ATHENS — Greece will always support the rights of the Greek-Cypriots and will always be by its side in the struggle for the termination of the Turkish occupation and the reunification of the island, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou underlined on Wednesday, welcoming Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades at the the Presidential Mansion.

Anastasiades is visiting Athens to take part in the celebrations for the bicentennial of the 1821 Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Rule.

Addressing Anastasiades, the Greek president underlined that his participation in the celebrations is an ideal opportunity to honour the contribution of the Greek-Cypriots to this struggle and to remember their selfless patriotism.

She reiterated that "we strive together for a just and functional solution to the Cyprus issue based on the resolutions of the UN Security Council".

On his part, Anastasiades thanked her for the invitation and expressed his hapiness for the fact that "we will celebrate together the 200th anniversary since the Greek Revolution that gave the opportunity for the creation of the Greek state, for it to become a modern European state governed by the rule of law, a pillar of stability, peace and progress".