Famagusta in Brussels – AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou press release

 

 

1 March 2023

A special exhibition of photographs of Famagusta is being hosted this week IN the European Parliament in Brussels, under the title “Together for our common homeland, for our common future”.

The exhibition is being held under the auspices of AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou, in cooperation with the Famagusta Municipality and the excellent photojournalist and filmmaker Tasos Dimitriades, who owns the photographic material.

In his speech at the opening of the exhibition, AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou stressed that the exhibition offers us a rare opportunity to get a glimpse of the harsh reality of the occupation, the toxic consequences of the occupation, showing what the city was like before and what it is like now. As G.Georgiou explained, “the photographs contrast, vividly, the lives of Famagusta residents before 1974, paying tribute to their achievements before the Turkish invasion, together with the current state of the city and the loss of security that subsequently followed the invasion.”

AKEL MEP G.Georgiou underlined that Famagusta lives in our hearts and the photo exhibition is a way to denounce Turkey’s illegal actions and send out a powerful message that partition is not an option for the Cypriot people, That is precisely why it is imperative that the negotiations should resume immediately and that we should work for the solution of the Cyprus problem, the return of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants and the reunification of Cyprus and our people.

In closing, AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou thanked the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, the Municipality of Famagusta, the Cypriot MEP’s and the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Cyprus in Brussels for their support in the realization of the exhibition.

Particularly moving were the speeches of two young people from Famagusta, one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot, who stressed the need for unity and cooperation and the thirst for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

It should be noted that the photographs hosted in Brussels serve as a reminder of the tough challenges we face and as a compass for the need to tear down the partitionist barbed wire and work together, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, for the liberation of our island from the occupying power Turkey and for the return of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants.

Present at the event were, among others, the Vice-President of the European Commission, M. Schinas, the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, St. Kyriakidou, MEP’s from all Political Groups and Cypriots residing in Brussels.