Our Actions

Mayors and City Council of the occupied city of Kyrenia:

• We remember and remind that when the Turkish army invaded the city our predecessors in the City Council, along with the citizens of our city at the time, were violently forced to abandon Kyrenia leaving behind their dead and captive, as well as their History and their Religious and Cultural Heritage
• We remember and remind that back then, in 1974, a majority of 86% of the city’s citizens were Greeks, while only 12% of them were Turks.
• We remember and remind that at the time the Greeks lawfully owned the majority of the land and real estate in the area (with percentages being relevant to those of citizenships), which was in fact the driving force of the thriving economic activity in the city.
• We note that what we see in our city today is not representative of its character. The city lacks indigenous population and is, on a daily basis, looted via various types of illegal activities performed by the Turkish army and the Turkish illegal settlers. The demographic nature of the city has been altered and its environment has suffered an incalculable ecological destruction.
• We note that everything mentioned above, which was imposed upon us with the Turkish military invasion of 1974, constitute a brutal violation of International Legal order, which is defined by International Law as this is established in the Charter of the United Nations and analyzed in the Universal Declaration and other International Human Rights Conventions.
• We owe it to:

• Our fellow citizens who were killed when their peaceful and creative lives were brutally disturbed and taken from them along with their hopes for the future of their children during the bloodshed in July 1974.
• Our fellow citizens who died as refugees suffering while waiting to return home and to
• Our fellow citizens and their descendants who continue to live as refugees away from home, to whom we promise that we shall never forget and quit fighting to return and settle back in the land of our fathers, in a free Kyrenia.

• We are warning that the Kyrenian refugees and their descendants will never forget and will never cease to claim their Human Right to live free in their beloved city Kyrenia again, in a city which will no longer be occupied by the Turkish army and the Turkish illegal settlers. The people of Kyrenia have not authorized anyone to doubt and negotiate this Right, which derives from every principle of Law. The Kyrenians do not write off the 3000 years of Kyrenia and our island’s Greek history and do not consent to an unfair solution which will violate their Human Rights.
• We urge the Cypriot Government and the political and religious leaders to act according to the will of the people of Kyrenia who demand that the Democratic principles of freedom, justice and Human Rights be respected in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the International and European Laws. We urge all the above to ensure that all Kyrenians will be able to return to their homes and properties with safety, without the presence of illegal settlers, Turkish troops or foreign guarantees and to manage the political aspect of the Cyprus problem accordingly.
• We are inviting foreign governments, foreign agents and foreign people to stand by us in our struggle to restore our Rights which have been affected by the violations caused by the foreign military invasion and occupation. Should the injustice observed in Cyprus be rewarded, a negative precedent will affect all governments and people. Should such precedent be observed in Cyprus, no one will be able to feel safe. Effectively, the problem we are faced with today deriving from the invasion and occupation of our country can, at any given time, become the problem of any other country or people. Only when justice is restored will there be peace in the world.