Critical milestones ahead with informal conference on Cyprus issue, says Demetriou

We have critical milestones ahead of us, the most critical since 1974, with the holding of the informal five-party conference in Geneva next week dominating, “and there we have a responsibility to do everything we can to resume negotiations and return to the dialogue table,” said the President of the House of Representatives Annita Demetriou, addressing a student documentaries screening event on Tuesday in Nicosia.

During the event, also attended by Members of Parliament, ten student short documentaries created in secondary schools were presented, all of which having as a common theme the Turkish invasion of 1974 and its consequences for the people of Cyprus.

Referring to the event, Demetriou said that the documentaries, some of them even award-winning, confirm that knowledge of history “is not just the responsibility of each generation, from its own perspective and its own experience, but a path that starts from orality and reaches self-criticism and self-knowledge, the only principles that help us to reflect, accept and prosper”.

“Remember that knowledge remains forever within us, because it cannot be taken away from us and deprived of us. It is our most invincible weapon, for everything. Knowledge is real power”, she stressed.

“So keep investigating, keep seeking the truth, keep questioning, keep creating. Don’t let memory fade. Our world and our country need your fresh eyes, your purity, your dynamism and your forthrightness,” added the House President.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results due to Turkish intransigence. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced an expanded meeting, in Geneva, on March 17 and 18, to exchange views with the Cyprus President and the Turkish Cypriot leader on ways of achieving progress on the Cyprus issue, following their informal dinner on October 15, 2024, in New York. Representatives from Greece, Turkey and the UK are also expected to attend the meeting.