Mr. Speaker, after 40 years of separation and antagonism, Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have pledged to negotiate the reunification of Cyprus based on the Annan plan unveiled on November 11, 2002. The date is significant because it is also the day the world remembers those who died in two world wars.
It has been a long road for these two states who can now envision their futures together as one with shared values as they get ready to join the European Union on May 1.
In anticipation of a new peace, in the last eight months or so restrictions on travel across the buffer zone have been relaxed. There have been over two million crossings without violent incidents.
Canadians of Greek origin in the riding of Laval West can be proud of these steps forward.
Let us, as a government and as a multicultural nation that includes both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, congratulate the leaders and the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, for their persistence in bringing about the peaceful settlement.