I consider Cyprus to be my motherland, Cypriots to be one nation and one people. I consider Cyprus indivisible. I hereby pledge my allegiance to the unification of my country by all peaceful means.
I consider all Cypriots, notwithstanding their mother tongue or religious affiliation, to be my people, my own brothers and sisters. Any harm done to one Cypriot, by way of racial discrimination or infringement of human rights, is a crime against all Cypriots, and diminishes us all as human beings.
I pledge to be vigilant against such acts of inhumanity, and to work tirelessly for the happiness and prosperity of all Cypriots. So help me God.
Birkibrisli, I salute you.
Meanwhile, here is a speech that JFK might have given in Cyprus...
Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum". Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ime Gibreos". I am Cypriot.
There are many people in the world who really don't understand - or say they don't - what is the great issue between a free world and a nationalist world.
Let them come to Cyprus.
There are some who say that nationalism holds a country together.
Let them come to Cyprus.
And there are some who say, in Europe and elsewhere, we can work with nationalists.
Let them come to Cyprus.
And there are even a few who say that it's true that nationalism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress.
As erdun stin Gibron! Let them come to Cyprus!
Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect. But we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people apart -- to prevent them from living and working and being together.
I want to say on behalf of those who live many miles away in other parts of the world, that they take the greatest pride, that they have been able to share, even from a distance, the story of the last 33 years. I know of no country that has been besieged for 33 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope, and the determination of the people of Cyprus.
While the Green Line is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of the nationalist system -- for all the world to see -- we take no satisfaction in it; for it is an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, dividing a people who need to be joined together.
What is true of Cyprus is true of the whole of Europe: Real, lasting peace can never be assured as long as Cypriots are denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice: to be together - to be themselves. In 33 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Cypriots has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people.
Cypriots live in a divided island reaching for freedom, but their life is part of the main. So let me ask, as I close, that they lift their eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this little country of Cyprus, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the Green Line to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.
Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this country will be joined as one and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of Cyprus can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for over three decades.
All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Cyprus.
And, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ime Gibreos". I am Cypriot.
