Speech by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A.Kyprianou at the anti-imperialist mobilization against the British installation on the Troodos mountain peak and excursion organised by EDON Youth

Speech by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A.Kyprianou at the anti-imperialist mobilization against the British installation on the Troodos mountain peak and excursion organised by EDON Youth

The solution of the Cyprus problem is a matter of life or death for our people

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 26th January 2020, Nicosia

We have gathered here for yet another year. For 61 years we have always been faithful to our appointment with EDON in the mass event and excursion to Troodos. The youth of Cyprus is present with a thunderous voice and invincible, is struggling for liberation, reunification and peace.

Our youth is demonstrating “No compromise with partition!” and is at the forefront of the struggles of the People’s Movement of the Left.

No compromise with the occupation, no compromise with half a country.

Forty-six years are a long time. Forty-six years in which our people have been living separated, as refugees in their own land, with barbed wires dividing its present and future.

The solution of the Cyprus problem is a matter of life or death for our people.

If the Cyprus problem is not solved, the Greek Cypriots will be forced to live next to an illegal formation in their own homeland; with thousands of Turkish troops and the threat of colonization spreading little by little to the whole of Cyprus.

The Turkish Cypriots, apart from the military, political and financial control exerted over them by Turkey, will also be facing the real danger of disappearing as a result of the burden of the Islamic embrace over a traditionally secular society.

Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are facing the same fate and dangers. That is to say, time consolidates the fait accompli on the ground, as well as the danger of partition that will destroy Cyprus as we knew it and as we lived it once and for all.

The real dilemma today is between federation and partition; between the liberation of Cyprus and the continuation of the occupation.

There is no intermediate path.

Nationalism, but not only nationalism, in both communities, insists so far in fighting against the prospect of reunification. Even now, on the verge of partition, certain forces and circles have argued that there is a different path – that we should proceed to something better than the 1960 state. They insist on behaving as if nothing has happened in our country over the last fifty years. They want to mislead the people with loud rhetoric, big talk and empty sloganeering.

We insist on replying to them in a political, open and decisive manner.

We insist on uniting and rallying the people in a movement aiming at reunification; a movement bringing together Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in a common, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist front.

This has been AKEL’s timeless policy for decades. This is the only way to leave behind forever what has betrayed and hurt our country.

Our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, are being driven into insecurity every day because of what is happening in our region, but also by Turkey’s aggressive actions. Developments themselves have unfortunately revealed that the Anastasiades-DISY government was cultivating illusions among the people: that the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus is supposedly “shielded”, that we are safe, that we can proceed unhindered in our plans – even if the Cyprus problem remains unresolved.

Regrettably, AKEL has once again been vindicated in its assessments. Instead of the government ruling forces, the President, the Foreign Minister and governing DISY party reflecting on all that is happening, they are adamant that everything is progressing well. They blame AKEL for the results of their own actions/policy, instead of taking on their responsibilities and changing their priorities.

It is now clear that the only way forward to effectively address the problems that Turkey is causing is the solution of the Cyprus problem. In defending the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, we must not be distracted by Turkey’s provocative actions. We must stay focused on the efforts to reach a solution of the Cyprus problem, aware of how difficult it is.

With the tension Turkey is provoking, the problems are being exacerbated, not resolved. With the solution of the Cyprus problem, we will open the prospect of cooperation and permanent peace in our country and in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can only count on the future when we ensure that we will it live together in a solution that will end the occupation and colonization (of the occupied territories).

A solution that will restore the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus.

A solution that will be based on the Resolutions of the United Nations, the High-Level Agreements, International and European Law.

A solution that will demilitarize Cyprus and exclude any guarantees or intervention rights in our country’s internal affairs by foreign powers.

A solution that will reunite the territory, the people, the institutions and the economy within the framework of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality as outlined in the UN texts.

A solution that will lead to a united state, a continuation of the Republic of Cyprus.

Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots together can put an end to the disaster, turn the page and together write a new story for this country, to reunify our homeland.

We shall again rejuvenate the common struggles we waged together and become what we expect – all of us and so many others, becoming a great river of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who want this country to reunite, live in peace and move forward.

We insist and will continue to insist:  This country is ours!

We don’t hand it to anyone!

This country is ours!

And we will reunite it!