THE 50th anniversary of the twin crimes of 1974, namely the coup d’etat and the Turkish invasion, is a painful moment for our homeland people. The Turkish occupation and the division of Cyprus are continuing and consolidating every day that passes.

Thousands of Cypriots are passing away with the bitterness of their uprooting as refugees and with our people’s struggle not being vindicated because the treason that was committed has gone unpunished.

On the occasion of the black anniversaries of the coup and invasion, AKEL addresses a message of unity and struggle to all the Cypriot people. A message of struggle for freedom, democracy and reunification.

The coup d’etat of the Greek junta and EOKA B of July 15 1974 and the Turkish invasion of July 20 and August 14 1974 were the two component parts of the same Nato plan for the division of our homeland people, a plan that drowned our island in blood and devastation.

AKEL expresses its gratitude and honour to the sons and daughters of the Cypriot people who, in the summer of 1974, defended democracy and the freedom of Cyprus with their blood and lives against the coupists and invaders.

We continue to stand by our compatriots who bore the brunt of the tragedy of 1974, the families of the fallen and the missing persons, the wounded, the disabled and prisoners of war, the women who suffered rape, our refugees and enclaved people [in the occupied territories].

AKEL will continue to defend the historical truth about the tragedy of 1974 against falsification, historical revisionism and any attempt to pardon/exonerate the betrayal that was committed.

It will insist on speaking plainly and naming names about the role of Nato, the betrayal of the Greek Junta and EOKA B fascism, the barbarity and atrocities committed by the Turkish invading army of Attila and the Turkish Cypriot chauvinists against civilians and the massacres of Turkish Cypriot civilians carried out by Greek Cypriot chauvinists.

We will defend the democratic resistance and will demand that the state and society pay due honour to the fighters who defended the democratic legal and constitutional order and at the same time demand an end to any attempt to turn the protagonists of the high treason and fascist lawlessness into heroes.

Above all, we shall continue to demand that the state and society, especially the educational system, teach the young generations of our country the truth about modern Cypriot history. This becomes even more imperative given that the modern far right is an ideological continuation of the fascism that 50 years ago collaborated in the betrayal and bloody massacre of our country.

The 50th anniversary of the twin crimes of the coup and invasion is both a moment to review and a moment for reflection on the dramatic and dangerous phase in which the Cyprus problem and, by extension, Cyprus itself, finds itself.

The occupation is deepening, the colonisation [of the occupied areas] is eroding the Turkish Cypriot community, the usurpation of our occupied territories by Turkish and other foreign capital is growing, the militarisation of the island is multiplying the dangers, nationalism in both communities is widening the gap in people’s minds and time is plunging our country into the quicksand of permanent partition.

This year’s black anniversary must become an occasion to make it clearer than ever before, both inside and outside our island, that the Cypriot people will not compromise with the occupation and de facto partition, that they will never discuss the demands being put forward by Turkey and Tatar for a two-state solution.

Those forces and circles within the Greek Cypriot community too who, in previous years, had discussed a two-state solution behind the backs of the people, an action which is nothing but the other end of the thread of the 1974 betrayal, have already surrendered to face the inexorable judgement of history.

AKEL will not tire of repeating that the permanent partition of our homeland will mark the beginning of a new and much more dangerous cycle of uncertainty and tension on our island, which will be to the detriment of all Cypriots. The fact that we are experiencing the longest negotiating stalemate in the history of the Cyprus problem should have sounded the alarm long ago.

Only the freedom and reunification of our homeland people can guarantee a future of peace and security and this can be achieved by solving the Cyprus problem on the agreed basis and framework providing for a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality as set out in the relevant resolutions of the UN.

AKEL on this opportunity also calls on the president of the Republic and the government to express with consistency the Greek Cypriot side’s readiness to resume the talks from the point where they were suspended in 2017 at Crans Montana, on the basis of the Guterres Framework and on all the convergences that have been recorded in the negotiations.

The President of the Republic and the government should take additional measures towards the Turkish Cypriot community and in favour of bi-communal co-operation. They should take initiatives in the field of energy issues with proposals that will render the solution beneficial to all sides.

AKEL was and is on the right side of history. It was the driving force of the popular struggle against the partitionist plans, it was the backbone of the resistance to the fascist terror, while hundreds of members and militants of AKEL and the left fought, and many of them gave their lives, in the battle against the coup d’etat and the invasion. AKEL was at the forefront of the efforts to provide relief to the refugees and the war-stricken people.

AKEL dared to advocate and promote the policy of rapprochement and the waging of a common struggle of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, to oppose nationalism and to defend the solution of federation with consistency.

Today, AKEL carries on its shoulders the historic responsibility to continue the struggle until the vindication of Cyprus. We call on the Cypriot people not to give in to disappointment and the difficulties surrounding the Cyprus problem.

We call on the Cypriot people to strengthen the flame of hope and the struggle for reunification and peace.

For a Cyprus that truly belongs to its People, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins.

For freedom, democracy, and reunification.