The President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, appealed on Thursday to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to exert its influence on Turkey to cooperate in good faith towards resolving the Cyprus issue, during the meeting of PACE’s Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs, held in Limassol.
In her address, Demetriou expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the members of the Committee for their consistent principled stance and PACE’s steadfast support for Cyprus and the ongoing efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions, but also on the basis of international law and European principles and values.
“Our fervent desire and steadfast goal is the reunification of our country, in conditions of lasting peace, security, and prosperity for all Cypriots: Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians, and Latins, and especially for our young people, who deserve a more hopeful future,” she said, noting that the intervention of the Committee members is always important and catalytic, especially in a Member State, in a country governed by the rule of law, which, 51 years after the illegal Turkish invasion, and in which basic human rights are violated and trampled on a daily basis.
The House President stressed that 51 years since the Turkish invasion and the continuing occupation of part of Cyprus, a member state of the European Union and the Council of Europe, is “too long”.
“The international community must show the same sensitivity and determination towards Cyprus that it rightly showed towards Ukraine, putting international law and respect for human rights first in all cases without exception, far from the logic of double standards, which is incompatible with lasting peace and justice,” she said, emphasizing that flagrant violations of fundamental rights, such as the right to property of Greek Cypriots who were forcibly displaced and the right of the families of missing persons to the truth, are not subject to a statute of limitations as long as they continue.
After appealing to MPs and PACE to exert influence on Turkey to cooperate in good faith to resolve the problem and its individual aspects, Demetriou referred to the case of five Greek Cypriot displaced persons who were illegally detained by the occupying regime for four months on unfounded charges.
As she said, although they have been acquitted by a “military court” and despite their acquittal on the alleged charges, it has not yet been possible for them to return to the free areas. “I call on you from this podium to exert all your influence so that they can return immediately to the free areas,” she stressed.
In her address, Demetriou also referred to the role of the Committee in matters of ethics, conflict of interest, transparency, and the practical functioning of parliamentary work, which, she said, cover a wide range of issues related to the functioning of democracy, good governance, and the rule of law and, more generally, the credibility of institutions and citizens’ trust in them.
Equally important, she said at another point, is the role of the various control mechanisms of the Council of Europe and the recommendations of its mandated bodies, such as GRECO, MONEYVAL, or other independent authorities of the Organization, whose actions have contributed significantly to strengthening institutional maturity and to accumulating and utilizing the necessary expertise in Cyprus.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.