August 6, 2014

Cyprus: Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Island’s partition

WFDY poster commemorating 40th anniversary of partition
 By Adrien Welsh - Chair of the International Commission of the YCL-LJC

During the 27th Pancyprian Festival of Youth and Students organized by EDON, the Communist youth of Cyprus, the World Federation of Democratic Youth organized an international solidarity event for freedom and unification in the divided capital of the Country, Larnaka on July, 4th. This action was the occasion to condemn the continuous occupation of the northern part of the country by Turkish troops and to demand their withdrawal.

This July commemorates the 40th anniversary of the double crime of NATO on the Mediterranean island.

On the 15th of July, 1974, EOKA 2, the fascist junta ruling Cyprus by that time, led among others by the notorious anti-communist Grivas - who had served against the National Liberation Army (ELAS) during Greek Civil War - perpetrated a coup d’État in order to achieve the annexation of Cyprus to Greece (“Enosi”), an idea long defended by the nationalist right. As a consequence, Turkey invaded the northern part of the country five days later legitimated by the defense of Turkish Cypriots’ interests, enacting the partition of the island.

Today, 40 years later, a “Green Line” still separates the country, affecting 250 000 people, that is, more than 20% of the population; 38% of the island is occupied by armed forces defending Turkey’s colonization enterprise.

This is intimately linked to imperialism’s plans for the Middle East. As we have been testifying for a long time and particularly now with Israel’s criminal operation against the Gaza strip, imperialist powers don’t hesitate to kill, subjugate, and divide people in order to safeguard their interests, markets and access to natural resources. With its strategic location between Europe and the Middle East, Cyprus’ colonization by Turkey (the only country in the Middle East to be member of NATO and OECD) meets the interests of the imperialists who can better control the eastern Mediterranean maritime routes. We should also remember that Cyprus is, along with Malta, the only state to refuse any partnership with NATO. Recent gas prospection activities off Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey shores showed great potential. This situation represents a great threat to peace, which is already very precarious in this region. As the capitalist crisis deepens, the search of new markets becomes crucial and, as the recent developments in the Middle East show, imperialism is determined to put its hands on every asset to guarantee its interests.

Therefore, the need for a patriotic and peaceful solution to the partition of Cyprus is now essential. Progressive Cypriots, among them young and working people, from both sides of the “Green Line” continue working together for the reunification of their country and the creation of a sovereign Cypriot demilitarized state. This struggle however is also linked to the rejection of the Troika’s interference into the country’s policies.

On the frontline of these struggles are the Communist Party (AKEL) and the Communist Youth (EDON). As the latter celebrated its 70th anniversary last April, the YCL-LJC sent its greetings that we thought should be reproduced here for the occasion of the 40th anniversary of resistance to the Turkish troops occupation and the fight for reunification.



Dear Comrades,

Please receive our warmest revolutionary greetings from Canada.

It is a great pleasure to address our most sincere and fraternal salutations to ΕΔΟΝ to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its creation. For 70 years, cypriot progressive youth has committed to fight for peace, for the interests of the people against imperialism. Weather it be for the struggle for national independence against British rulers, against the occupation of the island’s northern part by turkish imperialist forces or, more recently, against the privatization of semi-state organizations of electricity, telecommunications and ports imposed by the Troika; ΕΔΟΝ together with ΑΚΕΛ and Cyprus progressive movements have been at the forefront of the struggle.

Comrades,

we would like to outline that this anniversary - that occurs simultaneously with the 40th year of the island’s partition - takes place in a general context of one of the most important capitalist crisis. As a consequence, attacks on working class and popular strata as well as enslavement of states as we witnessed in Venezuela and Ukraine are becoming more common and more violent.
In Canada, just like in Cyprus, privatizations figure on the agenda of pro-corporate reactionary forces. They are currently trying to further privatize Canada Post as a way to not only guarantee their economical interests but also to break any type of labour union’s resistance to austerity policies. A part from resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs, this would mean, for Canadians, the end of door-to-door mail delivery.

We, the Young Communist League of Canada - Ligue de la jeunesse communistes du Canada, are also fully committed to guarantee national equality within Canada, proposing a federative solution where the full right to self-determination of Aboriginal, Metis, Québec, Acadian and English-Canadian nations would be recognized.

As the Young Communist League of Canada, we want to insure our Cypriot comrades that we fully support your struggle against imperialist measures imposed by the European Union and the Troika: we have been following with great interest the huge mobilization of December 14th which gathered as more than 10 000 people in the streets of Nicosia.

We also want to express our full support of a peaceful solution to the Cyprus problem by a unitary federative state so the Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins be able to self-determine their own future in a demilitarized country.

Comrades,

Our international solidarity commitments aren’t just about words. In our perspective, it is by fighting all together in our own countries that we will defeat imperialism. Therefore, we want you to be insured that all our struggles and campaigns go further than Canadian borders, reaching all oppressed peoples fighting against imperialism.

Οχι στη διχοτόμηση του Κυπρου!
Long live international solidarity!
Long live socialism and communism!

Long live AKEΛ and EΔON!

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