AKEL on the anniversary of 28th October 1940
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 27th October 2020, Nicosia
The “NO” of the Greek people to the attack by fascist Italy is a glorious milestone in the history not only of Greece, but of the whole world, a global symbol of patriotism and anti-fascism. AKEL honors the anniversary of 28th October 1940 and conveys a warm fraternal greeting to the people of Greece who were and remain a pillar of support and an ally of Cyprus in the struggle for freedom and justice.
AKEL honors the sacrifice, memory and struggles of those who resisted Hitler fascism on the battlefields, in the Resistance movement, in the places of executions and torture. We honor those murdered in the massacres committed in Distomo, Kalavrita, Kaisariani, Kokkinia and so many other places of martyrdom, the dead from hunger and hardships in the years of the Nazi occupation of Greece.
We humbly pay tribute to the volunteers of AKEL, who responded to the our Party’s call, but also to all Cypriots – Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – who fought Hitler fascism in Greece, Europe and North Africa.
The heroic “NO” of 28th October sent the message throughout Europe that Hitler fascism is not invincible. The “NO” continued with the heroic and glorious epic of the National Resistance of EAM-ELAS, which with the inspiration and guidance of the Communist Party of Greece united and organized the vast majority of the Greek people against the fascist occupation and liberated most of the country.
The anniversary of 28th October reminds us, at the same time that during the years of occupation there weren’t just patriotic fighters and the heroic people of Greece. There were also traitor collaborators of the Nazi occupiers, whose descendants are the current neo-fascists active in Greece and Cyprus. The recent court ruling on the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party – a branch of which is the Cypriot party ELAM – as a criminal organisation was a milestone in the struggle against fascism, which as then and today remains – whether foreign or domestic – an enemy of the homeland and the people.
