Church of Cyprus head: Dialogue only adds to Turkish occupation of our land

The head of the Church of Cyprus criticized the Greek government, stating that their stance "has been one of abandonment and indifference for us"

“This year marks 50 years since Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus, and today Turkey does not hide its ultimate goal – the conquest and Turkification of all of Cyprus. Circumstances may force them to make certain maneuvers, and they may hide their intentions from the international community, but their ultimate goal remains unchanged,” said Archbishop Georgios of New Justiniana and All Cyprus at the festive cathedral in Serres, as reported by orthodoxia.info.

According to Archbishop Georgios, fifty years of fruitless negotiations have shown that this path only leads to the Turkification of the country.

“This has been Turkey’s method to make the outside world forget the nature of our problem and to exhaust our people. No matter how difficult it is due to the time that has passed since the invasion, we must place our issue in the correct dimension, without retreat: the Cyprus problem is an issue of invasion and occupation – of a foreign country’s invasion and the conquest of its territories. And we must demand the immediate implementation of the UN and the European Union principles for our people,” he stated.

The head of the Church of Cyprus believes that the leaders of Cyprus and Greece must recognize that the Cyprus issue is a national problem, and that Greek leadership should regard it as a vital national issue, not merely in terms of support or “standing with Cypriot brothers”, as is commonly said, but as an issue that directly affects the security of Greek territories.

“The Cyprus issue is inseparably linked first with the issue of the Aegean islands and then with Turkey’s ambitions in Thrace. The security of Cyprus is directly linked to the security of Greece, and vice versa,” he added.

He noted that “with a few exceptions, the attitude of Greek governments has been one of rejection, indifference, and disregard for us.” “We experienced this sorrow – we and our fathers – when during our liberation struggle, we were abandoned by our homeland’s government and compelled to accept the Zurich and London agreements, which are also a cause of our present suffering,” emphasized the Archbishop.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the head of the Phanar praised the governments of Turkey and Greece for their “happy rapprochement”.

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