Intervention by Seviros Koulas, member of the Central Committee of AKEL and General Secretary of the EDON Youth Organisation “80 Years of the victory over Nazi Fascism – For Peace! No to Fascism and War!”

Intervention by Seviros Koulas, member of the Central Committee of AKEL and General Secretary of the EDON Youth Organisation

“80 Years of the victory over Nazi Fascism – For Peace! No to Fascism and War!”

Dear Comrades,

Dear friends,

80 years after the great Anti-fascist Victory of the Peoples, we stand in awe before the peoples of the world who blocked the path to the darkest period in humanity’s history.

80 years onwards, we must not only honor this historic turning point, but to also draw lessons from its key political conclusions.

The victory of the peoples is a pinnacle of human dignity. The victory over Nazism and fascism was not only military. It was a victory of the peoples, a victory of collective action, a victory of hope over barbarism.

Fascism was not an aberration of history. It was the most extreme expression of capitalism in crisis. It was the response of the monopolies to the rise of the workers’ and popular movements and the last line of defence they had to protect what was most precious to them: their profits.

It was an attempt to crush the organized struggle of the peoples, to impose silence so that terror would prevail. And yet, the peoples did not remain silent. They resisted. They fought. They were victorious.

The Soviet Union, but also the Communist Parties that took the lead and were at the forefront of   the resistance movements in Europe, were at the very heart of this victory.. The people of the Soviet Union and the Red Army fought selflessly. It was the Soviet Union that bore the brunt of the Nazi machine’s attack. It was the Soviet Union that endured the siege, defended Stalingrad, liberated Eastern Europe, and raised the flag of victory in Berlin.

With over 20 million dead, the Soviet Union paid a very heavy price. But it proved that a people organized under socialist power can resist, defeat, and inspire. This victory was not only military. It was a victory of socialism over fascism. And this is something that the forces of imperialism are trying to erase from people’s collective memory.

Today, we are witnessing a systematic attempt to falsify history. An unscientific and ahistorical attempt to equate fascism with communism. They are trying to erase the truth, distort the facts, and exonerate the criminals. They are trying to turn logic on its head. They will not succeed because what has been written in blood cannot be erased with dirty ink.

In this universal effort, with modesty but also pride, we too on our small island of Cyprus look back on the history of our Party, AKEL,.

In Cyprus, the decision of the Central Committee of AKEL on June 16, 1943, to call on Party members and friends to voluntarily enlist in the anti-fascist struggle, was a defining moment of internationalist action. It was an act that was not dictated by any narrow national interests, but by a belief in the international cause of freedom and peace.

Following AKEL’s call, over 800 people voluntarily enlisted in the British Army, while 11 of the 17 members of the Party’s Central Committee at the time also enlisted to fight on the front lines. Thousands of Cypriot volunteers enlisted. They fought in Italy, France, and the Middle East. Many never returned. Others returned wounded, both physically and mentally. But all returned with their heads held high because they fought for a noble cause. For the freedom of peoples. For the defeat of fascism.

AKEL, like most Communist Parties, with consistency and sacrifice, proved that the Left is not an observer of history, but an active protagonist. This stance continues to this day as well.

In the struggles for peace, for social justice, for national independence, for socialism.

As we know very well, using the tools of historical materialism in our analyses, we know that history and its development have no end. And even more so, as it does not move in a straight line. So at what point are we today?

The world of 2025 is not a peaceful world. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. War is not a relic of the past. It is present in our times. The aggression of the US, the strategy of encircling Russia and the total competition with China, NATO’s involvement in every corner of the globe, its support for fascist regimes, its incitement of conflicts, all demonstrate that imperialism has become unbridled.

That minimal, albeit “moral impediment” of international law has now gone and we are now clearly in the era of “the law of the mighty.” In fact, we are in an era where imperialism’s aggressiveness is assuming such characteristics that it is becoming even more dangerous and even more difficult to counter, as imperialism has perfected its methods on a diplomatic, intelligence, political and technological level.

The arms race in the EU, the rapid pace of the militarization in its international relations and its involvement in military operations, bear the clear signature of the ruling forces of the EU, led by the European People’s Party, its allies, and its governments.

In Cyprus too, we can see the consequences of this policy every day: the military bases, the involvement in war plans, the violation of our sovereignty. The so-called “sovereign” British bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia are not simply geographical areas under foreign administration. They are active military centres used for NATO, US and EU operations in the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.

AKEL has repeatedly denounced the use of the bases for the waging of military interventions, such as the bombings in Syria, the support of operations in Iraq, and the assistance given to the US military presence in the region. We have highlighted the danger of Cyprus becoming involved in military conflicts against the will of its people, due to the use of the bases as launching pads for war. Their existence constitutes a permanent violation of Cypriot sovereignty, as these are areas over which the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise any effective control.

We demand the demilitarization of the island, the withdrawal of foreign bases, and the full sovereignty of the Cypriot people over their land. Because there can be no peace when our country is being turned into a launching pad for war. There can be no independence when parts of the territory function as foreign military enclaves.

Faced with this reality, the Left cannot remain silent. It must be the voice of resistance, of hope and the defence of international law. It must denounce war, expose the interests that give rise to it, and organize the people for peace.

The peace movements, as a broad expression of the popular strata, have a decisive role to play. They are not just demonstrations. They are schools where consciousness is raised and formed, they are places of fermentation, they are arenas of struggle. From Cyprus to Portugal, from Palestine to Cuba, the voices of the peoples must unite to declare: No to war! No to fascism! Yes to peace, cooperation, and solidarity!

The Left must be at the forefront of the struggle. With clear positions. With an anti-imperialist line. With ties to the popular strata. With action that unites, inspires, and mobilizes. Because peace is not a neutral concept. It is class-based with a political content. It is a cause of the peoples.

This is clearly evident in the open wound on the conscience of humanity called Palestine.

The silence of international organizations and bourgeois governments is complicity in the ongoing crime being committed. The hypocrisy of the West is an insult to the concept of human rights and to humanity’s history.

Palestine is not a “humanitarian crisis,” it is not an “unfortunate coincidence.” It is the most cynical but absolutely real face of imperialism, of the policy of ethnic cleansing pursued by the state of Israel, proof of how ruthless imperialism is in its need to control the region so that it serves its own interests.

We were and remain on the side of the heroic Palestinian people, with the oppressed of the world. With the peoples who resist…

Comrades,

The victory of 1945 taught us that the peoples can win; that fascism is not invincible.

Today, 80 years onwards, with the struggles we are waging today, we are not simply honouring the dead. We are honouring life itself. The life that is worth living – without fascism, without war, without oppression.

No to fascism! No to war!

We are moving forward, for a society of peace, equality, and social justice! A socialist society.

Long live the anti-fascist victory of the peoples!

Long live internationalist solidarity!

Long live peace!