Terrorism is a universal problem, and Cyprus will spare no efforts to actively support the full implementation of the UN Global Strategy to Combat Terrorism throughout the globe, Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Erato Kozakou – Marcoullis said in a written statement on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11.

In the statement, Cypriot FM expressed Cyprus’ most sincere sympathies to all the victims of terrorism, their families and friends.

“Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania,” the Cypriot FM noted, adding that these horrendous acts of barbarism constituted an affront to all civilized societies”. The “subsequent attacks in Bali, Mumbai, Beslan, Madrid, Moscow, Norway and elsewhere serve as painful reminders that terrorism is a universal scourge which can afflict everyone indiscriminately, irrespective of their background, economic standing, ethnicity and religious creed, including those that the terrorists claim to represent,” Marcoullis stressed.

Pointing out that the 9/11 attacks were designed to trigger social collapse and to undermine our core values and beliefs in free and open societies, Erato Kozakou – Marcoullis underlined that ten years on, “we can safely determine that this terrorist objective has abjectly failed”. “Our beliefs in human rights, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, diversity and social inclusion are too strong and deep-rooted to be undermined by fear and prejudice,” she pointed out.