The Turkish invasion did not “save” any Cypriots; it butchered the whole of Cyprus

AKEL response to Unal Ustel’s statement

2 September 2025, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The statement made by the leader of the right-wing Turkish Cypriot National Unity Party and pseudo-prime minister Ünal Ustal (of the illegal regime in the occupied areas) that if the Turkish invasion had not taken place “those political forces and organisations, especially those supporting AKEL and Makarios, wouldn’t still exist today” confirms how similar the minds and fairy tales of the chauvinists on both sides of the barbed wire are in their attempts to justify the crimes they have committed against Cyprus.

The Turkish invasion did not save any Greek Cypriots of any political persuasion. It only brought destruction, mass murders, the displacement of people into refugees, rapes, and barbaric crimes. Even for Turkish Cypriots too, Turkey’s occupation and colonization (of the occupied territories) are leading to the extinction of their own community. The democratic people of Cyprus— in both communities —know that in 1974, the coupists and invaders were accomplices and allies, acting as pawns of NATO in the crime committed against Cyprus. They know that the criminals of the Greek junta and EOKA B and the grotesque monstrosity of the invading Turkish army of Attila butchered the Cypriot people and divided our homeland.

AKEL’s response is the joint struggle of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots being waged to put an end the occupation and division, for freedom and the reunification of Cyprus, for a solution to the Cyprus problem on the agreed basis and framework.