Unity and the struggle to end the occupation and reunify Cyprus
AKEL on the second phase of the 1974 Turkish invasion
14 August 2026, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
The anniversary of the start of the second phase of the 1974 Turkish invasion – 14th August – adds to the painful anniversaries that have marked the modern history of Cyprus.
AKEL pays tribute and honours the children of the Cypriot people who fell on the battlefield defending our homeland against the Turkish army invasion. It expresses its solidarity with the community of the 1974 refugees, those who suffered during the war, the victims of rape, the families of the missing persons and our enclaved people in the occupied areas.
The second phase of the Cypriot tragedy began when Turkey, taking full advantage of the betrayal of the fascist coup of 15 July 1974, brought about the collapse of the Geneva Conference and, with the approval of the US -NATO, launched a new offensive on 14 August.
The Turkish army ‘Attila’ operation reached as far as Morphou in the west and Famagusta in the east, occupying almost 37 per cent of Cyprus’s territory, uprooting tens of thousands of Greek Cypriots from their land and imposing, by force of arms, the de facto partition of the island and the separation of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. The Turkish army and the Turkish Cypriot chauvinists who joined forces with it spread death and destruction, committing mass crimes, rapes, acts of destruction and atrocities against Greek Cypriots.
The Cypriot people remember that the 15 July treason committed by the Greek Junta and EOKA B continued into August. Even during those moments when our homeland was drowning in blood, the Greek junta officers and EOKA B coupists, instead of fighting on the battlefields to repel the invasion, remained behind the front lines and engaged in the massacre of Turkish Cypriot civilians, women, children and prisoners of war.
Indeed, they ordered the abandonment of the city of Famagusta, surrendering it without a fight to the Turkish army invaders, even though this was not part of their plans.
The dark and painful anniversaries of modern Cyprus serve as a reminder of the tragedy of 1974. At the same time, they remind us that as long as Cyprus remains semi-occupied and de facto partitioned, there can be no real and lasting peace and security.
AKEL hereby declares, on this occasion too, that only freedom and reunification can bring vindication and redemption to Cyprus. We send out a message of unity and unyielding struggle to end the occupation, free Cyprus from foreign “guardians” and guarantors, and reunite our island and people.
We call upon every Cypriot, man and woman, to stand united in the struggle for a solution to the Cyprus problem on the agreed basis of a Bi-zonal, Bi-communal Federation with political equality; and for this reason, AKEL with consistency supports the objective of resuming the negotiations from the point at which they were suspended in 2017, with the safeguarding of the negotiation acquis, including the convergences recorded and the Guterres Framework.
AKEL is organising a symbolic event to mark the anniversary on Friday, 14 August 2026 at 9 am at the Memorial to the Fallen and Missing Persons in Deryneia, followed by the presentation of a resolution to the UN Secretary-General at the Deryneia checkpoint.
