The 59th anniversary of the Bağlıköy resistance and martyrs of Bağlıköy were remembered with a ceremony held at the Bağlıköy Martyrs’ Cemetery.
A ceremony was held at the Bağlıköy Martyrs Cemetery on Wednesday morning to commemorate the martyrs of the village.
Wreaths were laid, a minutes silence was observed, shots were fired in tribute and flags were raised to the national anthem.
Speaking at the ceremony, the President Ersin Tatar recalled that the Turkish Cypriot people had put a heroic and epic resistance against Greek Cypriots who were superior in numbers and weapons.
He added that many martyrs were sacrificed while the Turkish Cypriots continued their just struggle and awaited the arrival of their motherland, Türkiye.
Reminding that the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus was still trying to find and identify the identities of those missing, Tatar said, the families of the missing were still in pain today.
“They yearn for the day their loved ones are found and given a proper burial so that they may mourn them appropriately.”
The president also pointed out that there has been no bloodshed in Cyprus since the 1974 Turkish Peace Operation.
He stressed the importance of maintaining unity and solidarity for the continuation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), an independent Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean, and sending a message to the international community that they will never give up on their state.
Touching upon the contacts of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy María Ángela Holguín on the island, Tatar criticized the views expressed by some civil society organisations which undermined the sovereignty and independence of the Turkish Cypriot people.
He said that their claim in support of a unitary state and their argument that he did not represent the political will of the Turkish Cypriot people was wrong.
Reminding that the will of the Turkish Cypriot people is determined through their democracy, President Tatar stated that the will is being part of an agreement with the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people, backed by the full support of the Republic of Türkiye.
Tatar concluded his speech by stating that the TRNC will always exist, and if there is to be an agreement, the Turkish Cypriot people and the TRNC will be part of it, emphasizing that the guarantee of Türkiye and the presence of Turkish troops will not be relinquished.Top of Form
The ceremony ended with prayers and the laying of flowers on the graves.