President: We will continue the struggle for reunification

President of the Republic of Cyprus Demetris Christofias has assured that “we will continue the struggle for reunification, conciliation and deliverance from the occupation” of Cyprus’ northern third by Turkey, and will continue to prove “our determination for a solution.”

The President said “we are ready for a compromise but there will be no compromise with the occupation, division, the logic of two states in Cyprus.”

Speaking at an event in Nicosia on the occasion of declaring the year 2013 as “The Year of Makarios”, President Christofias said Archbishop Makarios, the first President of the Republic of Cyprus, “led our homeland in truly trying times” and “fought for a Cyprus free from colonial rule and away from nationalistic extremities and chauvinism.”

President Christofias referred to the work of Makarios and his efforts to reach a solution of the Cyprus problem, which culminated with the signing of the Makarios-Denktash agreement for a federation solution.

“The federation was a painful compromise, a compromise that reveals the proportions of the tragedy and the betrayal of 1974 against Cyprus and its people. It also proves that Makarios had the political judgment and gravity to take crucial decisions for the future of Cyprus,” he said, adding that the five Presidents that followed have all followed the same policy in their efforts to achieve a peaceful, viable and functional solution.

President Christofias noted that “today we continue the same route mapped out by Archbishop Makarios, because it is the only way to avoid the division of our homeland.”

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.