"Dialogue only promotes occupation": Head of the Church of Cyprus spoke out against relations with Turkey

The Primate of the Church of Cyprus Archbishop George said that there is no sense in the dialog between the governments of Cyprus and Turkey, as attempts to resolve the conflict between the countries, in his opinion, only contribute to further occupation of the island. The words of the hierarch are reported by orthodoxia .info.

«Fifty years of fruitless negotiations have shown that dialog only contributes to the Turkish occupation of our land. This was Turkey’s method to make the international community forget the essence of our problem and our people become exhausted. Although much time has passed since the invasion, we must firmly put the issue in its true framework: the Cyprus problem is a problem of invasion and occupation. The invasion of a foreign country and the seizure of its territory. We must seek the immediate fulfillment of the principles of the UN and the European Union for our people,” the hierarch said.

Archbishop George complained that the Greek government has left Cyprus alone with the problem of Turkish occupation, and even now Greece does not realize all the risks that Turkey can bring to the Aegean region.

«The Cypriot and Greek leadership must realize that the Cyprus issue is a national problem. In particular, the Greek leadership must treat the Cyprus issue as a vital national issue, not only from a position of support or solidarity with the ‘Cypriot brothers’ as it is used to say, but also with the realization that the Cyprus issue directly concerns the security of Greece. The Cyprus issue is inextricably linked to the problem of the Aegean islands as well as Turkish aspirations in Thrace. The security of Cyprus is inextricably linked to the security of Greece and vice versa. With few exceptions, the attitude of the Greek governments towards us has been one of abandonment, indifference, alienation. We felt this pain — both we and our fathers — when during our liberation struggle we were abandoned by the government of our homeland and forced to agree to the Zurich-London agreements, which is the cause of our current misfortunes», — emphasized Archbishop George.

Recall, earlier we reported that the head of the Church of Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew called for friendship between Greece and Turkey for the sake of peace in the Mediterranean region. Bartholomew called Greeks and Turks “friendly nations,” noting the efforts of the Turkish and Greek governments in this direction. The head of the Phanar believes that both sides will benefit from such friendship.