The President of Cyprus called on international partners this Saturday to show “the same commitment” to the Cypriot issue that they have witnessed in Ukraine, to which Marcelo replied that Portugal supports the efforts made by the UN Secretary General.
These positions were transferred by the two Heads of State in the Presidential Palace of Cyprus, in Nicosia, after having held a meeting of about an hour, first in a bilateral format and then extended to the delegations of both countries.
In remarks at the end of the meeting, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades undoubtedly drew parallels between the current situation in Ukraine and that of Cyprus, the northern part of which has been occupied by Turkish military forces since 1974, having proclaimed an independent state in that place. which is only recognized by Ankara.
According to Anastasiades, in the same way that Russia annexed four Ukrainian regions in September in defiance of international law and the United Nations Charter, Cyprus also suffered the same type of violation “with the illegal Turkish invasion in 1974 and the continued occupation of a third ” of the territory of the country.
“Witnessing how the international community has responded, in a united and committed manner, to the unjust violation of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, we also hope that our partners will show the same commitment, unity […] in the Cypriot question, and in asserting our sovereignty and our sovereign rights”, he stressed.
The Cypriot head of state argued that this commitment by the international community is “even more relevant” given Turkey’s “unacceptable position in favor of a two-state solution” in Cyprus.
“My dear Marcelo, I will continue to carry out initiatives to ‘break’ the current stalemate,” assured Anastasiades, addressing the Portuguese head of state.
In response to Anastasiades’ call, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa assured that the international community recognizes the “independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the Republic of Cyprus.
“That is why we join what the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has been doing since he was elected in his first term, and also in his second term, in trying to find a way to deal with the problems , noise, irritating situations. that, from time to time, deepen structural and long-term problems to be solved, ”he said.
The meeting between Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Nicos Anastasiades was the first item on the agenda of the Portuguese president’s official visit to the Republic of Cyprus, which began today and ends on Sunday.
Before meeting with his Cypriot counterpart, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was received at the Presidential Palace with a welcome ceremony, after laying a wreath next to the statue of the first Cypriot president, Archbishop Makarios III.
Inside the palace, and before the meeting between the two heads of state was closed to the media, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Nicos Anastasiades exchanged a few words, the Portuguese president telling his Cypriot counterpart that he saw Makarios III in Paris in the 1960s, and that he was an “impressive figure” who seemed like a “spiritual leader.”
Subsequently, the two presidents exchanged the highest decorations awarded to foreign heads of state: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa distinguished Nicos Anastasiades with the Grand Collar of the Order of Infante D. Henrique, having received from his Cypriot counterpart the Grand Collar of the Order of Makarios. third
Source: Observadora
