The return of Morphou to Greek-Cypriot control is a “fundamental condition for a mutually acceptable, comprehensive and final settlement of the Cyprus issue,” President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos said on Monday, during a ceremony in Nicosia naming him an honorary citizen of the town in the Turkish-occupied north of the island.
Pavlopoulos added, while the fact that a solution to the Cyprus issue was still pending “was shameful, not just for those that invaded the island but also for the international community and the European Union itself.”
Among other things, Pavlopoulos stressed that the existence of “guarantor” forces on the island was an anachronism that could not continue, while it was incompatible with the modern definition of state sovereignty as defined under international and European law.
The Greek president also ruled out any form of confederation on Cyprus as contrary to European law, noting that Cyprus can only take the form of a federation with a “single international legal identity.”
The ceremony was also addressed by Morphou Mayor Haralambos Pittas and was attended by Cyprus House Speaker Demetris Syllouris, Cyprus Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus (representing the metropolitan of Morphou), political party leaders and representatives and Cyprus Attorney General Costas Clerides.
Source: ANA-MPA
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