ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th December, 2022) The Church of Cyprus on Sunday urged the nation and government not to give up efforts to liberate the island from Turkish "occupation" and criticized excessive consumerism during Christmas.
"Unfortunately, the year 2022 is passing without a fair resolution to the national issue. Turkey's greed and expansionist policy do not leave our side the opportunity to negotiate on a solid basis to tackle our problem. However, we should not be disappointed," the statement read.
Cyprus has the right to the same political goods as any other European nation, the church said, going on to urge the Cypriot government to "intensify their efforts to ensure the rights of our people."
"We also remind you that we should not weaken our efforts to liberate our homeland and should not lose sight of Turkey's permanent, unchanging aim, which is a complete occupation and annexation of Cyprus. First of all, we should maintain a high spirit and a strong will to fight until justice prevails, until our land is liberated and we return to the homes of our ancestors," the statement said.
The synod also criticized the phenomenon of "Christmas becoming a pretext to satisfy needs and aspirations other than spiritual," saying that people were usually focused on decorating their houses, streets and shops and paid a lot of attention to the festive table, while consumer goods, their quality and price were becoming the main topic covered in the mass media.
On Saturday, the Church of Cyprus elected 73-year-old Paphos Bishop Georgios as the new leader after the death of Archbishop Chrysostomos II in November.
Turkey and Greece have been at odds for decades, with the risk of an armed conflict arising several times since 2020. The disputed issues include competing territorial claims in the Eastern Mediterranean, in particular in the region of the Aegean Sea, the Greek-Turkish divide in Cyprus, and the delimitation of maritime borders. Turkey has repeatedly accused Greece of deploying weapons on the Aegean islands in violation of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.
In late August, a new round of tensions flared up when Greece allegedly used S-300 air defense systems to radar-lock Turkish air force F-16 fighters performing a reconnaissance mission west of the island of Rhodes. The Greek Defense Ministry denied Turkey's claim that Athens deployed its S-300s in Crete against Turkish F-16s.
