Speech by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou at the mass event to denounce the fascist coup d’état and Turkish invasion

 

14 July 2023, Dali Municipal Amphitheatre, Nicosia

Dear guests,

Comrades and friends,

During these summer days Cyprus once again recalls its most bitter memories and most painful moments of its modern history. It is recalling and feeling wounds, memories, bitterness with a silent indignation for those who destroyed our homeland. Cyprus is returning as a pilgrim to honor the sacrifice of the heroes of 1974, the children of the Cypriot people who that summer waged the battle against the coup d’état of the Greek junta and EOKA B on 15 July 1974 and a few days later on 20 July against the hordes of Turkey’s invading army.

The lists of the dead of 1974 are full of common people, young men who were raised in the daily struggle to make ends meet, the people of labour and the poor who ran to the battle fronts to resist the treacherous coup d’état and the brutal Turkish invasion. The anonymous people, who only offer their services to the homeland, who water it with their sweat, as Kyriakos Matsis said, the ones who are the real defenders of the homeland. For that reason, it is these heroes – the heroic people! – who deserve honors, statues, monuments and memorials.

But to honor – truly and sincerely – the sacrifice of our heroes, one must also honor the truth about their sacrifice, by calling 1974 by its name. By calling the causes and the causes by their very name. History cannot be written without talking about the Turkish invasion, the coup, the Greek Junta, EOKA B and NATO.

Our people have endured a crime that was committed without the culprits being punished. But a crime can’t be committed without criminals, treason can’t also be committed without traitors. The truth, the whole truth, is a debt we owe to both the heroes who have passed away, as well as to the future generations.

The first truth is that the mastermind and architect of the tragedy of 1974 is NATO, American-NATO imperialism. And this is not some abstract word without any meaning. It is the stark reality of the interests that crush peoples and countries. This is the root of the Cypriot drama. The American-NATO imperialists sought to put our island under their control: either by integrating the Cypriot state into NATO at will, or by imposing “double Enosis” (Note: the partition of Cyprus with the dissolution of the Republic Cyprus into two parts of the island that would subsequently be divided between Greece and Turkey respectively) through the force of arms. That is why the conspiracy between the Greek Junta and their accomplices in Cyprus was organized.

So 1974 was a double crime, but at the same time it was two sides of the same coin. The coup and the invasion were part of the same pre-determined plan to divide our island and people, massacring and uprooting thousands of Cypriots from their homes as refugees.

The truth about NATO’s role in the Cyprus problem is not only of historical importance. It also assumes a political significance, especially today when President Christodoulides has proclaimed the recent NATO Summit a “landmark” for the Cyprus problem, at a time when the Democratic Rally DISY party is promoting the idea of Cyprus joining NATO. In other words, at the same time as NATO is wiping the Republic of Cyprus off its maps and marking it with coordinates to satisfy Erdogan, certain forces and circles in Cyprus are arguing in all seriousness that NATO will defend Cyprus and its rights.

Can’t they all see that the US and NATO are arming and upgrading Turkey despite the fact that it is an occupying power in Cyprus, Syria, Iraq and that it is destabilising the Eastern Mediterranean?

Can’t they see that it is with NATO’s blessing and tolerance that Turkey’s aggressive actions against Greece in the Aegean has been fostered for years?

And finally, which of these forces and circles will answer the following question: when and where on the planet did NATO ever bring anything but wars, dictatorships and invasions?

The other undisputed truth is the fact that the Turkish Attila invading army was not brought by the beloved sea of Kyrenia, as the song goes. The invading Turkish army was brought to Cyprus as a result of the actions of the Greek Junta and Grivas’ EOKA B, as a result of their treacherous activity that culminated in the coup d’état.

• The coup d’état was neither some “fratricidal division”, nor a “civil war”. The coup d’état was a confrontation between almost all the Cypriot people and the lawful government of the country against a despicable minority that took up arms and the spoils of treason, murdering democratic citizens, blowing up government buildings and police stations.
• Makarios was not a “dictator” as the Right claims, sometimes openly and sometimes indirectly. Quite the opposite is true, Makarios was inexcusably tolerant towards those who undermined the state and mistakenly credited them with having even the slightest sense of patriotism, believing they would not dare betray Cyprus.
• The coup was not some “foolish” act, as the Right likes to say. It was treasonous, fascist and American-engineered. Furthermore, Grivas cannot be acquitted of the coup because he died before 15 July, because the plans for the execution of the coup d’état bear his signature and since the EOKA B terror that was unleashed was his own doing.
• The coup is not a lie, but a well-documented historical fact, that with the beginning of the Turkish invasion the Greek Junta was obstructing the strengthening of Cyprus’ defence. That the Greek junta officers were deserting the battlefields, that the coupists were hiding in the Troodos mountain range in the rear or murdering supporters of Makarios, leftists and Turkish Cypriot civilians, leaving the sons of the people to fight the hordes of the invading Turkish army. The coup is not a lie, but a historical fact that the coupists abandoned the city of Famagusta without a fight handing it over into the hands of the Turkish army.
• Finally, to defend the historical truth is not “being stuck to the past”. It is a debt we all owe to the fallen, to the refugees, the war-stricken victims and all the people. But also to the younger generations to draw lessons from, as their country is dotted all over with refugee settlements.

Because so many children grew up without their father, without their brothers and sisters.

Because so many women and so many homes are dressed in black to this day.

Because dozens of Cypriot women have been living for decades with the unspeakable trauma of being raped by Turkish army soldiers.

Because even today young people return 50 years late in small boxes to be buried with only some of their bones.

For all these reasons, I grasp this opportunity to remind the current government that last December the House of Representatives, on the initiative taken by AKEL, adopted a Resolution on the Memory of the Democratic Resistance. The Resolution calls on the State to refrain from any events seeking to turn all those who fought against the democratic constitutional order into heroes and to stop funding the honoring of Giorgos Grivas. In the same Resolution, the House of Representatives also called on the State and institutions – the education system, the mass media, local government and the security forces – to take initiatives to highlight the Democratic Resistance against the coup.

We therefore expect the government and the parties backing it that voted for the Resolution last year to respond with practical actions so as to put an end to the falsification of Cypriot history that reached a climax in the two decades of the DISY government.

Finally, as trite as it may sound, it remains true that the sacrifice of the heroes of 1974 will forever remain without being vindicated if our country remains ever divided and semi-occupied. The solution of the Cyprus problem is not something that concerns the past, it is not just an unfulfilled moral debt of yesterday. It is a cause that first and foremost concerns the future.

The Cyprus problem is at its most critical juncture since 1974. For the first time in the history of the Cyprus problem, there haven’t been any negotiations for such a long period of time. The international community is stuck in the Crans Montana episode where responsibility was not only not attributed to the occupying power Turkey, but was apportioned on both leaderships of the two communities. This has paved the way for Turkey to impose new fait accompli on the ground without suffering any cost. Varosha is being handed over piece by piece to its colonization, while Greek Cypriot properties in the occupied territories are daily being turned into monstrous building complexes by Turkish, Israeli and other funds.

It is an indisputable fact that the main obstacle to a solution was and remains the occupying power. Today the situation has become even more difficult as Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership are demanding a two state solution, something AKEL will never accept. At the same time, however, AKEL insists that it is not enough to restrict ourselves to just pointing out the Turkish side’s responsibilities. We need to focus on taking specific initiatives that will create momentum for the resumption of the negotiations.

In this regard, AKEL notes three key points:

• First. The need for a convincing and explicit commitment to a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality. The resumption of talks on the basis of the Guterres Framework, preserving the convergences that have been recorded so far, without any footnotes and without questioning the provisions of the Framework.
• Second. The formulation of a positive agenda focusing on the region’s energy issues and making use of the natural gas without violating our “red lines”. We have submitted a comprehensive proposal to the previous President and have brought it back to Mr. Christodoulides. Our proposal has become even more topical because of the developments in Ukraine and the energy crisis that is raging internationally.
• Third. We propose that measures and policies should be taken in the direction of the Turkish Cypriots. It is important to support our fellow Turkish Cypriots who are suffocating under the pressure exerted by Turkey and to help build a climate of trust between the two communities.

I want to reiterate that if the Cyprus problem will get back on the tracks of negotiation and the President of the Republic moves in the correct direction, AKEL will support the efforts for a solution, as we have done in the past. For us, the solution of the Cyprus problem comes before anything else and is the first and foremost goal.

Dear invited guests,

Comrades and friends,

All of us who are here tonight and thousands of others all over Cyprus remember that during those troubled and arduous times, the militants, members and supporters of the Party were targeted on a day-to-day basis by fascist violence and the terror unleashed in the National Guard, in schools, at the workplace, in neighbourhoods and that the Greek Junta’s informers had a file on every last leftist family on the island.

We remember during the days of the coup the raids on the houses of AKEL militants and members and on the Local Clubs of the People’s Movement in every village and district of Cyprus to arrest, torture and murder.

We remember our comrades who suffered torture and interrogations –standing up to the Kalashnikovs of EOKA B – to honor their title by defending the Party, Democracy and Makarios.

We remember the AKEL militants and members, together with other fighters defending democracy, with guns in hand, at the Presidential Palace, the Archbishopric, in the working class neighborhood of Kaimakli, in Eftapato, in the Third Gymnasium of Limassol, in Kolossi, in the city of Paphos, in the popular neighborhood of Ayi Yiannis in Larnaca and the other bastions of the anti-fascist Resistance.

We remember the historic statement issued by the Central Committee of AKEL calling on the people to resist the foreign-engineered coupists was signed with the blood of Sotiris Adamos Konstantinos, Kesta, the four heroes of Ayi Yiannis, Misiaoulis, Flourentzos, Evagorou, Christofi, Kombos and many other members of the mass organisations of the People’s Movement.

We remember that five days later, when the Turkish invading army was landing through the back door, hundreds of AKEL and EDON Youth members and militants, together with thousands of other children of our people, ran to fulfill their duty despite knowing that the battle was unequal and betrayed. Comrades such as Sotiris Papalazarou, Theodosiou, Karasamanis, Ioannides, Kourtellis and so many others sacrificed their lives to save our country.

So we remember! We remember everyone and everything about 1974. And not only do we remember but we make sure – combatting forgetfulness and the falsification of the historical truth – that the young generations must learn about what happened in this country.

Dear guests,

Comrades and friends,

We return to the memory and honor we owe to the heroes of our people. To the fighters of Democracy and of the Homeland, to the refugees that bear the burden of the occupation, to the enclaved people in the occupied areas, to the families of the missing persons, to the war-stricken people.

For us, this memory and honor is linked to the struggle to prevent fascism from rearing its head again.

It is linked to the struggle for freedom and the reunification of our homeland, with the struggle for the dawn of the day when the barbed wire of the occupation will fall. With the day when Cyprus will belong to its people. To its free, sovereign and undivided people!

Long live Cyprus!

Honor and glory to our heroes!