We have an obligation to talk to our children about what happened on July 15, said the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulidis today. In his statements to journalists, after the memorial service for those who fell during the Coup, at the Holy Church of Saints Constantine and Helen, in Nicosia, the President of the Republic said that “we honor the memory of all those who fought to defend what is most important to us, the Republic of Cyprus.

At the same time, we clearly condemn the pre-planned foam coup, the treacherous coup of the Junta of Athens and its collaborators in Cyprus. There are no different or many interpretations. One is the interpretation, a treacherous coup against the legitimate President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, against the Republic of Cyprus, for its dissolution.

But beyond such ceremonies which are certainly necessary, we should also get the right messages. Today I keep two things. The first is that all of us who participate temporarily, especially all of us who participate in the public life of the country must show through our daily behaviors that we have received the messages from what happened on July 15, 1974.

The second thing, which worries me, worries me 49 years later, is that we have an obligation to talk to our children about what happened that day. 49 years may have passed, but nothing is certain.

And speaking many times with the new generation of our country, I feel that we do not tell and do not inform about all this. “Well, if we really want to honor all those who sacrificed for the Republic of Cyprus to exist, the most important thing we have, let’s spend five to ten minutes today explaining to our children what happened on July 15, 1974. Because nothing is certain” .

To a journalist’s remark that this should also reflect Education, the President said “sure. Everyone. It also reflects on Education, it also reflects on each of us personally. Certainly, Education is very important, there is a related reference, but I refer to the personal responsibility that each of us has to speak, to spend a few minutes to explain what happened because democracy is not a given. We saw the results of what was attempted on July 15, 1974, which we are still experiencing today.”

Afterwards, the President of the Republic will attend the special session of the House of Representatives for the black anniversaries and will then lay a wreath at the Resistance Monument in the Presidential Park.