“We shall continue the struggle so that those who wanted and want partition will not be vindicated”

 

Statement by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL S.Stefanou at the laying of wreaths at the Monument to the Fallen anti-fascist Resistance Fighters

7 December 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

We came here today to lay our wreaths of gratitude and thanks to the people who fought and in the end fell, sacrificing their lives to defend democracy, the constitutional order and Cyprus too.

I say this because when EOKA B with its murderous actions undermined the lawful state and the democratically-elected President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios III, the protagonists knew that the overthrow of the constitutional order would lead to Turkey invading Cyprus. The protagonists of the coup d’état, the Greek junta and the EOKA B armed coupists, knew when they executed the coup that the plans that were hatched foresaw an invasion of Cyprus by Turkey in order to partitionist it.

For that reason, when we come here as we did today – on the day of the Day of Democratic Resistance – to lay our wreaths to the heroes of the resistance and to express our gratitude to all of you and to many others who are not with us here today, to all those who resisted at the risk of your own lives the fascist criminal actions of EOKA B and resisted the coup so that it would not pass, we are at the same time defending the historical truth. Turkey’s Ecevit didn’t wake up one morning and invaded Cyprus. The Greek junta and EOKA B opened the back door for him.

The history of the Cyprus tragedy did not begin on 20 July 1974. It began much earlier when Grivas came to Cyprus illegally, founded EOKA B, started killing, beating and engaging in bomb explosions, preparing the ground for the coup d’état and laying a red carpet for the NATO conspiracy that sought to partition Cyprus and transform it into an unsinkable aircraft carrier to serve the illegal aggression plans of the NATO alliance.

Therefore, in expressing our gratitude and honoring the fighters of the Resistance, we also defend the historical truth too. At the same time, we continue our struggle to prevent the finalization of the partition of Cyprus because unfortunately we are very close to the permanent partition of our homeland. Partition will vindicate all those who wanted and want the division of Cyprus. So that is why we will continue our struggle to prevent partition.

The prevention of partition will be achieved through the solution of the Cyprus problem. These are difficult times because we are facing a Turkey that is more provocative than ever, more aggressive than ever, a Turkey which, together with its puppet in the occupied territories, Ersin Tatar, is now officially putting forth a two state solution on the table, which means partition. We need to counter these efforts.

Turkey is taking advantage of the absence of any negotiations to impose new occupation fait accompli. You can see what Turkey is doing in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus, in the enclosed area of Famagusta and in other parts of Cyprus too.

I repeat that the only way to confront and prevent partition is to solve the Cyprus problem.

Of course, it is Turkey that plays the decisive role in the solution. Whether or not the Cyprus problem is resolved will depend on Turkey’s decisions. Perhaps Turkey’s whole behaviour may generate pessimism, but it must not lead us to turn away from the effort to reach a solution. We must try to do everything on our part to convince the international community that we really do have the will and want a solution to the Cyprus problem, within the framework of the High-Level Agreements and the resolutions of the United Nations. However at the same time, through our specific initiatives, we must put pressure on Turkey to abandon its partitionist policy and return to the negotiating table.

The President of the Republic, who is responsible for the handling of the Cyprus problem, must take specific initiatives. AKEL, because it is not a Party that merely expresses general and vague positions, but a Party that puts forward proposals and takes action to implement these proposals, has submitted a proposal to the President of the Republic since last December on how, in our view, the President and the Greek Cypriot side must act so that we exhaust every possibility that exists and depends on us to push things in the direction of resuming negotiations from the point from where they had remained at Crans Montana.

Laying our wreath of love, gratitude and recognition of the struggles of the fighters of the Resistance, we will also express our determination towards the brave resistance fighters who sacrificed their lives to save Cyprus, that we will continue this struggle to save Cyprus.

In the presence of the resistance fighters, I want to thank them on behalf of the Central Committee of AKEL for these struggles. If we are here today to fight this struggle to save Cyprus, it is due to their own struggles, whose efforts – even despite the betrayal of the Greek junta and EOKA B – gave us the right to fight to save our Cyprus, to end the Turkish occupation, to reunite our homeland and people.

We salute the Resistance fighters for their struggles, for this legacy they have left us.