The Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly Önder Sennaroğlu said on Monday that the Turkish Cypriot people owed their security and freedom to the martyrs who scarified their lives on behalf of their homeland.

In his message issued to mark December 21-25 National Struggle and Martyrs’ Week, Sennaroğlu said that 58 years had passed since the launch of the bloody attacks against Turkish Cypriots on December 21, 1963.

“We must not forget what happened and derive lessons from the past if we are to live on an island of peace for future generations. I only hope that the fascist and chauvinist attacks that were launched against us are never repeated again in Cyprus or anywhere else in the world,” he said.

The parliamentary speaker explained how the Turkish Resistance Organisation had put a stop to the Greek Cypriot attacks and plans to unite the island with Greece.

“The architects of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus under which we live in freedom and independence, are no doubt the martyrs who selflessly sacrificed their lives for us. Once again I would like to pay my respects and remember all the martyrs as well as the veterans who fought for the Turkish Cypriot people,” he said.