Akıncı and Eide will meet today
President Mustafa Akıncı will receive the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide today. Akıncı and the Greek Cypriot Leader Nikos Anastasiades will also meet again tomorrow. The meeting will start at 11:00 in the buffer zone as part of the Cyprus negotiations.
Furthermore, Turkish Cypriot Negotiator Özdil Nami and Greek Cypriot Negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis will continue negotiations today. The negotiators, who decided to meet three times a week following the Mont Pèlerin summit, discussed implementation of the settlement and EU issues in the previous day’s talks.
Özgürgün: “Turkish Cypriot people have repeatedly proven their constructive and self- sacrificing manner for a fair and permanent solution in Cyprus”
Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün stated that Turkish Cypriot people have repeatedly proved their constructive and self-sacrificing manner for a fair and permanent solution in Cyprus.
In a statement to mark the 21-25 December National Struggle and Martyrs Week, Prime Minister Özgürgün mentioned the Cyprus problem.
“We commemorate all of our martyrs who lost their lives for the sake of their motherland. The date of 21 December 1963 passed into the history as a “Bloody Noel” and it is a reality for the Turkish Cypriots which could not be forgotten. Many Turkish Cypriots were massacred by force of arms by the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo with the aim of uniting the island to Greece, and many people were forced to emigrate and were exposed to inhumane treatment. Despite these miseries and separation from loved ones, many of whom are still missing, as the Turkish Cypriot people, we never lost our belief. We have continued our determination to become a more powerful state for the next generations.”
Özgürgün added, “The Turkish Cypriot people have proved their constructive and self-sacrificing manner at every opportunity for a fair and permanent solution in Cyprus. The best solution for the Turkish Cypriots will be under the full and effective guarantee of Turkey and equality of the two sides.”
Eroğlu: “The reason we can call North Cyprus our homeland is because of the epic struggle between 21-25 December 1963”
The 3rd President of the TRNC Dr. Derviş Eroğlu stated that Turkish Cypriot people are able to call North Cyprus their homeland, that they established a state to live in safely, and that they can look to the future with hope despite some troubles, all because of the epic struggle between 21-25 December 1963.
Eroğlu stated that the struggle given against the Greek Cypriot attacks all across the island on Bloody Noel, 21-25 December 1963, was very important and one of the most meaningful, honourable, and heroic resistances.
Eroğlu stated that the Akritas plan which aimed to demolish the Turkish Cypriots was entered into force on 21 December 1963 and it was their aim to quickly take the whole island under Greek hegemony.
In his message for the “21-25 December Struggle and Martyrs Week”, former President Eroğlu stated that the Turkish Cypriot people passed through a very difficult time thanks to their determination, freedom, desire for sovereignty and strong ties to motherland Turkey. Eroğlu also said that the Turkish Cypriot people have experienced painful events that they never want to experience again.
In his message, Eroğlu also mentioned the Cyprus negotiation process and said that “Unfortunately statements made by the Greek Cypriot officials just before the Geneva talks which start on 9 January are worrying and show that they are not seeking peace.”
A “Virtual exhibition” has been prepared by the Public Information Office on the occasion of the “21 December National Struggle and Martyrs Week”
The virtual exhibition titled “Our Struggle for Existence” consists of 21 photographs from the Public Information archive and can be visited at http://mfa.gov.ct.tr/pio/en until 25 December 2016.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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Pictures shown are courtesy of the TRNC Public Information Office Facebook page.
