AKEL denounces Minister of Education’s statements on his visit to ELAM’S offices
Statement by Stefanos Stefanou, AKEL C.C. Spokesperson
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 29 March 2018, Nicosia
Had any Minister visited the offices of a neo-fascist party in any other country in Europe – whether or it is a parliamentary party or not – and made statements like those of the Minister of Education Mr. Hambiaouris, he/she would already have been dismissed or have resigned. We have no illusions at all about what the President of the Republic will do. We haven’t been accustomed to Mr. Anastasiades showing any such sensitivities. During his first term, he bypassed numerous issues by demonstrating complete indifference.
The Minister of Education’s visit to the central offices of ELAM is the first erroneous action committed by the Minister.
The Minister of Education’s second mistake is that he spoke of “the values and principles you (ELAM) mentioned are also our values and principles.” Mr. Hambiaouris, but also the entire Anastasiades government, must give an answer as to what the “common principles and values” they have with ELAM are, namely with those forces who declare that they are nationalists, National Socialists and the “seed of the losers of 1945” (Note: reference to the losers of the Second World War), that is to say Hitler-Fascism.; with those forces who are the branch of the “Golden Dawn” party in Cyprus, which is being tried as a criminal organization accused of murders and attacks; with those forces who assumed the “political responsibility” for the murder of Pavlos Fyssas (Note: a Greek anti-fascist rapper who was murdered on 17 September 2013 in the western Athens district of Keratsini by a member of the “Golden Dawn”).
What are these opinions that “are always well received” according to the Minister of Education: – the hymns in praise of the Greek junta and EOKA B?
The Minister of Education claimed that he was referring to “Greek-Christian ideals”. We wonder, will the government be guiding the education of our country according to these slogans, precisely the same slogans which were the reference of the Metaxas dictatorship, the military junta of Athens, EOKA B and the fascist coup d’état in Cyprus?
