Statement by the General Secretary of AKEL A.Kyprianou

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 27 August 2019

It seems that the Presidential Palace and ruling Democratic Rally DISY party are in a panic. Otherwise the phenomenon of saying one thing and acting differently, where they pretend to hear one thing and respond in a different way cannot be explained.

They accuse AKEL of supposedly being indifferent to the Cyprus problem. For two years, the only political party in Cyprus that has repeatedly been addressing appeals to the President of the Republic to take initiatives on the Cyprus problem was AKEL. The President refused to listen. The rest of the political parties and DISY kept silent. Suddenly, feeling the pressure from the international community, Mr. Anastasiades decided to deal with the Cyprus problem. When, of course? At a time when Turkey’s provocative and aggressive actions had peaked. At a time when various sides – and I regret to say within the Greek Cypriot community as well – are pushing the demand for a change in the agreed framework (of the solution), and the demand for a two-state solution.

Now that they have worn the mantle of being interested on the Cyprus problem, they are trying to tell us that we aren’t interested in the Cyprus problem. They are trying to deliver lessons on patriotism. We therefore reply that we do not accept lessons on patriotism from anyone and from DISY in particular. We have demonstrated in practice that we are a patriotic party. At political cost, we have backed the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem even though we are in opposition and they have treated us in an unethical way all through these years. We tell them that AKEL will once again prove what a patriotic party it is and not in words that are meaningless as the Presidential Palace and DISY are acting.

Do you want me to recall what the President and DISY did in 1993? They transformed themselves just a few months before the Presidential Election in order to win the election.

They did the same in 1998 when they suddenly discovered the theory of the “active volcano” (on the Cyprus problem).

Mr. Anastasiades did the same in 2013. He had no problem working with the Democratic Party DIKO, despite all the many differences they had over the Cyprus problem.

They did the same in 2018, when a year and a half before the presidential elections they made sure to remove the Cyprus problem from the centre of attention so they could win the Presidential Election.

History thus proves who is a patriotic party and who is wasting time by engaging in big empty talk and sloganeering, devoid of content.

As for the issue regarding the report released by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), I have to say that the government ruling force’s logic is very strange. The President of the Republic is accused of very specific things by this Observatory. AKEL also demands that the President provides answers to these very specific things. They reply to anything other than on all that they are being accused of. The goal, of course, is evident: to shift the substance of the debate anywhere else, other than on the substance of the accusations made against the President of the Republic.

I will therefore reiterate for the umpteenth time. Cyprus is being vilified. Cyprus is being defamed internationally not for the actions of some random person, but for the actions of the President of the Republic and the law firm bearing his name. The President is obliged to respond to these accusations. We call on him once again – instead of avoiding and referring to anything but the substance of the accusations – to reply to them, as well as to reply in a convincing way to all that is being said – in his view – does not correspond to reality.

I also want to say the following. An attempt is underway to convey the message that it is AKEL’s insistence that is responsible for Cyprus being vilified internationally. I will tell them that it is not because of AKEL’s insistence that Cyprus is being vilified internationally. It is because of the inability of the President of the Republic to give a convincing reply to these specific accusations, that Cyprus is being vilified.

As to our position on the need to remove Mr. Anastasiades from power, I’ll simply say that it’s not a demand of AKEL. It is a demand of the Cypriot people.

And if they tell me that only a year and a half has gone by since Mr. Anastasiades was re-elected, I’ll just remind them of what has happened over the past year and a half by citing just two examples. I’m not going to say a lot of things. I’ll merely tell them that two Ministers were forced to resign. I don’t need to say anything more.