AKEL on Cyprus Independence Day 1st October
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 30th September 2020, Nicosia
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Cyprus Independence, AKEL honors and pays tribute to all those who throughout these six decades defended the Republic of Cyprus on the battlefields, in the popular and political struggles and on the diplomatic front. It pays tribute to the heroes of the anti-colonial struggle, to the martyrs of the friendship between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to the fighters of the democratic anti-fascist resistance and to the heroes who fell fighting the Turkish invasion.
Despite all the internal and external subversion, despite the illegal occupation and the de facto division that was caused by the twin crimes committed of the treacherous coup d’état and the barbaric Turkish invasion, the Republic of Cyprus was not abolished as the NATO plans for partition had provided for under the guise of the ideological concepts of the Enosis (note: union of Cyprus with Greece) and Partition. The Republic of Cyprus is not “extinct” as the occupying power and Erdogan would have wanted, but internationally recognized and the only lawful state of the island. The Republic of Cyprus is an independent state, the common home of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, a shield of the unity of our people, our strength in the struggle for freedom and independence.
60 years ago, AKEL – despite disagreeing with the compromise reached between NATO powers that led to the Zurich-London Agreements – addressed n appeal to all the people to embrace the Republic of Cyprus, to work for the unity of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots so that together we can liberate ourselves from the foreign commitments and attain the full independence of our homeland. AKEL was not listened to and was denounced as an “anti-national” force. Indeed, the extreme-right which was delivering lessons on patriotism to everybody else was actually the one that consciously joined and formed part of the foreign plan for the partition of Cyprus and carried out the share of the betrayal it undertook to execute, drowning our people in blood and catastrophe.
The 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Cyprus finds our homeland facing historical dangers that have to do with the very survival of our people. The occupation and partitionist status quo is a quicksand in which our homeland and the future of upcoming generations are being immersed.
Only with a solution of the Cyprus problem within the agreed framework, only with the liberation and reunification of Cyprus can days of permanent peace and security dawn for our people.
Only with a solution of the Cyprus problem that will provide for the termination of the occupation, division and colonalisation (of the occupied areas), the abolition of guarantee and alleged intervention rights, the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality as described in the relevant UN Resolutions, will days of lasting peace and security dawn for our people.
The resumption of substantive negotiations on the Cyprus problem, on the agreed basis and framework, from the point where they had remained at Crans Montana is urgent.
The 60th anniversary of Cyprus Independence finds our country and people facing an unprecedented escalation of Turkey’s aggression, while at the same time the danger of the final partition of our island has never been so perceptible. AKEL addresses to the entire Cypriot people – Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins – a message of unity and unyielding struggle so that we can confront the challenges and prevent partition.
Sixty years since Cyprus Independence, AKEL continues to hold high and proud the flag of Cyprus. This is the flag of our Homeland and our struggle.
