Address by Neoklis Sylikiotis, member of the Political Bureau and AKEL MEP, to the anti-NATO Cyprus Peace Council event
“Neither Cyprus in NATO, nor NATO in Cyprus”
Larnaca, 26th May 2017
On behalf of AKEL, I would like to send a warm greeting to all of you who have gathered here today to join our voices in conveying a resounding message against NATO, wars and foreign interventions, asserting together peace and social prosperity which the peoples are so much in need.
Unfortunately, interventions and wars have become the rule with tragic consequences for humanity. NATO is constantly bolstering its war machine and, together with the EU, are channeling vast amounts of money into investment in the war and arms industry. The US is proceeding with the conclusion of new agreements with Saudi Arabia, reinforcing the policy of militarization even more, while the EU’s defense policy is increasingly contributing towards perpetuating instability and generating conflicts throughout the world.
Particularly in our area a dangerous and unpredictable war scenario is unfolding due to the imperialist plans in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and the wider Middle East. Through waging wars, they are attempting to re-draw borders, divide again the land, and control the energy sources in order to increase their profits.
Humanity cannot remain indifferent in the face of NATO’s crimes. The peoples have a duty to react in an organized way.
The Cypriot people, in particular, have a duty to demand the dissolution of NATO and an end to wars and foreign interventions. Our homeland and people are unfortunately know very well aware what war means. Cyprus is one of the most tragic victims of NATO.
The tragedy our people suffered in 1974, with the coup d’état which gave the pretext for Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus and the continued occupation and division of our island, was planned in NATO headquarters.
Our struggle today for the withdrawal of the occupation, for the complete demilitarization of the island, for the reunification of Cyprus and our people on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federal solution, in a peaceful homeland, without armies, guardians and without barbed wires of division, is essentially a struggle against imperialism and NATO’s war plans.
Our firm position has been and remains that we will not tolerate “Neither NATO in Cyprus, nor Cyprus in NATO”. And we must continue this struggle together with our Turkish Cypriot compatriots to the end.
In recent years, we have hosted thousands of refugees from Palestine, Syria and Iraq in Cyprus. The EU has grave and double responsibilities for the humanitarian crisis in these countries. At the same time as the EU became a tail of the US and NATO in foreign interventions, instead of addressing the refugee crisis with humanity and solidarity, it closes its gates, constructing a fortress Europe. The EU refuses to implement a permanent, fair system for the resettlement of refugees and prefers to see refugees, including young children, dying in the sea.
Dear friends,
We have a duty and an obligation to continue the struggle for peace in our region.
We must turn our neighborhood into a region of cooperation and prosperity. And our Cyprus a bridge of peace of the peoples.
At the same time we have a duty, in the face of the dramatic developments humanity is living through, to strengthen our action and coordination with the peace movements and progressive forces of the EU countries in order to combat the ever-deepening EU-NATO coupling and synergy; to demand the demilitarization of the EU and of its foreign policy. We demand the dismantling of any interventionist mechanisms and the promotion of measures to generate social development and growth.
Today’s event must give an impetus to stepping up our efforts for an enlightenment campaign in societies, but also for the militant mobilization of the peoples.
Together, we can and must dissolve NATO, as well as the system that gave birth to it and maintains it.
Otherwise the peoples will continue to pay the price of their freedom and blood.
