AKEL on the 49th anniversary of the second phase of the 1974 Turkish invasion
The people remember the completion of the crime
14 August 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
The 14th August completes the horrific anniversaries of the tragedy of 1974 that led to the bloodshed of our people and divided our country. AKEL pays tribute to and expresses its respect for the children of Cyprus who sacrificed their lives in August 1974 in the uneven battle against the invaders. We stand by the war-stricken victims of 1974, the wounded and disabled, the women who were raped, the relatives of the fallen and the missing persons, our refugees and enclaved people in the occupied areas who bear the burden of the occupation.
Today the Cypriot people remember that Turkey, exploiting the treachery of the coup d’état and with the blessing of the US and NATO, proceeded with the second phase of the invasion, after having led, with its unacceptable demands, the Geneva Conference to collapse.
With the second invasion, Turkey occupied 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and completed the separation of the two communities by the force of arms. The invading Turkish army of Attila spread the uprooting of our people as refugees, death, rape and destruction from wherever it passed in those days and it became synonymous with barbarism.
Our people also remember that the treachery committed by the Greek junta and EOKA B continued during the second phase of the invasion, given that the city of Famagusta was abandoned on their orders and was surrendered without a fight to the Turkish army.
The Greek junta and EOKA B are also criminally responsible for the fact that instead of fighting on the front lines of the battle to confront the invaders, they engaged in massacres of Turkish Cypriot prisoners, women and children of in the rear.
The 49th anniversary of the second phase of the Turkish invasion finds the occupying power proceeding to impose new fait accompli to the detriment of Famagusta and the whole of Cyprus. AKEL will not tire of repeating that the course of developments on the Cyprus problem is worrying and dangerous. Any possible permanent partition of our homeland will mean a new cycle of suffering and adventures for the entire Cypriot people, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
AKEL will never compromise with the partitionist status quo or with any partitionist solutions.
For AKEL, the only way to reverse this disastrous course is the solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality and that is precisely why we insist on the need for a resumption of the talks, from the point where they were interrupted in 2017 at Crans Montana, on the basis of the Guterres Framework and the entire negotiating acquis (body of work). This is the most effective way to nullify the Erdogan-Tatar demands for “sovereign equality” and a two state solution.
AKEL held a symbolic event to commemorate the anniversary of the second invasion on Monday, 14 August 2023 at the Monument to the Heroically Fallen, Murdered and Missing Persons of 1974 in Deryneia. This was followed by a memorial service at the Deryneia checkpoint.
