Speech by Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL, to the Congress of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP)
Saturday, 12th November 2016
On behalf of the C.C. of AKEL, I convey warm fraternal greetings to the 26th Congress of the Republican Turkish Party. I address a special greeting to all its members and militants with whom we are united by common struggles and shared visions.
AKEL and CTP, despite whatever different positions on specific issues, share a common view on the most important and most crucial issue in the current historical juncture. We are united by the vision of a free, independent, united and federal Cyprus, the vision of a common homeland for all its children. Guided by this vision we have forged cooperation and joint actions between our parties during periods when the defenders of the peaceful coexistence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots came under fierce attacks waged by nationalists. Guided by this vision we agreed to struggle for a bicommunal, bizonal federal solution that will lead to a united state with a single and indivisible sovereignty, a single citizenship and a single international personality and with political equality of the two communities, as defined by the UN. With this vision as their compass, the former leaders of the two communities, comrades Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, worked hard, achieving significant convergences at the negotiation table on several chapters of the Cyprus problem. The substantive progress that was recorded back then kept the hope of a solution and the negotiating process itself alive, which the current leaders of the two communities are continuing.
AKEL, as it has always done, supports and will continue to support the negotiations, regardless of who is in the leadership of our community because the solution of the Cyprus problem cannot wait. The passage of time creates faits accomplis on the ground which become difficult or even impossible to reverse. Furthermore, AKEL fully understands the voices from the Turkish Cypriot community that stress the dangers that have been created affecting the very identity and autonomy of the community. At the same time, we realize that the continued division also negatively affects the consciousness of our island’s people. In other words, the partitionist status quo is not a static situation, but a quicksand into which the island, the people and the cause of Cyprus itself is being submerged. Time is not working in favour of reunification. We, therefore, without sacrificing the content of the solution, are asserting a solution as soon as possible based on principles.
The principles of the solution of the Cyprus problem AKEL upholds are well-known over time. The whole philosophy and policy of AKEL with regards the Cyprus problem can be summarized in the following position: We are ready to accept an honorable compromise between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, but we will not accept a compromise with the partition, the occupation and foreign guardians. Cyprus does not need motherlands. It doesn’t need armies, barbed wires and foreign guardians to supervise us. The people of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, wiser from the bitter lessons of History will not fall into traps again, and will not let the scourge of nationalism destroy our common home again.
Whatever the current difficulties and challenges, we must not and will not lose our optimism, hope and belief that reunification is possible. We are focused and looking to the future, where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots will live and prosper together and rule together their common homeland. We are focused and looking to the future, a future where the barbed wire and barricades will be put in museums to teach the younger generations about the crimes committed by imperialism and chauvinism in our island. A future where the golden leaf of the Mediterranean will become an arena of peace and friendship and a bridge for the friendship of the peoples of our strife-torn neighborhood. A future in which, united, the working class and all the working people of the island will be struggling for their rights, needs and for the great social visions of the Left.
With these thoughts, I wish every success to the deliberations of the 26th Congress of the Republican Turkish Party.
