Our Cyprus – Article by Eleni Mavrou, AKEL Political Bureau member
11th April 11, 2021, ‘Haravgi’ newspaper
On this day, 11th April 1965, Dervis Ali Kavazoglou and Costas Mishiaoulis were assassinated by the terrorist organization TMT. They died in each other’s arms embraced in the car in which they travelled and passed into eternity as symbols of the common struggle of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
This murder did not take place in a historical vacuum. The assassination of Kavazoglou and Mishiaoulis was preceded by murders that were committed aiming at imposing chauvinism’s dominance and serving imperialism’s plans against Cyprus. Some believed that their bullets, in addition to killing people and ideals, could put an end to the struggle for justice and a better world.
No one is born a hero. The two comrades went on a mission to fulfill their duty towards their homeland and ideology. An ideology that wants the interests of ethnic groups to be common and united. They were aware of the dangers. The threat was looming at every step they took. But for them what was at stake was the need to change the hard life of the Turkish Cypriots who were suffering in the ghettos of the Turkish Cypriot neighborhoods which they had been driven into as a result of the inter-communal clashes of 1963-64 and the threats issued by the chauvinists – both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
For Dervis Ali Kavazoglou and Costas Mishiaoulis, what was paramount was the struggle for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to learn that their future did not lie in confrontation, hatred and misery, but in unity to defend the homeland from the foreign conspiracies.
With the death of Kavazoglous, a black cloud covered the Turkish Cypriot community. The provocative actions of Grivas – and of the then National Guard of course – in Kofinou in 1967, enabled the most fanatical and vicious chauvinist circles to prevail over the Turkish Cypriot community.
The separation of the two communities was finalized a little later in 1974 when thousands of Greek Cypriots abandoned their homes in the north, chased by the Turkish invading army and thousands of Turkish Cypriots forced, supposedly for their safety, to move from their homes in the south.
The best memorial and the greatest vindication of the sacrifice of Kavazoglou-Mishiaoulis is the struggle for rapprochement, the struggle to rid ourselves of the occupation and reunite our country and people.
It is a difficult task. Just a few days before the Geneva conference, the facts raise concerns. The only point at which Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can meet is the solution of bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as interpreted by the relevant UN resolutions. A solution that will lead to one united state with a single sovereignty, a single citizenship and a single international personality. A solution that will guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms.
“I am a Turk who loves my homeland, Cyprus,” Dervis Ali Kavazoglou, a member of the Central Committee of AKEL, said in a speech.
So long as there are people who put Cyprus above all else, so long as genuine patriotism is combined with mutual understanding, so will the dreams and hopes of Kavazoglou and Mishiaouli for reunification and a better life live in our hearts and minds. At this critical juncture for Cyprus’ future, we feel the heart of our comrades Kavazoglou and Mishiaouli beating next to our own heart.
