Address by the General Secretary of AKEL S.Stefanou at the inauguration of the “Elias Tofaris” Square in Pervolia

 

Sunday, 26 May 2024, Pervolia 1974 war Refugees Settlement

We inaugurate today the “Elias Tofaris” Square to pay tribute and above all, to preserve the memory of a bloody chapter of modern Cypriot history.

We are referring to the chapter written with the blood of murdered comrades during the period 1956-1959 by the masked men of Grivas. You see, this chapter is not mentioned in school textbooks. It is not taught to the younger generation, who learn history in a distorted and censored way that serves the ruling narrative.

A narrative that insists on glossing over important moments in history, on carefully covering up responsibilities and those responsible, reasons and causes.

A narrative that insists on not discussing how and why Cyprus was filled with the graves of young people who sacrificed their lives defending democracy and freedom.

A narrative that insists on not discussing how and why Cyprus was filled with refugee settlements, why the occupation barbed wire divides and stretches from one end of Cyprus to the other.

A narrative that whispers treason but does not speak of traitors, that sometimes speaks of a crime having been committed, but does not dare to name the criminals who committed the crime.

The twin crimes of the treasonous coup and the brutal Turkish invasion of the summer of 1974 did not appear out of nowhere, nor did they come out of the blue.

This crime has its own history, going back decades.

It goes back to the 1940’s of the past century, when the short-

sighted policies of the anti-communist Right and the far-right sowed fanaticism, fostered hatred against the Left and attacked the Left by every means. The expression and culmination of this policy were the murderous actions of Grivas’ masked men against militants and members of AKEL during the EOKA struggle.

Elias Tofaris is one of the victims of Grivas’ intolerant policy.

Elias was murdered in cold blood by Grivas’ masked men in January 1958. Elias was held in high esteem in his village, Koma tou Gialou [now under Turkish occupation]. He was a cantor of the Church and also the leader of the choir of the mass organizations of the Left of his village [Peoples Movement]. An artisan cabinet maker who worked hard to support his family, his wife Paraskevou and his two children, Andreas and Elias.

Elias perished with eight bullets in his back, reciting lines from AKEL’s anthem: “In a common struggle we fight for bread and freedom”…Eight bullets were fired in Elias’ back in the village café by Grivas’ masked men, in front of those present who were terrified. Elias’s brother Nikos was also targeted and also shot by the hooded men. Nikos escaped death even though he was seriously injured. Later, the murderers’ apologists offered as an excuse that Elias had supposedly tried to remove the murderers’ hoods.

A cheap excuse and a gross, obscene lie. They cowardly and treacherously murdered Elias shooting him in the back because those were their orders.

Just as they had cowardly and treacherously murdered Michalis Petrou in the village of Lysi that very same night, which proves that Grivas’ killers acted on the basis of a concrete plan.

In the village of Koma tou Gialou, as in Lysi, days before the assassinations were committed, the streets were filled with AKEL slogans demanding self-determination, the abolition of the colonial emergency measures and the release of all political prisoners. This was considered by Grivas to be unacceptable communist activity. Six days after the slogans were written, the political assassinations were executed.

The funerals of the two murdered AKEL cadres turned into mass rallies demanding that Grivas’ violence and attacks on the Left stop, that AKEL be legalised and that the people should struggle, united, against British colonialism.

But Grivas’ campaign of terror that was unleashed unfortunately did not stop. On the contrary, the terror and murderous actions of Grivas’ masked men continued against the cadres and members of AKEL and the People’s Movement with notorious ferocity.

Grivas was implementing what he had written in a letter to Makarios: “I will also mercilessly attack the communist traitors and wage an open war against them…”

Grivas knew this “art”. He had implemented it in Greece too against the National Resistance. The Greek patriots were fighting the German occupiers and Grivas was fighting the resistance forces of ELAS-EAM.

The list of those murdered by Grivas’ masked men because they were members of AKEL and the People’s Movement includes nineteen heroes. Among them were two women.

The provocation/pressure for AKEL to respond in the same way was enormous. And AKEL could have responded so. But it chose not to. Neither in 1958, nor in 1973 and 1974, nor after 1974. Instead, AKEL stood back to prevent the country from destruction and from sinking into a bloody civil war.

That is precisely what AKEL is: a truly patriotic force that puts the interests of our Cyprus and our people above all else.

That is what it has always done.

That is what it will continue to do.

To date, those who were responsible for the murders, and the Right in general, have not found the courage to utter a single word of self-criticism or to offer an apology for the murders that were committed. They did not find the courage to acknowledge mistakes and crimes and to apologise for their actions.

Instead, they insist on honouring and laying wreaths at the graves of Grivas and those who drowned Cyprus in blood, attacked democracy and opened the back door to Turkey’s invading army of Attila in 1974.

Even when the government of Demetris Christofias, through a decision of the Council of Ministers, restored the name/memory of those unjustly murdered in the period 1956-58, the Right and its various organisations reacted fiercely and fanatically. What did the decision say, among other things?

“With the passage of more than 50 years, with the calmness and clarity of perception ensured by the distance of time, but also by the objective evaluation of historical events and by the demands imposed by the critical moments our country is going through, the Cypriot people and society must restore the name and honor of all persons unjustly murdered during the period 1956-1958. This action is a debt to the families, children and grandchildren of those who perished as a sign of solidarity and support of society and the state towards them. It is an obligation and a debt owed by all to the historical truth.

This restoration is an action that promotes unity and a gesture of consensus and is free of any tendency to stigmatise and incriminate anyone or to stir up passions. The act of restoring the memory of those unjustly murdered satisfies the sense of justice, contributes substantially to healing the wounds and acts as a lever of self-awareness for the people. This action should be seen by Cypriot society as an act of national reconciliation and only as such”.

But the Right and the far right don’t understand that. Unity for the benefit of our country and our people has always been at the core of AKEL’s policy. The Right however considers it as a flag of convenience and as it suits them.

Even since the anti-colonial struggle, the Right has never responded to AKEL’s calls for unity of action. And although AKEL disagreed with the armed tactics of the EOKA struggle, it never hesitated to help fighters of the organisation.

It was AKEL that organised demonstrations in London to overturn the colonialists’ decision to hang EOKA fighters.

It was AKEL militants and members who set up a hideout in the village of Pelendri to hide Afxentiou [Note: second-in-command of EOKA].

It was AKEL that openly opposed the British house arrest law. Grivas notes this in his memoirs, complaining to the “national-minded” nationalists why they themselves didn’t do so.

It was AKEL that refused to publish in its newspaper the British colonial bounty on Afxentiou, when all the newspaper published it.

There are numerous examples of AKEL’s patriotic attitude. Just as there are many examples of AKEL’s resistance against fascism and the extreme right. Both in the period of the armed terror campaign of EOKA B and the treasonous coup d’état, as well as today when the far right, revamped and mutated, is trying to steal votes [from the Right] and return to the forefront of history.

Only AKEL has consistently and continuously stood up to and confronted the far-right ELAM party.

Only AKEL has warned of the dangers of the far-right formation from the very beginning since it emerged.

Unfortunately, however, when AKEL issued this warning, other political forces and mass media were smearing and accusing us of supposedly being alarmist.

When AKEL called on the other political forces to act together to isolate ELAM, some of them were cooperating, trading and making deals for presidential posts with it.

The people are well aware of who is confronting ELAM and who have all of a sudden remembered to stand against it because they are losing votes to it. It is precisely for this reason that certain people’s election attempts to identify AKEL with ELAM are falling on deaf ears. I am talking about election attempts because I am sure that after the election, the dealings with the extreme right will begin again.

This is exactly what the Right is doing in Europe. It cooperates, supports and participates in governments with the far-right. Even the EPP candidate for the presidency of the European Commission – from right-wing DISY’s political group in the European Parliament – Ursula von der Leyen says that she has no problem cooperating with the political group of the far right.

It is for this reason that those who want there to be consistency and determination in the fight against the far right know that they must support AKEL – Left – Social Alliance in the upcoming elections.

This political action – because voting is a political act – is the best tribute to Elias Tofaris, who fell victim to fascism. A vote for AKEL is the best memorial to all those who were unjustly murdered by the masked men of Grivas, but also to all those who fell resisting the fascism of EOKA B and the coupists in 1974.

Dear friends of the Local Community Council of Pervolia,

I congratulate you on your decision to name the Square of your community after Elias Tofaris, whose family ended up in Pervolia as refugees in 1974.  Apart from the honour due to the Hero, the name of Elias Tofaris from the occupied village Koma tou Gialou will remind all of us of our duty to continue the struggle to solve the Cyprus problem, to end the Turkish occupation and to reunite our homeland and people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

May the memory of Elias Tofaris live on forever!

Glory and honour to the fighters of the resistance to fascism and the ultra-right!