Speech of Andros Kyprianou, General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL, at the mass event in honour of the Heroes and Martyrs Dervis Ali Kavazoglou and Costas Mishaoulis
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 10th April 2016, Dali village
51 years have passed since that Sunday when the fascism of the TMT murderers aimed directly into its heart of Cyprus and fired. 51 years have passed since that day when the fascists believed that by assassinating Kavazoglou and Mishaoulis they would also kill the vision of the people of Cyprus to live together in friendship and unity. More than half a century has elapsed since then.
Our country has suffered many other black Sundays, where imperialism, fascism and nationalism targeted again and again the heart of the vision of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Many black Sundays have passed soaked in blood, drowned in smoke, tears, pain and our people’s uprooting and displacement.
However our vision is still alive!
It becomes a wreath of honour for the sacrifice of Kavazoglou and Mishaoulis!
It becomes a duty and a vow of a whole people before the graves of Fazil and Savvas, Ahmed and Michalis, Ayhan and Elias. It is becoming the banner that is being raised high and higher still by the young generations of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who are struggling to live in their common homeland for their common future.
By killing Kavazoglou and Misiaoulis the fascists of TMT deprived the people of Cyprus and AKEL of two humble militants, two worthy trade unionists. However, they nourished with their heinous crime the faith in the struggle of the Cypriot people. They turned their sacrifice into a banner for the peaceful coexistence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots; into a banner for the reunification of our country.
Imperialism and nationalism had believed that in doing so they could do away with AKEL once and for all – the Party which embraced the Cypriot people and guided its actions in those turbulent years. However, they didn’t succeed in their plans. The genuine, real patriotism that was fighting for the independence of Cyprus and the prevalence of peace remained steadfast. Its driving force was the People’s Movement of the Left, led by AKEL.
AKEL, that force which no matter how much it was attacked did not yield and will never yield.
AKEL the force that is always in the front line of the common struggle of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, building with blood and sacrifices the bridge of rapprochement.
AKEL which dared to talk about the wounds, the criminal and abhorrent atrocities committed against our people; about the killings, the treason and betrayal of Cyprus.
AKEL that dared and is daring to talk about two politically equal communities; about one Cyprus that should belong to its people and not about half a Cyprus to be Greek; about the need for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to cut the umbilical cord from the so-called “mother countries” and to live in peace and harmony in our common homeland.
For decades the framework that divided our people was based on the idea that in Cyprus there are two separate masses. We dared challenge this perception. We dared to submit at the negotiating table proposals that tear down the walls of division that are based ethnic origin; proposals that will put confrontation on a political and class basis and not based on ethnic origin; proposals that render the reunified Republic of Cyprus the common homeland of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
We all remember how fierce and vile the attacks on comrade D. Christofias and AKEL were for daring to submit these positions as proposals at the negotiation table. We all remember that we came under an unprecedented attack headed by Mr. Anastasiades and all the other political forces. We have withstood and endured the war unleashed against us. We took on the weight of the attacks on our shoulders. We have endured the political cost. We know and insist today too that these positions are realistic, functional and unifying. We will not move from these positions because Mr. Anastasiades decided at some stage to finally project them.
They accuse us that we have identical positions with DISY party on the Cyprus problem when we have not changed one bit our long-standing positions. The positions we put forth during the D.Christofias governance are the same positions we uphold today. We will not shift from these positions now, indeed when our positions are being vindicated, so as not to be accused of collusion with DISY.
Mr. Anastasiades’ stand before the start of the negotiations led developments to stagnation and a regression on the Cyprus problem. Back then, Mr. Anastasiades followed the tactics of those forces and circles who today are talking about a supposed collusion between DISY and AKEL; tactics based on enraged behaviour, more words than substantive work, statements made for internal consumption and petty-political considerations. The result of the tactics of those accusing our positions was the Turkish vessel “Barbaros” wandering south of Cyprus. The result was that we received the worst Report on the Cyprus problem prepared by the UN Secretary General. The regression was halted when Mr. Anastasiades finally decided to change course and abandon their advice and project the Christofias- Talat convergences. The regression was stopped, but we began negotiations in a worse framework. This always happened whenever we wasted time on nationalist rhetoric aiming to play up to people’s emotions instead of the need for a solution.
We must all finally realize that our people have had more than enough of empty slogans and rhetoric over so many years. The people expect real work from us. We have experienced so much suffering and certain forces are still insisting on rhetoric and that we should change the framework of the framework of the solution. They are seeking to change the strategic objective and return to the single state of 1960 which it should be noted these forces vehemently fought against back then. This tactic of certain political parties made our work difficult for years. The responsibilities of Mr. Anastasiades however and of DISY too are not minimal. Often in the past they were guided by electoral considerations and expediencies. The presidential elections of 1993, 1998 and 2008 are all characteristic examples.
Unfortunately however neither now are pre-election tricks absent. On the one hand Mr. Anastasiades says that he will solve the Cyprus problem by the end of the year. On the other hand, he is proceeding to recruit professional soldiers in November, targeting the votes of conscript soldiers and their parents. He is proceeding to the third licensing round for the plots of hydrocarbons despite the fact that he knows that it will not have any practical relevance. The only thing that interests him is to convey the message that he is not afraid of anyone, without caring about the possible negative impact on the negotiating procedure.
Such actions always plunged Cyprus’ cause into turmoil, just so that certain forces will not lose power or remain tied to it. We will continue to serve the vision of the people of Cyprus with faith, courage and consistency. We have had enough of people who hold our fate in their hands and who are pursuing two contradictory policies. On the one hand they talk about an honorable compromise and on the other hand they issue statements for domestic consumption. On the one hand they lay wreaths to those who brought destruction to our people and on the other they say they want to cultivate a culture of reunification. We have had enough of those forces and circles who appease people with patriotic slogans and who are shaken the next day by the stark reality bringing partition increasingly closer.
“You are ready to sell everything out”, the super-patriots accuse us. We all know who has experience in selling-off Cyprus. For us the correct solution of the Cyprus problem is our principal and unswerving goal. It is the only way our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, can live without their survival being threatened in the land of their birth. It is the only way to create conditions for growth, prosperity and progress. These certainly cannot be ensured by agreeing to any kind of solution, but only a solution that will terminate the occupation and colonization; a solution that will restore the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and unity of the Republic of Cyprus; a solution based on UN resolutions, the High-Level Agreements, International and European Law; a solution to demilitarize Cyprus and that will exclude any guarantees or rights of intervention in the internal affairs of our country by foreign forces; a solution that will reunite the territory, people, institutions and the economy under a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality as described in the UN texts. Such a solution must be put to referenda after having being agreed at the negotiating table.
We have said it many times and shall keep on repeating it. For AKEL the solution of the Cyprus problem means concluding an honorable compromise with our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, not a compromise with the occupation or with any third party. We said it many times and we shall repeat it: no one should believe that AKEL is given. We have our positions on the Cyprus problem which are vindicated by developments themselves. This is the policy guiding us and nothing else.
“There is no longer any hope to solve the Cyprus problem, no one care about the solution anymore, other issues are of concern,” say others. For sure disappointment, inaction and indifference kill hope. Woe if hope is lost. Woe if we give up. If we were to do so, we will inevitably slide into very negative developments, catastrophic for Cyprus and our people. AKEL will never compromise with such a development. It will fight for the liberation and reunification of our country.
Other forces and circles are trying to kill the hope for resistance to the anti-social policies of the Government. We can see this now during the election campaign. They are propagating the idea that “they are all the same” and that “nothing can be changed.” Not everyone is the same! Just look at what each political force voted in the House of Representatives. AKEL voted against the cuts in wages, social benefits and public wealth. AKEL voted against foreclosures, the extension and liberalization of shop working hours, against privatizations and the humiliation of the supposed “Minimal Guaranteed Income”.
AKEL is the only force that voted against all of these policies and measures.
AKEL is the only force able to reverse them all. If bills that will affect our lives in the coming decades were approved by just one vote difference in parliament everyone can understand how important it is in these elections not to lose a single vote; for the people to strengthen their power; for a powerful AKEL to be able to make the difference! We are not all the same!
AKEL has never been afraid to tell the truth ∙ it never yielded when it confronted the terror of fascism. AKEL didn’t support one position before the election and another position after the elections. AKEL never wore different masks on the Cyprus problem, propagating nationalist rhetoric, devising grandiose doctrines, spreading lies and slogans which have cost a lot to the people of Cyprus.
It is for all these reasons that we address every Cypriot and call on him/her to stand with us in the struggle for a better tomorrow!
In the struggle for a free and reunified Cyprus! We will win this battle to give a future and a perspective to our country and people so that the sun of freedom and justice can rise over our island.
Long live Cyprus!
Yasasin Kibris!
