of the Security Council, “will do its share in helping the Cypriot people to unite the country and we are working on that.”

In statements after handing over the petition to the two embassies, Morphou Mayor Charalambos Pittas said: “We stressed the fact that thirty seven years is too long. At the same time through the petition we condemn the unacceptable and intransigent stance of Turkey during all these years as well as the unacceptable behaviour of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan during his last illegal visit in Cyprus.”

Erdogan warned the EU that its accession negotiations with Ankara would freeze if Cyprus assumes the Union’s rotating presidency in July 2012 without a political settlement. He also ruled out the return of Morphou and Karpas to the Greek Cypriots in an overall solution.

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