The Martyrs of Taşpınar who fell on the 25th of July 1974 were commemorated with a special ceremony at the Taşpınar Martyrs’ Cemetery on Monday.
Speeches delivered at the ceremony stressed that the martyrs will never be forgotten and that the spirit of patriotism and solidarity started by the martyrs is still continuing.
The ceremony at the Taşpınar Martyrs’ Cemetery began with the laying of wreaths.
Shots were fired, a minutes silence was observed and flags were raised to the national anthem.
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, the Speaker of the Republic’s Assembly Zorlu Töre touched upon the massacres in the village of Taşpınar reminding that the Greek Cypriot attacks also targeted innocent people.
Stating that the Greek Cypriot and Greek soldiers acted with the aim of genocide, he said “the Turkish Cypriot People came to these days as a result of great pains.”
The Parliamentary Speaker also touched upon the struggle waged by the Turkish Cypriots until the 1974 Peace Operation.
“There is no such nation as Cypriot. Being Cypriot refers to where we were born and live. We are all Turks, we are a Turkish nation” he said.
Stating that the Turkish Cypriots will embrace its own state and motherland wholeheartedly, Töre said “this area is full of martyrs. We wouldn’t be free and look to the future with hope if they had not sacrificed their lives.”