A variety of events were carried out on Tuesday in commemoration of the earthquake victims who died during the February 6th Earthquake in Turkiye.
While a commemorative event was held at the Gazimağusa Cemetery Champion Angels Martyrdom, a separate commemoration program was organized by the Presidency at the Rauf Raif Denktaş Culture and Congress Palace.
The event started with a minutes silence and the reciting of the National Anthem followed by a video presentation.
After the reading of the poem titled City of Angels, were made at the event.
Delivering the first speech Ruşen Yücesoylu Karakaya, President of the Champion Angels Association emphasized that they acted in unison to keep the memory of the children they lost alive.
She also called for the unscrupulous and irresponsible murderers who were a leading factor to the children’s death due to their greed to receive the punishment they deserve.
The Turkish Ambassador to Lefkoşa Metin Feyzioğlu in his speech said, “justice will be ensured completely so that no one will ever again be inclined to these acts and crimes that cannot be explained with the word negligence”.
“I am confident that we will achieve this. We will keep the names of the angels alive forever. Your pain is our pain. May their places be heaven,” he said.
Prime Minister Ünal Üstel stated that the pain of the February 6th earthquake will never subside.
“More than 59 thousand people lost their lives in the earthquake in Türkiye and we also lost 49 lives, we lost our champion angels, our children, our friends” said Üstel and emphasized that the search for justice continues in order to alleviate the pain to some extent.
He also said that they will follow the Isias case closely and are confident that everyone responsible will get the punishment they deserve.
The Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly Zorlu Töre for his part said that great pains were experienced both in Türkiye and the TRNC particularly in the Gazimağusa area.
“Our duty as a state is to learn lessons from this pain and not to forget our losses and to ensure that earthquake-resistant buildings are built and to make the existing buildings earthquake-resistant. If Isias had been earthquake resistant, there would not have been such a great pain” said Töre.
President Ersin Tatar, who delivered the final speech, also touched upon the pains experienced both in Türkiye and the TRNC and reminded that they have been following the struggle of the families with appreciation and that such a pain has not been experienced since the years of the national struggle.
“We have been the voice of those who lost their lives in the Isias building in this disaster, which happens once in a thousand years, not a century” said Tatar.
After the speeches, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra performed and the event here concluded with the releasing of balloons as a symbol of the ongoing struggle for justice for the Champion Angels.