Speech by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL A. Kyprianou at the Bi-communal Festival of Culture
Acropolis Park, Strovolos municipality
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 21st May 2017, Nicosia
On behalf of the C.C. of AKEL I welcome you all to the Bicommunal Festival of Culture. Permit me to extend a special warm greeting to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, as well as all those who worked for the preparation and holding of the Festival, but also to all those participating in its program.
“If we work with passion and dignity, we can produce the material and cultural goods that people need.” This was a legacy of the great revolutionary Fidel Castro handed down to the Cuban people shortly before he died. A passion and dignity, therefore, not only for material goods and social justice, but also for cultural development. These are component parts of our own struggle: these are its goals.
The decision to organize the Festival was taken in a period characterized by political tension. It was decided in those days where, due to developments, public dialogue in the political arena, as well as in the social media and society in general, was focused on the Enosis day referendum issue, our country’s modern history, our relations with the Turkish Cypriot community, ultimately on the very future of this country.
We can consequently say that today’s Festival is our own response to neo-fascism which is shaking its finger and seeking to give lessons on patriotism.
Today’s Festival is our own response to the insults and the racist rhetoric of the Archbishop. I regret to point out that no other political party and no governmental or state body has denounced the Archbishop’s divisive hate preaching; none of the commissioners appointed by Mr. Anastasiades to act as guardians of the country’s democratic functioning and of an open and tolerant society. This is indeed a tragic development.
The Archbishop has long ago chosen which side he is on. He is on the side of what he calls the “good and well-educated kids” (Note: the Archbishop’s remark about the ultra-right ELAM party). We are on the opposite side. Today’s Bicommunal Festival is yet another opportunity to reaffirm this stand. When AKEL was warning about neo-fascism, the rise of racism and nationalism in Cyprus and in Europe, they were telling us that we were doing so in order to “rally our forces”. Unfortunately, we have been fully vindicated. Today the monster of neo-fascism is attempting to raise its head once again. If we think that its attacks are directed only against “foreigners” and Turkish Cypriots, then we are committing a very big mistake.
Perhaps neo-fascism is trying to keep up some pretensions and seeking to appear as “politically correct,” but we must not doubt that it will show its real face and nature at the critical time. We know that it changes masks from time to time, but its hatred for democracy, peace and brotherhood never changes.
We remain consistent opponents of neo-fascism. We are in the frontline of a broad, anti-fascist front with our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, in the struggle for peace and the reunification of our homeland. Culture itself is a powerful weapon in our hands in this battle.
Unfortunately, the DISY-Anastasiades Government does not seem to understand the importance of culture for our country and its people. Let alone aware of the importance the common cultural action of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots assumes, as well as the significance of the promotion of our common cultural heritage. On the contrary, the DISY-Anastasiades government is behaving in such a way that Cypriot cultural artists in general feel that they should be obliged if the state and its agencies remember them.
However, we have to admit it at long last: the people of culture and the arts don’t owe anything to the state. On the contrary, its State and society that owes them. It owes them because they contribute every day to the enrichment of cultural life, to the defense of our cultural heritage, to developing our people’s cultural level of the people, to raising people’s awareness and to nurturing values and principles that should govern the society of the future.
As AKEL, we recognize that by nature we have a dual responsibility towards the cause of culture, but also towards cultural artists themselves. We can and want to do more. That is why I want to reaffirm that our doors are open to listen, stand by the people of culture, to give them a podium and to once again reenergize cultural creativity in our country.
