Greek FM: 'Greece has been trying to reverse the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey for half a century'

Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias referred to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus to explain Greece's stance on the war in Ukraine and its unequivocal condemnation of the Russian invasion, noting among other things that Greece has been trying to reverse the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey for half a century.

Addressing the Annual General Assembly of the Peloponnese and Western Greece Business and Industry Association on Sunday, Dendias presented the axes on which Greek foreign policy is based.

Referring to Russia's war in Ukraine, he stressed that despite the historical ties that unite Russia and Greece, the invasion of Ukraine "has completely overturned the structure of Greek-Russian relations."

"Greece has been trying for half a century to reverse the invasion of Cyprus by Turkey. So it cannot fail, in any way, to unequivocally condemn an invasion of an independent country," Dendias said.

"[Greece] cannot fail, by whatever means it has, to defend the independence and territorial integrity of a member state of the United Nations. By doing so, it is in fact defending itself and its own borders. The ideology on the basis of which it exists," the Greek Foreign Minister concluded.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.