{"id":3422,"date":"2018-07-03T07:41:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T07:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/?page_id=3422"},"modified":"2025-12-10T10:18:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T10:18:01","slug":"occupied-municipalities","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/the-union\/occupied-municipalities\/","title":{"rendered":"Occupied Municipalities"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='layer_slider_1'  class='avia-layerslider main_color avia-shadow  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_heading  avia-builder-el-first  container_wrap sidebar_right'  style='height: 321px; max-width: 1280px; margin: 0 auto;'  ><\/div><div id='after_layer_slider_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-3422'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-2g3db2-64a01d7be2c8c18d531716f8b1cc806d\">\n#top .av-special-heading.av-2g3db2-64a01d7be2c8c18d531716f8b1cc806d{\npadding-bottom:20px;\n}\nbody .av-special-heading.av-2g3db2-64a01d7be2c8c18d531716f8b1cc806d .av-special-heading-tag .heading-char{\nfont-size:25px;\n}\n.av-special-heading.av-2g3db2-64a01d7be2c8c18d531716f8b1cc806d .av-subheading{\nfont-size:15px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='av-special-heading av-2g3db2-64a01d7be2c8c18d531716f8b1cc806d av-special-heading-h3  avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_layerslider  el_before_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-first '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Occupied Municipalities<\/h3><div class=\"special-heading-border\"><div class=\"special-heading-inner-border\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-8vu16-e043b6c66430bd4e077ef87093827202\">\n.flex_column.av-8vu16-e043b6c66430bd4e077ef87093827202{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:0px 0px 0px 0px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-8vu16-e043b6c66430bd4e077ef87093827202 av_one_full  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_heading  avia-builder-el-last  first flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding  '     ><section  class='av_textblock_section av-jia2xibu-589de30cc018a76edc31bc45a9621b18 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Of the 29 Cypriot Municipalities, 9 are under Turkish military occupation since 1974 (<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#akanthus\">AKANTHOU<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#ammohostos\">FAMAGUSTA<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#karavas\">KARAVAS<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#kerinia\">KYRENIA<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#kithrea\">KYTHREA<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#lapithos\">LAPITHOS<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#leukoniko\">LEFKONIKON<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#lisi\">LYSI<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/municipalities\/occupied-municipalities\/#morfou\">MORPHOU<\/a>) as a result of the ongoing occupation of 37% of Cypriot territory by Turkey after the 1974 invasion.<\/p>\n<p>Since then, these nine municipalities have been displaced: They maintain their legal identity although the Mayors and Municipal Councils are temporarily displaced to the free part of the island along with the majority of their voters. When municipal elections are held in Cyprus, the displaced residents vote both for their occupied Municipality of origin and for their new Municipality of residence.<\/p>\n<p>The nine Occupied Municipalities compose, in the framework of the Union of Cyprus Municipalities, the Committee of Cyprus Occupied Municipalities, whose mission is raising awareness and sensitising on the matter of the Cyprus Problem both in Cyprus and abroad as well as promoting the interests of the displaced population through the organisation of events, meetings with local and international actors, constant participation in international fora and the production and projection of awareness material (films, photographic exhibitions, booklets, etc.) among others.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BASIC POSITIONING OF THE OCCUPIED MUNICIPALITIES ON THE CYPRUS PROBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Committee of Cyprus Occupied Municipalities supports the efforts for vindication of the Greek Cypriot population, liberation and reunification of our island, in the context of a solution that will provide the right to return to all refugees and the exercise of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms on the basis of the United Nations Charter and Resolutions as well as the <em>acquis communautaire<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The Commission calls for the withdrawal of all occupying troops and settlers from the Cypriot territories and the abolition of guarantees. It also strongly condemns the destruction and erosion of our Cultural Heritage, which is a valuable piece of European and World Heritage by the occupying power. In addition, the Committee of Occupied Municipalities opposes the sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the Occupied Areas, acknowledging the risk of changing data on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>The Committee of Occupied Municipalities, representing the whole of the Cyprus refugee world, promotes the engagement of the people in efforts to restore their rights. In this context, it strives with all its might to translate the will to return to the youth that has no experience of the birth land, by enhancing the ties of memory with our occupied ground.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the Committee, recalling that the refugee population constitutes the spearhead of the Cyprus problem and its consequences, demands to be of the utmost importance by the Government and the political sphere through regular updating on our national issue as well as view exchange.<\/p>\n<p><strong>COMMITTEE OF CYPRUS OCCUPIED MUNICIPALITIES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>PRESIDENT (from 1.1.2006 until 15.7.2019):<\/strong> \u271dAlexis Galanos, Ammochostos Mayor<br \/>\n<strong>PRESIDENT (from 12.9.2019 until 31.6.2024): <\/strong>Petros Kareklas, Kythrea Mayor<br \/>\n<strong>PRESIDENT (from 1.7.2024): <\/strong>Simos Ioannou, Ammochostos Mayor<br \/>\n<strong>VICE-PRESIDENT:<\/strong> Nikos Hadjistephanou, Karavas Mayor<br \/>\n<strong>MEMBERS:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Eleni Hadjimichael, Akanthou Mayor<br \/>\nIosif Violaris, Kyrenia Mayor<br \/>\nMarios Zampakides, Kythrea Mayor<br \/>\nParadisa Mourettou, Lapithos Mayor<br \/>\nPieris Gypsiotis, Lefkoniko Mayor<br \/>\nAndreas Kaouris, Lysi Mayor<br \/>\nVictor Hadjavraam, Morfou Mayor<\/p>\n<p><strong>COMMITTEE OF CYPRUS OCCUPIED MUNICIPALITIES AWARENESS RAISING MATERIAL<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/the-destruction-of-the-cultural-heritage-of-cyprus-by-turkey-video-09-07-2012-2\/\">Film entitled \u201cThe destruction of the European Cultural Heritage of Cyprus by Turkey\u201d, scripted by Anna Marangou and directed by Michael Georgiades. Translated from Greek to English, French, German and Russian.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Jnpg5GDnfj8&amp;t=274s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Film entitled \u201cHome\u201d scripted by Anna Marangou and directed by Michael Georgiades. Translated from Greek to English and French.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/wp-content\/uploads\/Book_entitled_OccupiedTownsDisplacedMunicipalities_curated_by_DrSavvasKokkinos.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Book entitled \u201c Occupied Towns, Displaced Municipalities\u201d curated by Dr. Savvas Kokkinos. Translated in English.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/wp-content\/uploads\/Brochure_Final_Corrections_2013.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Booklet and map entitled \u201cChristian Monuments under Turkish Military Occupation\u201d. Translated from Greek to English, French, German and Russian.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3410,"menu_order":85,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3422","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Occupied Municipalities - \u0388\u03bd\u03c9\u03c3\u03b7 \u0394\u03ae\u03bc\u03c9\u03bd \u039a\u03cd\u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ucm.org.cy\/en\/the-union\/occupied-municipalities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Occupied Municipalities - 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