Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year, 20 July will mark the 50th anniversary of the illegal invasion of Cyprus. It's been 50 years since the island was split in two, and it still remains occupied by over 30,000 foreign troops, with the northern part not being recognised by any nation in the world bar the invaders of 1974.

Many thousands of people in 1974 made their way to Australia, many to my electorate of Adelaide—and I see the member for Kingsford Smith is here; he also has many people from Cyprus in his electorate. It is, as I said, the 50th anniversary, and it's a tremendous source of great pain to the many Greek Cypriot Australians who migrated here following those events. There are still homes in Cyprus where the rightful owners have never been allowed to return, and they are still not allowed to return. Fifty years is far too long to still be waiting for a solution.

I'll be travelling to Cyprus later next month to commemorate the 50 years and participate in the wreath laying ceremony, together with many colleagues, parliamentarians from around the world—Senator Lou Raptakis from Rhode Island; Annie Koutrakis, a federal MP from Canada; Stephen Pappas, a senator from Wyoming, US; George Michalakis, a South African member of parliament; Effi Triantafillou, a Canadian member of parliament; Marietta Karamanli, who is from the French parliament; and many, many others. (Time expired)