Speech of Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. AKEL, at the mass Memorial Meeting in Honour of the martyrs Kavazoglou and Mishaoulis
6th April 2014, Dali village
Each time we gather here to lay a wreath of honour to the sacrifice of Costas Mishiaoulis and Dervis Ali Kavazoglou the same image comes into our minds: the last embrace drowned in blood of our two precious comrades assassinated in their car. Every April reminds us that the common present and future of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in the land of their birth had been targeted by powerful and treacherous enemies: fascism and imperialism. Every day for forty years now the barbed wire of division reminds us every single day of our debt and duty; the obligation to vindicate the rivers of bloody sacrifice shed by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in their struggle to live together peacefully in this little corner of the world.
Every day that goes by after the 11th April 1965, the day when the fascist TMT organisation set up an ambush to murder Kavazoglou and Mishiaoulis, our memory becomes vivid and the words of comrade Dervish Ali Kavazoglou ring out loud: “Put an end to the tragedy and pain. The fulfilment of your historical mission awaits! … Develop your struggle…but do so today because maybe tomorrow will be too late. This disaster must come to an end! Continue the struggle for life! Long live peace! Long live friendship! “.
How much truth is embodied in these simple words? Let us wage the struggle together to put an end, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to the on-going tragedy. We want another future for this homeland of ours. We want to work together, now, before it’s too late!
Forty years of occupation is too many. The situation in the occupied areas is changing dramatically. The Greek Cypriot properties are either being sold at humiliating prices, or being developed illegally. The settlers from Turkey are increasing, already turning our Turkish Cypriot compatriots into a minority. Our progressive Turkish Cypriot compatriots are sending out a cry of anguish. The possibility that they will not have a future in their own country terrifies them.
“Well, so what? Let the Turkish Cypriots stay on one side and us on the other”, say some “super – patriots” who want Cyprus Greek, even if it might only be half of Cyprus. They should know however that in doing so they are surrendering and handing over half of our homeland to Turkey. And they should also know that this is how they will vindicate all those who wanted to divide Cyprus in the summer of 1974. Let everyone be very clear about all this. The non-solution of the Cyprus problem would mean cohabitation with the thousands of Turkish troops and settlers. It means cohabitation with a formation that will be controlled by Turkey, within our very own homeland.
For AKEL there is no alternative other than the just solution to the Cyprus problem. It is an extremely difficult path of struggle, but it is one we must take. The long-standing positions of the Greek Cypriot side, International and European Law, the United Nations resolutions and the High Level Agreements are all weapons in our hands in our struggle. We have already set out our position in relation to the resumption of the talks. We support the procedure and wish that it will lead us to a successful outcome, not because we support President Anastasiades, as various circles have been claiming of late, but because we consciously back the prospect of our country’s reunification. We support the procedure because we know that as long as we let time fruitlessly pass by in the end the only result will be that we will end up with the terrifying scenario of partition and our people will be condemned to suffer new woes and pain.
Are we giving President Anastasiades a free hand to act as he wants? Nothing could be further from the truth.
We had warned and warn everyone, both within and outside Cyprus, that the solution we are working for must reunite our country and people and not institutionalise and legitimize the separate living of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. We are fighting for a solution that will ensure full demilitarization and the withdrawal of the settlers; for a solution that will reunite our country and people under a bi-communal bi-zonal federation with political equality as set out in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions; for a solution that will lead to a united state with a single sovereignty, a single international personality and a single citizenship; for a solution that will ensure the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots, including the right of return of the refugees to their homes and properties.
We had warned and warn that if the negotiations do not continue from where they had left off with Talat, the result will be an endless and fruitless procedure, harbouring many dangers. We insist on the position that it is unrealistic to believe that if we abandon the convergences achieved by Christofias-Talat, we can come up with something better with Eroglu in the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community. We urge the President of the Republic to set aside the pre-election frenzy, the myths that were propagated about the supposedly “unacceptable concessions” made by Demetris Christofias, so that we won’t be led to new adventurist actions, as was the case with the issue regarding the drawing up of a new Joint Communique.
We stress that a reunited Cyprus does not need guarantees of any foreign countries, nor of NATO. The lesson from historical experience demonstrates that interventions in states only bring suffering and dependencies. Therefore, none of all those within the international community interested to solve the Cyprus problem can expect that AKEL will support such actions and developments.
To achieve all these and other goals we need to forge unity of forces. This must be built within and outside of the National Council on the basis of principles and not on dealings and give and take transactions, but nor on any illusions, at least not with regards the Cyprus problem. We cannot and must not sacrifice the future of our people for the sake of petty-party and political considerations and expediencies.
However, we also have another duty, namely that we, united, must isolate and stamp out politically the monster of fascism and nationalism – chauvinism.
I will not talk about the severe responsibilities of almost all the political forces on how we arrived at the incidents that took place at the Technical University recently (Note: a meeting on the Cyprus problem attended by Mehmet Ali Talat was interrupted by extreme-right elements). AKEL has for years been warning that extreme fascist forces must not be encouraged. We stressed that for the sake of cultivating a climate against Demetris Christofias and AKEL the last five years, some circles and forces paved the way and prepared the ground for neo-fascism to develop. Even when AKEL had denounced with documents and evidence about the illegal activities of neo-fascism in Cyprus, almost everyone rushed to mock us. Some were playing games with “good and well -educated youth”, as the Archbishop had called them then.
We did not close, nor will we close our eyes to this phenomenon. The consequences of the economic crisis and the deliberate depreciation and denigration of the political parties prepare the ground for the emergence of neo-fascism. To these developments, we point out the tolerance shown by the forces of the Right who pretended they did not see the growth of neo-fascism and allowed it to spread its influence at all levels. They consider that neo-fascism is their reserve shock force in the anti-communist struggle and are under the illusion that it doesn’t threaten them. However, we draw other lessons from historical experience. Historical experience demonstrates that after the Jews and the Communists, fascism also turns against Social Democrats, even conservatives, to suffer the persecution of fascism.
Consequently, let no one pretend today that they are shocked by the growth of neo-fascism. If the President of the Republic means what he says in that he has decided to stamp out fascist behaviour, AKEL will be at the forefront of this effort. AKEL will lead the struggle to isolate politically fascism and racism and to bring to justice all those who with their fascist actions are violating the laws and directly threatening democracy in our country.
However, perhaps the most important of all is the healing of the wounds through the admission of the historical truth in Cyprus. I will cite just one example. When D.Christofias and AKEL dared to talk about a unity of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on a political basis, when D.Christofias and AKEL dared to remind everyone of the crimes committed by Greek Cypriot nationalists against Turkish Cypriots, we came under a fierce all-out attack from the entire political and media establishment.
Yet who today can reject the position that if we want to live peacefully in our country Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots must tear down the walls of ethnic segregation and work together on a political basis? Who can deny, for example, that the six Turkish Cypriots who were buried just a few days ago in occupied Famagusta were victims of fascism of a group of Greek Cypriots who arrested and executed in cold blood almost 80 Turkish Cypriot in the village of Tochni? The truth must finally be told in this country – without relieving Turkey of its responsibilities for the occupation, without forgetting the crimes committed by Turkish Cypriot chauvinism too, we should acknowledge the historical reality and raise people’s consciousness of it.
Only then can we heal the wounds of the past and look ahead to struggle for our common future, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots united as one. In this context and in view of all these developments, the cooperation between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in a broad, mass popular front today assumes even greater value. The upcoming mobilisation for International Workers Day organized by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot trade unions, with the organisation of the first joint May Day rally since 1958, assumes more than ever before a vital historical significance. The People’s Movement of the Left will give on that day its own answer to all those trying to spread terror and shackle our people. The Peoples Movement of the Left will give its own reply to the occupation, division, austerity and Memoranda of impoverishment.
We will also be called upon to give our answer at the ballot box in the upcoming European elections. We have the obligation to give a decisive and effective reply, now we have all experienced the bitter taste of the decisions taken in our name, for and without us. Many thousands of Cypriots consciously abstained from the last Presidential Elections. However, today we are all suffering from the consequences of the decisions taken by those who made pre-election pledges and after the election broke their promises. There is no room for any illusions. In these elections it must be made clear that no one can and must not be indifferent. The result of every election determines their future; the future of one’s children; the future of our own country. If AKEL will be strong the day after the European elections, this will mean that there will be a powerful resistance force for the dignity and perspective of Cyprus and the Cypriot people. This is the most important message of the elections; apart from the need to have representatives in Europe not simply cheering and consenting to every decision and directive of Brussels.
We have much work ahead of us. As the great lyrics say, still more light is needed before dawn will appear. However, we, never, even now, have yielded! Let us all together double our efforts and work hard! To struggle! To honour Kavazoglou and Mishiaouli! To honour the friendship between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots! To fulfil our goals and visions! For the people! For Cyprus!
