AKEL on anniversary of the second round of Turkey’s invasion in Cyprus
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 14th August 2016, Nicosia
On 14th August 1974 Turkey wantonly began the second round of its brutal invasion of Cyprus. Tukey’s goal was to complete the implementation of the NATO plan for the partition of Cyprus.
In the second round of the invasion, Turkey proceeded and occupied approximately 37% of Cypriot territory. The National Guard weakened and disorganized as a result of the coup d’état of the junta in Athens and EOKA B and despite the heroic struggle of our brave youth, failed to halt the advance of the Turkish Attila army.
With its obstinate and intransigent position Turkey since 1974 has been exploiting the passage of time to consolidate and prospectively to legitimize the occupation and partition. This is what Turkey is trying to impose through the illegal colonization of the occupied areas, the destruction of our cultural heritage, the sell-off and usurpation of Greek Cypriot properties.
Regardless of the difficulties we are encountering in the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, regardless of the obstacles Turkey is provoking with its intransigence, we must not be discouraged and, above all, we must not abandon the struggle to achieve a solution that will liberate our country and reunite our country and people.
In the current phase of the Cyprus problem, it is imperative that we continue the negotiations on the basis of the agreed basis of the solution. We need to be consistent to the principles of the solution of the Cyprus problem, as these have been formulated in the High-Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979 and the relevant UN resolutions that provide for a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
The solution must provide for the continuation of the Republic of Cyprus, a single state with political equality, as set out by the United Nations and with a single and indivisible sovereignty, a single citizenship and a single international personality.
The solution must restore the human rights and basic freedoms of the people as a whole. It must free Cyprus from the anachronistic system of guarantees and provide for the demilitarization of the country.
On the occasion of the agonising anniversary of the second round of Turkey’s invasion, AKEL calls on our people to rally its forces against the occupation and partition. AKEL pays tribute to those who fought to save Cyprus, as well as to all the refugees, war-stricken victims, the enclaved people in the occupied areas and the relatives of the missing persons.
