Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Patriarch Kirill Calls for the Reuniting of Cyprus; Finds It "Deplorable" UN Cannot Resolve Its Unity

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on January 22, 2011 called for rebuilding the unity and territorial integrity of Cyprus, according to the Orthodox Church Info blog.

"The position of both the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia remains unchanged -- Cyprus is a single state," Patriarch Kirill told reporters after he and the Archbishop of Cyprus, Chrysostomos II, led a worship service at the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin.

There are "quite many means" to reunify Cyprus, and it is "deplorable" that the United Nations has been unable to have the country reunited, the Patriarch said.

Cyprus has been a divided nation since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded the island and illegally seized control of the northern third of the country. Turkey has been trying to join the European Union (EU) for several years, but has not been allowed to do so, because the EU has made it very clear to Turkey that it must first relinquish its illegal control of northern Cyprus before it can become a member of the EU.

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