“It is our duty to build the future without forgetting the hardships of the past,” said the Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhurman, who attended today’s events organized by the occupying regime in Kokkina to commemorate the deadly Turkish bombings of 1964 in the Tillyria region.
He spoke of the responsibility of today’s generations to ensure a peaceful and safe future for children, linking, as he put it, the “legacy,” as he put it, of those who fought in Kokkina with the need to ensure that the conflicts and suffering of the past are never repeated.”
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“Our struggle is to ensure that no child is left without a future and that the suffering, wars, and conflicts in these lands are never experienced again,” he said, adding that the goal is “to leave a better country for our children.”
Erhurman spoke of the “Red Resistance,” which, in his words, constitutes “one of the most significant turning points in the Turkish Cypriot people’s struggle for survival,” adding that they had gathered to honor “those who fought for these lands and to reaffirm their determination to preserve the legacy they left behind.”
“Exactly 62 years have passed since then. The glorious resistance of Kokkina is one of the struggles in which the Turkish Cypriot people demonstrated in the strongest possible way their will to protect their existence, freedom, and dignity,” he said.
READ ALSO: “The Beginning of the Ordeal”: 62 Years Since the Deadly Turkish Bombings in Tillyria
Referring to the connection between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, Mr. Erhurman said he honors “with respect all those who supported the struggle for the survival of the Turkish Cypriot people.”
He also said that they have learned many lessons “from the struggle of previous generations” and bear great responsibilities toward them.
“The greatest responsibility we have today is to protect our children’s future,” he said, adding that young people “had fought in Kokkina for the security and freedom of future generations.”
“Today, our duty is to hand down to our children the country they left us—more beautiful, safer, fairer, and more peaceful,” he said.
Erhurman noted that, regardless of political views or ideologies, common ground must be found when it comes to the future of our children.
“It is our duty to build the future without forgetting the hardships of the past. To work so that our children will never again experience wars, conflicts, and suffering. We must strive to ensure that every child living in these territories can grow up safely and look to the future with hope,” he said.
READ ALSO: Bombings in Tillyria: “Celebrations” with 1,250 Turkish Cypriots in Kokkina
He added that “the debt we owe to the fallen and the veterans is repaid by defending the values for which they fought and by striving to create a safer and more peaceful future”.
Source: CNA
