Palestine’s Abbas offers ‘warm thanks’ to Cyprus for support for cause

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday offered his “warm thanks” to the Republic of Cyprus for the country’s “humanitarian and political support for the Palestinian people”, as he arrived in Nicosia to meet Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. He made reference to the fact that the Republic of Cyprus has recognised Palestinian statehood since 1988, a move which he said “reflects the Republic of Cyprus’ position of solidarity for the rights of the Palestinian people”. “I believe that the relation between Palestine and the Republic of Cyprus dates back to well before 1988, when there were very close relations between Cyprus and Palestine,” he said. He then added that he wished to “stress in front of the whole world our warm thanks to the Republic of Cyprus for its humanitarian and political support for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian problem”.

“We are interested in the security of the region, and we are also interested in the security of Israelis. We do not want military friction and conflicts, and we want to solve the problem on the basis of the [United Nations] security council, based on international law, to the benefit of the whole region,” he said. ‘We are in favour of peaceful, popular resistance’ On this front, he stressed that “we have adopted a slogan which we are not embarrassed to say loud and clear, that we are in favour of peaceful, popular resistance which expresses the protest of the Palestinian people in cases where the rights of the Palestinian people are violated”. He added during a planned one-on-one meeting with Christodoulides, “we will have an extensive opportunity to exchange views on the situation, and on the extent to which the Palestinian people is suffering, whether that is related to the Gaza strip, or the West Bank, or…