Cyprus News Agency: News in English, 10-08-16

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From: The Cyprus News Agency at <http://www.cyna.org.cy>

CONTENTS

[01] MORPHOU RESOLUTION OCCUPATION

[02] CYPRIOTS ABROAD CONFERENCE

[03] ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY PYLA

[01] MORPHOU RESOLUTION OCCUPATION

The resolution was handed over on the occasion of the 36th anniversary of the occupation of the city by the advancing Turkish troops, on August 16, 1974.

The Mayor and the members of the delegation of the occupied town visited consecutively the Embassies of USA, Russia, France and China, the UK High Commission and the European Commission Representation in Cyprus.

The delegation consisted of Morphou Mayor Charalambos Pittas, DIKO MEP Antogoni Papadopoulou, AKEL MP Panikos Hambas, members of the municipal council and representatives of all organized groups of Morphou.

Speaking after the visits to the Embassies, Mr. Pittas said that we have concluded a round of meetings with the Ambassadors of the five UN Security Council permanent members here in Cyprus, as well as with the Representation of the European Commission, where we handed a protest resolution, condemning the unacceptable, continuous Turkish occupation of Morphou and of the rest of our semi-occupied country. He also added that thirty six years are enough. The never-ending martyrdom is ongoing for us all.

With this resolution, Pittas said, we ask from these countries, and from the EU as well, to undertake those measures necessary that will persuade, or even force Turkey to work more systematically and accept a solution to our national problem, if it wants to hope for its accession to the EU.

DIKO MEP Antigoni Papadopoulou said it is an inalienable right of all citizens of the Morphou district, as well as for all refuges, to return to their hometowns, adding that efforts aimed at the European Parliament, the EU and the UN need to be stepped up.

AKEL MP Panikos Hambas stated that we must unite all together, the people and the political leadership under the guidance of the President of the Republic, and struggle for the prompt resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreements, providing for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.

Green Party deputy Giorgos Perdikis said that it has to be understood by all that a just and viable solution of the Cyprus problem can not materialize without the right of unhindered and unfettered return of all refuges to their homes.

At the House of Representatives Pittas asked for the resolution to be forwarded to all foreign Parliaments, so that they are aware of the problem. The resolution was received by Georgia Andronikou, Director of the Department for Research, Studies and Publications, who said that within the framework of its parliamentarian diplomacy, the House of Representatives is taking all actions to internationalize the problem.

At the meeting with representatives of the European Commission in Cyprus, Pittas said that with the resolution we condemn the fact that the Turkish occupation lasts for 36 years, while at the same time the EU continues to open new negotiating chapters that refer to Turkey and its accession and, according to our humble opinion, no pressure is being exerted to Turkey to respect the EUs own principles.

The delegation also met with Titos Chistofides, Under-Secretary to the President of the Republic at the Presidential Palace, to whom it handed over the resolution.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The Turkish offensive was launched in two phases - on 20 July and on 14 August.

Turkey has refused to comply with repeated UN calls to withdraw its occupation troops and in spite of several rounds of peace talks, no political settlement has been achieved, due to Turkeys intransigence.

President Christofias is currently engaged in talks with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community Dervis Eroglu in a bid to find a negotiated settlement that will reunite the country under a federal roof.

[02] CYPRIOTS ABROAD CONFERENCE

The 23rd Conference of the Executive Council of the World Federation for Overseas Cypriots (POMAK) and of the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus (PSEKA), and the 5th Annual Conference of the World Organisation for Young Overseas Cypriots (NEPOMAK) will be held in Nicosia, from 24-27 August. The President of the Republic Demetris Christofias will address the opening ceremony on the evening of Tuesday 24th September.

The opening ceremony will be addressed by the House President Marios Garoyan, the Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus Chrysostomos II, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Markos Kyprianou, the Presidents of POMAK, PSEKA, and NEPOMAK Haris Sophoclides, Philip Christopher and Christos Karaolis respectively, the President of the World Council of Hellenes (SAE) Stefanos Tamvakis, and the President of Cyprus Youth Board Andreas Vyras.

[03] ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY PYLA

According to the Department of Antiquities, this year the Pyla-Koutsopetria Archaeological Project (PKAP) team took low altitude blimp photographs of the entire site, sampled the subsurface remains using ground-penetrating radar and conducted several experiments to calibrate the results of earlier fieldwork. This work will allow the PKAP team to correlate more accurately the relationship between material on the surface of the ground and material still safely buried.

Meanwhile another part of the PKAP team worked in the Larnaca District Archaeological Museum to document the nearly 13,000 findings collected since 2003. As the Department of Antiquities maintains, the ceramic, architectural and stone artifacts have revealed a vibrant community through most of antiquity with trading ties spanning the Mediterranean basin. The study of these finds revealed that a site on the coastal height of Vigla was a fortified settlement from Archaic to Hellenistic times, complete with a fortification wall and significant quantity of domestic ceramics.

This is an unusual type of settlement in Cyprus and may have served as the base for a garrison protecting the eastern flank of Kition and the Larnaca bay. In Late Roman and Early Byzantine times, the town of Koutsopetria stretched across the coastal plain below Vigla. This settlement appears to have been a bustling, cosmopolitan market town and may have met its demise after a series of earthquakes while the ceramic evidence demonstrates economic and cultural ties to Asia Minor, North Africa, Egypt and the Aegean.

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