“Our side supports Ms. Holguin's mission and will assist her in every possible way” – The funeral speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the funeral of the fallen of the Turkish invasion, soldier Minas Antoniou Papavasiliou
A collective apology is due for not being able to ease the pain of the relatives of the missing sooner, said the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Konstantinos Kombos, on Saturday at the funeral of the remains of Minas Antoniou Papavasileiou, who fell during the Turkish invasion, but remained missing until the identification of the of his bones. At the same time, he expressed support for the mission of the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General, who is expected next month in Cyprus.
Delivering the funeral speech, at the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, in Pera Horio Nisos, the Minister said that &# 8220; ending the illegal occupation of our country is our top goal. We are working sincerely and persistently to create the conditions for the resumption of dialogue to reach a solution based on the agreed framework.
He added that the personal envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations Organization is expected to return to Cyprus on the second ten days of March for a new round of contacts. Our side supports Mrs. Holgin's mission and will assist her in every possible way, he continued, noting that the liberation and reunification of Cyprus will be the best memorial for Minas and all those who gave their lives defending the freedom and the territorial integrity of our country”.
According to what the Minister mentioned, Minas served in the 361st Infantry Battalion based in Synghari. On August 13, 1974 the men of the 361st Infantry Battalion, “poorly armed and demoralized” were ordered to deploy in the Klepinis-Pachyammos area in Kyrenia. At the start of the second invasion, in the early hours of August 14, 1974, the Turkish forces were fiercely attacking the positions of the first company. In the morning, the Papavasiliou platoon was ordered to retreat to regroup. Surviving soldiers testify that the company commander and other officers left them helpless, says the Minister.
Fifty years after 1974 there are still more than 750 missing, he noted. “This is why Turkey's refusal to open the army archives, which contain information on most of our missing persons cases, is responsible. At every opportunity in every international forum, the Republic of Cyprus denounces Turkey for the crime of deliberately moving and destroying mass graves of missing persons, with the obvious aim of concealing the truth, he noted.
Mr Kobos said that a collective apology is due “that we failed earlier to ease the pain of the relatives of the missing, that our country was led to violent division, that we failed to stop the barbaric invader, that there was betrayal, that heroes like Minas were found faced with it and paid with their lives”.
