Homecoming for Greece’s dead from 1974 Cyprus invasion

The remains of Greek military personnel who were shot down during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus have been repatriated and returned to Greece with full military honours and received during a special ceremony by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

This auspicious occasion takes place at a time when Turkey’s president has questioned Greek territorial sovereignty of islands once under Ottoman control with reference to the Lausanne Treaty.

Erdogan’s inflammatory comments coincide with the increased activity of  Turkish fighter jets over  Greek air space.

During the ceremony President Prokopis Pavlopoulos took the opportunity to invite international community and the European Union on Tuesday to assume their share of responsibility for the situation in Cyprus and the recent questioning of the Lausanne Treaty.

“The Treaty of Lausanne, which must be fully respected because it constitutes an integral part of international law, does not only delineate Greece’s borders, it delineates the borders of the European Union,” Pavlopoulos said.

He criticized the international community’s toleration of the continued violations of UN decisions describing it as a “heavy trauma” and noted its indifference for this blows to international law.

Pavlopoulos also said the European Union should not tolerate occupation armies on European soil, noting that this is a blow to European democracy.