The national goal is the reunification of the island and the complete withdrawal of Turkish occupation troops from Cyprus, said Nikitas Kaklamanis, President of the Hellenic Parliament, on Tuesday, noting that parliamentary cooperation between Greece and Cyprus will be strengthened and that parliamentary diplomacy can be an aid to governments.
On his first visit abroad and to Cyprus, after assuming his duties as President of the Hellenic Parliament, Kaklamanis met in the morning with the President of the House of Representatives, Annita Demetriou, in Nicosia, who said in statements after the meeting that they discussed many issues, particularly complex ones, concerning relations between the two countries.
They emphasized, she continued, the need for Greece and Cyprus to remain islands of security and stability in the wider region. “At the same time, we reaffirmed our demand for the immediate release of the five Greek Cypriots who are being held illegally, under conditions of hostage-taking, by the occupying regime,” she added.
House President also said they exchanged views on developments last week in New York at the UN General Assembly, as well as on the next steps in the Cyprus issue. “I reiterated our deep gratitude for Greece’s support in the efforts to restart negotiations with the aim of resolving the Cyprus issue,” she said.
Demetriou also provided information on the preparations of the Parliament ahead of the EU Council Presidency, while they also analyzed issues of broader geopolitical developments and challenges, current affairs, and agreed that “under no circumstances and for no reason can relations between the two countries be disrupted.”
She pointed out that the President of the Hellenic Parliament will be attending tomorrow’s parade for the Independence Day of the Republic of Cyprus, which “is highly symbolic and sends a strong message.”
For his part, the President of the Hellenic Parliament thanked his counterpart for the warm welcome and the flattering words, stressing that at a time of political tension in Greece, “the Cyprus issue is one on which there is unanimous and unequivocal support from all political parties in the Hellenic Parliament. And it is precisely this unanimous and unequivocal support for common national goals that I want to convey to you.”
‘This support existed in the times of our predecessors, it exists in our times’, he continued, “and as you rightly hinted, the ties and cooperation between the two parliaments will become even closer on many levels. Not only in parliamentary diplomacy, as my friend the President said, but also in culture and education. In problems that concern both you and us and are well known’, he added.
Kaklamanis stated that sometimes parliamentary diplomacy comes to the rescue and solves problems “that governments may not be able to solve.”
The President of the Hellenic Parliament said he was “very moved and happy” to be present at the 65th anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Cyprus, which “symbolises the struggles of Cypriot Hellenism for its freedom. But for this freedom to have meaning and for the souls of the heroes who fell then, and later during the Attila invasion, to find justice, the national goal must be achieved, and the national goal is none other than the reunification of the island for all its inhabitants.”
For this to happen and be sustainable, he added, not a single Turkish soldier from the occupying forces can remain, and all hopes for the missing persons must be exhausted, Greeks and Greek Cypriots. He also said that he will raise in Greece the issue of the five Greek Cypriots who are being held captive in the occupied territories on “ridiculous charges.”
The statements were preceded by a meeting between Annita Demetriou and Nikitas Kaklamanis in the office of the House President, where she said that the fraternal relationship, understanding, and solidarity with Greece is Cyprus’s greatest diplomatic and political advantage.
Kaklamanis pointed out that the first trip of each newly elected President of the Hellenic Parliament is to Cyprus, not for formal reasons, but for very substantial ones. He noted that the national goal is the reunification of the island and the complete withdrawal of the occupying forces in accordance with the decisions of the UN Security Council.
Demetriou and Kaklamanis exchanged gifts as Presidents of the two parliaments, with Kaklamanis offering his ” friend Annita” a personal gift, a silk scarf from Soufli.
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.