Statements by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou after the laying of wreaths at the Makedonitissa Cemetery on the occasion of the tragic anniversary of the Turkish invasion

 

20 July 2025, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

For yet another year, we have gathered here to lay laurel wreaths of honour and flowers of love and gratitude to the fallen heroes who tried, despite being betrayed and with meagre means, to confront the horrors of the Turkish invasion.

The coup not only gave Turkey the excuse and the pretext to illegally invade Cyprus, but at the same time, within the context of the treason committed and NATO’s plans, it facilitated Turkey’s invasion and it is precisely this that makes the execution of the coup an act of high treason.

Since then, 51 years onwards, our dead, the missing persons, the wounded, the war-stricken people, the disabled, the raped women, the refugees, our entire people are waiting for vindication. But vindication can only come through the termination of the Turkish occupation and the reunification of Cyprus and our people. It can only come through the achievement of a solution to the Cyprus problem. And that solution can only be the one provided for in the resolutions of the United Nations, which envisage a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as described in the relevant UN resolutions.

In the current phase we are in, with the prolonged deadlock surrounding the Cyprus problem continuing and putting obstacles in the effort to reach a solution, our task is to break the deadlock, to continue the negotiations from the point where they were interrupted in 2017 (at Crans Montana), to negotiate on the basis of the Guterres Framework the outstanding issues that remain and of course, to preserve the negotiating acquis (body of work), which is important and can provide a strong basis, so that provided that the negotiations resume, we can complete the effort and reach the much-needed solution, end the occupation and reunite the country and its people.

AKEL and the entire People’s Movement are continuing their efforts towards this end and, regardless of the pessimism that exists, we will continue to insist that there is a perspective, that there is a possibility (of a solution). However, to cultivate this possibility as far as it is in our hands as the Greek Cypriot side and the Republic of Cyprus in general, we will have to continue the effort by taking specific initiatives.

In response to questions from journalists regarding the informal five-party meeting in New York, the General Secretary of AKEL said that the result was entirely expected. Explaining that from the moment the UN Secretary General considers that there is no required common ground, given that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership have now officially shifted their position towards a two-state solution, what he had planned was to maintain the momentum on the Cyprus problem and for some small steps forward to be taken as he did in New York.

The international community as a whole is now turning its attention to the electoral process that will take place in October in the occupied territories to see whether there will be a change in the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot leadership.

Other than that, the task the UN Secretary General Personal Envoy on Cyprus María Angela Holguín Cuéllar faces between now and October is known. On the basis of what was discussed at the meeting, an attempt will be made in Cyprus to move forward with the implementation of additional Confidence Building Measures and, of course, the key element will be the opening of more check points, on the basis of the discussion that has already taken place.