Financial Mirror, Cyprus
Oct 12 2007

Armenian genocide a fact, just like Turkish invasion of Cyprus

12/10/2007

The Armenian genocide by Turkey constitutes an unquestionable
historical fact, just like the fact that Turkey invaded in 1974 the
Republic of Cyprus and still occupies the northern part of its
territory, Government Spokesman Vassilis Palmas said on Thursday.

Palmas was invited to comment on the resolution passed by the US
House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs that describes
the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians early in the last
century as genocide.

`The Armenian genocide by Turkey constitutes an unquestionable
historical fact, just as unquestionable is the fact that Turkey
invaded in 1974 the Republic of Cyprus and still occupies the
northern part of our country,’ Palmas said.

Invited to say whether this development would affect the Cyprus
issue, Palmas said that one should react with caution and realism.

`We should remain cautious and realistic and not consider that the
decisions of a Committee of a Body, like the US House of
Representatives, would shake or change US-Turkey relations to such an
extent that the international political scene would totally change,’
he said.

The issue, he noted, `concerns mainly Turkey and the US, and the
Cypriot government has no other comment to make.’

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied
its northern third.