NATO: the modern Right’s vision for our country – Article by Kostas Koukos – member of the C.C. of AKEL

 

 

Sunday 16 October 2022, “Haravgi” newspaper

Lately, more and more political voices of the Cypriot Right and big capital that are in government have been talking openly about the pressing need to overcome any obstacles and choose our only “hope of salvation”, which – according to them – lies in Cyprus’ full identification with NATO, suggesting that it’s like a national necessity.

The presidential candidate and President of the ruling DISY party, Averof Neofytou, is graphically indicating to us that we must at long last choose a ‘side’. Cyprus cannot, he implicitly stresses, be in two boats at the same time as we will sink and drown (NATO/USA on one side, Russia on the other). Only if we join one of the camps of our powerful allies will we supposedly see better days

So according to the DISY candidate by identifying with NATO’s interests (the theory of ‘vested interests’), the homeland will march on to record victories…

But while the advocates of NATO are telling us about the alleged patriotic need to be more clearly in favor of Cyprus’ accession to NATO, not a single journalist has posed the question to the President-designate what NATO’s role has been over time.

This is the camp they want to push us into. We should remind the people that it is full of blood, wars and refugees.

NATO was founded for two principal reasons which still apply to this day: firstly, to counter the “communist danger” and secondly, to defeat popular progressive movements throughout the whole world. Just recently as a few months ago, the NATO Summit reaffirmed its strategy of unprecedented militarisation of the world and escalating competition with Russia and China.

NATO is guilty of more than 100 military interventions with millions of victims.

In the first years of its operation over 200 Nazi criminals who were former Hitler Generals and officers came as transfers from Nazi Germany playing a decisive coordinating role.

NATO is the source of our country’s and people’s suffering – it organised, engineered and executed the twin crimes that were committed in the summer of 1974. NATO provides cover and reinforces Turkish intransigence on the Cyprus problem on a daily basis.

What an intolerable provocation it is to have presidential candidates today who want to drive Cyprus into NATO. They are pressingly asking us to choose between wolves and which pack we will join.

Do they really believe in the great “miracle” that NATO will supposedly save us? Of course they do not believe in miracles. And yet, on every occasion the government ruling forces beg NATO to include Cyprus in its plans. What else could the government spokesman’s plea that Cyprus too has weapons to send to Ukraine have meant?

But what are the NATO plans that they want Cyprus to be involved in? It is the control of natural resources and new market routes, as well as the consolidation of the profits of the multinational companies. These plans include the launching of new military operations, new overthrows of governments and new sales of weapons systems. These plans mean a new cycle of blood, refugees, poverty, destruction and misery for the peoples.

Big capital in our country wants to take part in this new plunder, all the rest that is being said is for convincing those who want to be convinced…