UN General Assembly
1999

moved the people of Cyprus. I wish to congratulate all those countries which rushed to save Turkish lives, and in particular Greece, which, despite its many differences and problems with Turkey, was one of the first countries to send its teams to work side by side with Turkish teams to rescue the Turkish people who were buried alive under the ruins of the earthquake. I want also to congratulate Turkey for reciprocating in the same manner after the subsequent earthquake in Greece and I wish to salute the new spirit of friendship which has started to emerge between the two countries. This year marks a quarter of a century since the Turkish invasion and unlawful occupation of 37 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus. I could today, from this podium, point an accusing finger at Turkey and talk at length about the ethnic cleansing it practised against the Greek Cypriots, which resulted in 180,000 Greek Cypriots becoming refugees in their own country. I could bring up the drama of the relatives of the 1,600 Greek Cypriots