EP President Roberta METSOLA gives a statement on the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus, which was conducted by the Turkish armed forces to the island on began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. This transcription is a result of an automatic process. Please check against delivery.

statement

Strasbourg

plenary session

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

EU - Cyprus (T)

Statement by Roberta METSOLA, EP President on the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Cyprus

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, So I will give a statement now. On the 50th anniversary, on the invasion of Cyprus. And then I have received the request for a point of order on this issue from four political groups.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, So, dear colleagues, this week the European Parliament commemorates 50 sad years since the events of 20th of July 1974. In Cyprus, the consequences of which are still being felt today.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, In our Europe, divisions have no place. That is why it is important that we emphasise that this forced division of an EU member state is not a Cyprus question, but a European question, and we must respond to it in a European way.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, When I first addressed this House as president, I emphasised that Cyprus is not a forgotten corner of our Union, and I reiterated that yesterday. The European Union has been forged out of the painful history of our continent.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Where there was once war, pain and bloodshed, there is now parliamentary debates held in the spirit of cooperation. Europe has the power to heal, as we have seen it, we have felt it, we have lived through it.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Now the responsibility lies on us to use this experience to bring people together, to work towards a single, sovereign European state, a bicommunal, bizonal federation in line with UN Security Council resolutions, Council conclusions and European Union values.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, So, dear friends, on the occasion of this tragic anniversary, this Parliament's message is that it will not turn away from Cyprus, that we are one. That Cyprus challenges are our challenges and that Europe will never be whole while Cyprus remains divided.