The memory of Ezekias Papaioannou was honored

9 April 2026 Dialogos website

“He led AKEL in critical struggles for the country”

With references to Ezekias Papaioannou’s enduring contributions and decisive role in the Cypriot people’s struggles, a wreath-laying ceremony was held yesterday at the grave of the historic AKEL leader.

In his brief address, the General Secretary of AKEL Stefanos Stefanou, emphasized that for four decades, Ezekias Papaioannou was the leader who guided the Party in difficult and complex conditions, making a decisive contribution to the struggles waged for Cyprus, workers, and the people.

As S.Stefanou noted, his assumption of the Party’s leadership in 1948 coincided with a critical period during which the Cypriot people were asserting the right to self-determination and liberation from the British colonial yoke. Under his leadership, he pointed out, AKEL was at the forefront of the anti-colonial struggle, through the waging of fierce mass political struggles.

Stefanou underlined that AKEL’s actions during that period caused concern among the colonial administration due to the influence and momentum it was building within the Cypriot social and political landscape.

At the same time, the General Secretary of AKEL made a special reference to the class struggles and significant workers’ gains that were achieved under the leadership of AKEL and the PEO trade union movement, stressing that these formed the basis for the Party’s mass growth and strengthening.

“It was this presence, in conjunction with the class struggles and the major worker’s gains that were achieved by the working class and working people in general, under the leadership of AKEL and the class-based trade union movement of PEO, that served as the springboard for AKEL to grow into a mass movement and become the biggest, mass-rooted and most militant force in the country. We had the entire subsequent course of the Party. A party of the Left, class-oriented, patriotically oriented, with a strong imprint on the political, social, and national developments of the country.”

The late Ezekias Papaioannou was born on October 8, 1908, in the village of Kellaki in the Limassol district. In August 1949, at the Party’s 6th Congress, he was elected to the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL. On April 10, 1988, the People’s Movement of the Left of Cyprus bid farewell to Ezekias Papaioannou. “Papi” as his comrades and friends called him, dedicated his life to the party of the working-class party and the people. He waged daily battles for the working class and never compromised with the policies of capital. He was loved by the working people and fought for them until the very end.