Cypriots in Britain demonstrate to mark Turkish invasion anniversary

Cypriots demonstrators demanded during a gathering in London on Sunday that the British government takes initiatives to create the conditions that would lead to a settlement of the Cyprus problem.

The gathering in Trafalgar Square, organised by the National Federation of Cypriots in the United Kingdom, was held to mark the 33rd anniversary of the 1974 coup and Turkish invasion of Cyprus, and was supported by British MPs and MEPs, the Cyprus News Agency reported.

A letter handed in at 10, Downing Street by a delegation headed by President of the Federation Peter Droushiotis calls on the British government ''to act in the interest of justice and to increase all efforts towards delivering a united, independent, bizonal, bicommunal Cyprus, where the human rights of all Cypriots will be safeguarded.''

At the gathering, the MPs deplored Turkey's stance, which is against international legality and EU principles, and expressed their determination to maintain their support towards Cyprus until a just solution is achieved.

Labour MPs expressed hope that the appointment of Joan Ryan as Special Representative for Cyprus meant that the British government intended to contribute towards reaching a settlement. One Labour MP, Allan Meale, said Ryan ''should be here today.''

Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes noted that ''we must convince Turkish Cypriots and Turks in this country that it is in their interest too that their country should honour its international obligations,'' adding that ''there will never be a just solution if foreign troops continue to be in Cyprus.''

''There will be a solution only if there is an agreement providing for the withdrawal of the occupying army,'' he pointed out, noting that ''we are optimistic because right and justice are on the side of the reunification of Cyprus.''

Conservative MP Theresa Villiers said ''we are here because we want to make sure that Turkish troops leave the island, we want to see justice, and we want an end to the division of Cyprus which has gone on for far too long.''

''The UN, the EU and especially the British government continue to show complacency and it is time to shake them out of that complacency and get them to take action to secure justice for Cyprus. They never have taken the tragedy of Cyprus seriously enough,'' she noted.

Labour MP Andy Love said ''it was the right of the Greek Cypriots to say ‘no’ in the referendum,'' adding that ''we must find a way for a proposal that both sides will say ‘yes’.''

''Turkey has to recognise Cyprus in the same way that it recognises every other country of the Union,'' he added.

Labour MPs Edward O’Hara and Andrew Dismore, Conservative MP Roger Gale and Conservative MEP Charles Tannock also addressed the gathering.

Many speakers deplored the destruction of the religious heritage in the Turkish occupied areas of the island, presented in a photograph exhibition by Doros Partasides and Panayiotis Yiakoumis.
Federation President Peter Droushiotis called on the British government to meet its obligations as a guarantor power.

Furthermore, President of the World Federation of Overseas Cypriots Charis Sophoclides criticised the Turkish Cypriot leadership for cancelling a meeting with Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos.Famagusta Mayor Alexis Galanos, speaking on behalf of the mayors of other occupied towns, pointed out the need to safeguard the integrity of Cyprus as a precondition for justice.

Democratic Party MP Phytos Constantinou, who was also present, praised the Cypriot community in Britain and the overseas Cypriots in general for their role in enlightenment concerning the Cyprus problem.

During the march that preceded the gathering, a group of Cypriot World War II volunteers laid an arrangement of flowers reading ''CYPRUS''.