We should not be dragged into negotiations on Turkish terms where we will encounter unbearable pressures, the Archbishop of Cyprus, George, said on Monday.
He also said that Greece cannot be seduced by the guise of “good neighborliness” and demands to separate the Cypriot issue from the other Greek-Turkish issues.
The Archbishop, who delivered the solemn speech for the national anniversary of March 25, 1821, in the Holy Church of Panagia Faneromeni, where a Solemn Doxology was held, advocated the revival of the doctrine of the Cyprus-Greece Unified Defense Area and pointed out that Cyprus is the last stronghold of Hellenism.
He noted that if Cyprus falls, the other Greek parts will not be secured and “Aegean, islands, Thrace, Macedonia will take turns” ;.
He added that "the revival of the doctrine of the Cyprus-Greece Unified Defense Area is of the utmost importance for our national survival".
The Archbishop also said that the Government of the Republic of Cyprus should “give importance and support all the infrastructures that will ensure the success of our struggle”.
” Without proper defensive armour, the strengthening of the National Guard, dealing with the daily entry of illegal immigrants and making the most of the changes observed around us, we should not be dragged into negotiations, on essentially Turkish terms, where we will encounter unbearable pressures for new concessions “, he added.
And all of us, he continued, the people, united as one man "to support in practice the efforts that need to be undertaken jointly by the Governments of Cyprus and Greece for a solution that will allows us to stay in the land of our fathers and will prevent any attempt by the occupying power to achieve its indefensible goals”.
This year's great anniversary of 203 years since the beginning of the Paligenia race, he noted, must also be a lesson in self-awareness for us.
“We, the competitors, owe Greeks of Cyprus, let us set an example from the struggle of the past,” he said.
As he said, only by living the national ideals and setting an example from the past, is it possible to foil the Turkish designs and achieve the liberation of our homeland.
With references to Isocrates and Thucydides, the Archbishop spoke about the importance of the struggle for freedom, and underlined the “pioneering role” of the Church.
" stood, in many critical hours, the national flag of Greece. Without the Church and the uninterrupted liturgical life, without the hidden School and the priest-teacher, there would be no '21", he said.
The greatest contribution of the Greek revolution to the political life of Europe, he noted, was the overthrow of the principles of the Holy Alliance and the creation of new political morals, especially the principle of the self-determination of peoples, even if it was established as a consequence of a cruel and bloody race.
The great message that passed over the Greek seas in the spring of 1821 did not leave Cyprus unmoved, he pointed out, noting that there were many Cypriots who helped prepare the fight, collaborators of Rigas Feraios himself, but also others who fell on the battlefields in Greece.
Cyprus, he said, paid very dearly, then, for its participation in the national competition. “On July 9, 1821, from Seragi Square in Nicosia, between the gallows and the gallows that had been set up, passed once more, unfortunately not the last time, the indomitable Greek soul of Cyprus, dressed in the purple tunic of martyrdom and wearing the thorn crown, to preach that the roots of the tree of freedom are deep and nothing can destroy them. And to proclaim everywhere that in Cyprus the Greek soul has not been extinguished and will never be extinguished”.
And today, he continued, “despite the fact that “Mega Penthos Cyprida gaian ikani”, for half a century, although 37% of our land is possessed and polluted by the Turk, although our temples are desecrated and we are kept by force of arms away from our homes and despite the fact that Turkey does not hide its goal of complete occupation and Turkishization of Cyprus, we celebrate with all splendor the anniversary of our national rebirth”.
The anniversary celebration of the nation's uprising should also remind us of our immediate obligations, amid the whirlwind of times and the constant traps of our spineless enemies and friends, he added. “Wake us up from the lethargy of laziness and national complacency,” he said.
The Archbishop of Cyprus spoke about the joint mobilization of the entire Nation, which, as he pointed out, is self-evident "for us".
“That is why it causes us indescribable sadness any distancing of the national center from the national issue of Cyprus. We Greeks are not strangers and foreigners, nor newcomers to this land of our fathers. We count as many millennia of life here as the Athenians in Athens and the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnese. A section of the Nation is in extreme danger. Greece cannot be seduced by the guise of 'good neighborliness' and demands to separate the Cypriot issue from the other Greek-Turkish issues. Cyprus is the last stronghold of Hellenism. If Cyprus falls, the other Greek parts will not be secured. Aegean, islands, Thrace, Macedonia will take turns”, he said.
Our road to national justice is indeed difficult and uphill, but we do not have another option, concluded Archbishop George.
Source: KYPE
