“The Bi-zonal, Bi-communal Federation (BZBF) brings us closer to accepting Turkish claims and takes us further away from a just solution,” said MP and ELAM President Christos Christou, said during his speech on Wednesday in the House of Representatives plenary session, held to mark the anniversary of the condemnation of the treasonous coup of July 15, 1974.

“As the National Popular Front, we condemn the military coup of July 15, 1974, without this meaning that we are erasing what preceded it,” said Mr. Christou, noting that “the tragic mistakes of the internal conflict had extremely serious consequences that still haunt us” and that “the discord paved the way for events that have shaped the course of our country to this day.”

He also noted that “Turkey’s intentions and plans regarding Cyprus were put into action during the 1963 Turkish uprising, which resulted in the withdrawal of Turkish Cypriots from the institutions of the Republic of Cyprus.” 

Speaking about the devastating consequences of the Turkish invasion of July 20, as well as the heroic efforts of the armed forces to repel the attack, he emphasized the importance of preserving memory, stating that it “proved that the strength of a people does not depend solely on its military might, but also on its will to endure over time.”

Referring to efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue, he said that for the past 52 years, all such efforts have reached a dead end. He then spoke about the recent efforts being made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 

“The question is whether these developments will have a positive impact on the Republic of Cyprus,” said Mr. Christou, adding that “experience shows that insisting on a solution based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation brings us closer to accepting Turkish demands and takes us further awayfrom a just solution that would ensure the survival of the Greek Cypriots.”

He went on to say that “in practice, a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality means, first, that we have a state and will abolish it; we have sovereignty and we will limit it, we have international representation and we will renounce it, and finally, we have alliances and we will sever them.”

He added that this would lead to “first, the legitimization of the pseudo-state; second, the whitewashing of war crimes; third, the continued presence of settlers, and fourth, the sharing of power with Ankara’s puppets,” noting that “this will take place at the very same time that Turkey continues its provocative actions along the Green Line, plans ‘Blue Homelands,’ pursues a revisionist policy at the expense of neighboring states, has linked all of the country’s research institutions to the development of the military-industrial complex, and is escalating tensions with the State of Israel.”

“These facts make it imperative for the State to reexamine the path toward a solution to the Cyprus problem,” Mr. Christou stated, adding that “the Republic of Cyprus’s response can be neither oblivion nor resignation” and that “we must work to reposition the Cyprus issue in its proper context as a problem of invasion and ongoing occupation” by leveraging our membership in the European Union and international cooperation toward this end.

Source: CNA