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Televised Easter Message by the President

of the Republic Mr Nicos Anastasiades

The President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Anastasiades, in his televised Easter Message to the people of Cyprus, expressed the hope that the Resurrection of Christ will mark the beginning of the end of the great hardships that Cyprus is facing, while expressing confidence that the people of Cyprus will manage to overcome the economic problems in spite of the great difficulties ahead.

“The message of Resurrection,” the President added, “fills us with feelings of optimism and expectation, and strengthens our faith in the struggle for the salvation of Cypriot Hellenism” from Turkey’s military occupation, “and for the termination of the economic crisis that our country is experiencing.”

Our thoughts, the President continued, “are with our missing persons and their relatives, our people that remain enclaved (in occupied Cyprus) and with our refugees. To all those who are waiting with perseverance and who look forward to the resurrection of our homeland, a resurrection that will herald the reunification of our homeland and the restoration of the human rights of our people.”
Our thoughts, he added, are also with “our fellow citizens who are suffering and those groups of our society that have been hurt the most and are experiencing more intensely the repercussions of the economic crisis.”
President Anastasiades expressed “boundless pride for our people, who during these difficult times have affirmed the inexhaustible sentiments of humanity and solidarity they possess.”
The President also expressed his thanks to all the institutions, volunteers, organized groups and individuals for their “valuable contribution to support our fellow citizens in need.”
President Anastasiades went on to explain the efforts of the state in support of the more vulnerable groups in the society under these difficult circumstances.
He also referred to the policies that are being implemented by the government to help in the recovery of the economy and the return to economic growth, as well as the efforts undertaken for the modernization of the country on the basis of meritocracy.
The President noted that Cyprus managed “to overturn all the pessimistic predictions about our economy and to compel our international lenders, the international rating agencies, and the international Media to recognize this.”

President Anastasiades also pointed out that “we have already registered the first positive results, which confirm that Cyprus is on the right track,” while emphasizing that he has “absolute confidence in the willpower, the sense of honour, the patriotism and the industriousness of our people, and I have no doubt that we will succeed as we did in the past.”

The President added that, “I want to proclaim my deep conviction that Cyprus can become, in a short time, a modern European country. A country of the future, of hope and prospects that will offer protection and equal opportunities for advancement to all its legal residents, throughout its sovereign territory.

The prerequisite for that is a solution to the Cyprus problem that will terminate the occupation and colonialism, will free Cyprus from foreign troops and foreign dependencies, and will restore and safeguard the human rights and the basic freedoms of all its legal citizens; a solution for a bizonal, bicommunal federation, functional and viable that will reunite the people, the country, the institutions and the economy.

We have established the conditions for the conduct of a process without restrictive timetables and without arbitration, which will lead to the termination of the unacceptable status quo of occupation.

After long and persistent diplomatic efforts we have succeeded to involve the occupying power, Turkey, itself, in this process. We succeeded to have the goals set for a solution based on a bizonal bicommunal federation and the values and principles on which the EU is founded, to be safeguarded and to be respected in the entire sovereign territory of the Republic.

What is most important is that the United Cyprus, as a member of the United Nations and the European Union, will have one and single international legal personality, one and single sovereignty and one and single citizenship.

We hope that the Turkish side will respect its commitments, that derive from the Joint Communique we have signed recently, and which safeguard all that I have outlined above.

The road will not be easy and the negotiations are expected to be arduous.  We need the power of unity in order to overcome the difficulties that we will face in our next steps. Our effort needs support. Everybody’s contribution is needed, so that we can terminate Turkey’s occupation forever.”

 In concluding, the President said that “I wish everybody a Happy Easter and I look forward to the Resurrection that will bring freedom and prosperity to our homeland.”

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