AKEL Declaration on the 61st anniversary of Cyprus Independence
1 October 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
AKEL honors the 61st anniversary of Cyprus Independence addressing a call to all our people – Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Armenians, Maronites and Latins – for an unyielding struggle for the liberation and reunification of our common homeland. We honor the Republic of Cyprus by holding high the flag of Cyprus, the flag of our homeland and struggle. On the occasion of Cyprus Independence Day, AKEL pays tribute to the heroes of the modern history of our people who defended Freedom and Democracy against colonialism, chauvinism, the coup d’état and invasion.
AKEL had disagreed with the 1959 Zurich-London Agreements with the well-known commitments that were imposed on our people. At the same time, however, it addressed a call for unity between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots so that our common state could function and together we could assert the completion of independence.
The foreign plans for the division of our country and the ideological concepts of “Enosis” (Note: Union with Greece) and “Partition” respectively, however, undermined the Republic of Cyprus and eventually led to the tragedy of 1974. However, the Republic of Cyprus, despite being undermined from within and abroad, stood firm, a shield and weapon of the Cypriot people in its struggle for survival and vindication.
The 61st anniversary of Cyprus Independence finds our country and people with the nightmarish possibility of permanent partition more visible than ever and the occupying power engaging in unprecedented aggression. AKEL signals in every direction that it will never accept neither the partitionist-occupation status quo, nor a two state solution under any guise it may be promoted. The demands of the Erdogan-Tatar duo, but also the various ideas currently being promoted for confederation are a provocation to our people. Any prevalence of such scenarios will be the beginning of a cycle of permanent instability and tension on our island. At the same time, the prolongation of the stalemate and the absence of negotiations on the Cyprus problem leads, by another route, to the same nightmarish outcome.
Only a solution to the Cyprus problem on the agreed basis and framework can guarantee a future of peace and security for all Cypriots. This solution is the only one that can restore the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus and free our island from the occupying troops and Turkey’s guarantee/intervention rights.
This solution shields the Republic of Cyprus by transforming it from a unitary state into a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality as outlined in the relevant Resolutions of the UN. This solution reunites our country and people and restores the human rights of all Cypriots. This is precisely why AKEL insists so adamantly that talks must resume from the point where they were interrupted in 2017 at Crans Montana.
The march AKEL is organising this Sunday, 3 October is a call of struggle for the solution, for reunification. For Cyprus!
