Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said Turkey wants a fair, permanent and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, "based on the reality of two separate peoples and two separate states on the island, one that enshrines the sovereign equality and equal international status of Turkish Cypriots."
Speaking yesterday in the north, at the opening of a martyrs' museum in Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda, Yılmaz claimed that the "Greek Cypriot administration," as he referred to the Republic of Cyprus, "which did not hesitate to cooperate with the Netanyahu government, currently facing trial before international courts on charges of genocide, has clearly revealed its mentality."
He said they would continue "the struggle to end the unjust isolation aimed at cutting Turkish Cypriots off from the world" and to ensure that the north secures the place it deserves on the international stage.
Turkey, he said, "as motherland and guarantor, will continue to contribute to the peace, security and prosperity of Turkish Cypriots and to safeguard the legacy of their shared history."
He said the establishment of the martyrs' museum "represents an important step" in making the "massacre" known and ensuring that historical events "are recorded and conveyed to the world accurately."
He argued that "the attacks on defenceless civilians in Maratha, Aloda and Santalaris clearly demonstrated the vital importance of the peace operation Turkey carried out in Cyprus in 1974."
Referring to the fact that, before the ceremony, "15 martyrs from Aloda, whose identities had been established through painstaking identification efforts, were buried in their own graves in a public ceremony," he said "burying the martyrs under their own names after 52 years offered some comfort to families who had waited half a century."
In his own remarks, Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman said "these events will never be erased from the memory of the Turkish Cypriot people," and that they would preserve the memory of those killed.
"It is our collective responsibility to build our future without forgetting our past, to honour the memory of our martyrs, and to leave a safer, more peaceful future for our children," he added.
Referring to the Committee on Missing Persons, he said it has long carried out its work with sensitivity and rigour, adding that Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot politicians bear a responsibility to exercise the utmost care to ensure that the issue of missing persons and the committee's work are not politicised.
The Turkish Cypriot people, he said, will never give up their rights to equality and security on the island, and they would work tirelessly to ensure that children of the country enjoy the same rights as children elsewhere in the world.
He gave the names and ages at the time of death of the 15 people, saying they included an infant just 40 days old, who were buried yesterday.
Source: Cyprus News Agency (CNA)
