Speaking yesterday during the ceremony to commemorate the liberation of Lefke as part of the Second Peace Operation, Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün said that Turkish Cypriots recognise the importance of the ‘Happy Peace Operation’. He said, “We celebrated our liberation with enthusiasm in the ceremonies organised in Serdarlı, Gazimağusa and Lefke. We also burst into tears before the graves of the people that were brutally killed, including innocent and defenceless children, women and elderly, in Muratağa Atlılar and Sandallar”. Özgürgün added that commemorating the Second Peace Operation, which began on 14 August 1974 and lasted for three days, brings excitement and enthusiasm because it crowned them with victory.

He stressed that these painful events are the greatest proof of why the Turkish Cypriots feel that the guarantee of Turkey, that makes many sacrifices for the Turkish Cypriots to live freely and safely in their homeland, is essential for them. Özgürgün underlined that the fight was against those who wanted to make the island a “Greek Island”.

He emphasised that the second phase of the Cyprus Peace Operation, which freed the Turkish land Lefke, brought peace and tranquillity to the island, and that the troubled years have been left behind.