AKEL on the anniversary AKEL’s foundation
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 14th April 2020, Nicosia
Today marks the 79th anniversary since the gathering at the village of Skarinou, as a result of which the Progressive Party of the Working People AKEL emerged in the country’s political life. AKEL, which was founded on 14th April 1941 on the initiative of the illegal Communist Party of Cyprus and in cooperation with progressive figures, was born out of the development of the labour movement and the need for a mass party of the working people of Cyprus to struggle in legality.
AKEL took the baton of struggle for democracy, peace and socialism from the Communist Party of Cyprus. It identified himself as a “Democratic, Anti-Fascist, Anti-Hitler” party and from the very first moment of its foundation it participated in the epoch-making struggle of the peoples of the world to crush Hitler’s fascism. In the decades that followed, AKEL was established as a leading force in the anti-colonial struggle. It was acknowledged as the most consistent force in the defence of the independence and unity of Cyprus from the NATO plans to divide our homeland; as constituting the backbone of the popular struggles to defend democracy against fascism.
AKEL has gone down in our country’s History as the force that identified itself with the fraternity and common struggles of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, while today it is the most genuine expression of the hope for the reunification of our island and people.
At the same time, for almost a century now, the Communist Party of Cyprus-AKEL has been the protagonist, inspirer and organizer of all the small and big worker’s struggles in Cyprus, putting its stamp on the gains of working people, farmers, women and youth. AKEL also became a comrade and fellow companion of great figures of our country’s culture and popular creation.
Today, both inside and outside the House of Representatives, in the European Parliament and Local self-government, AKEL is working and struggling for the rights and modern needs of the working people, for an alternative path of economic development that produces prosperity for all, for the modernization of the state and society, for democratic freedoms and human rights, for the social right to health and education, for ecology and the environment.
In the more than ninety years of its history, first as the Communist Party of Cyprus and subsequently as AKEL, the Party of the Working People of Cyprus went through years of illegality, suffered murders, imprisonment, persecution and faced defamations. However, it managed and still manages every time to overcome adversities – not because it is infallible – but because it was and is tied to the people, with its worries and concerns. With the momentum of its history and the strength of its ideology, AKEL is looking to the future seeking to become more capable and more effective in the struggles to vindicate our homeland and for working people’s rights.
Today, as our country and the whole world are going through an unprecedented pandemic with unpredictable socio-economic consequences, AKEL sends out a message in every direction that it will continue to work to support workers, vulnerable groups, SME’s and all those who are suffering the most from the effects of the crisis. AKEL will continue to oppose any machinations and attempts to shift the consequences of the crisis on to working people’s backs.
AKEL sends a message of optimism that our people, with the strength of collectivism, mutual respect and solidarity, can once again emerge victorious from this ordeal.
