Parties condemn Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 52nd anniversary

Political parties on Monday condemned Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus, with the day marking exactly 52 years since troops first landed on the island.

Disy said that “this dark anniversary is a reminder that the fight for the liberation and reunification of Cyprus remains ongoing and imperative”.

“We honour the heroes, Cypriots and people from Greece, who sacrificed themselves defending their homeland. Our thoughts are with the missing, the enclaved, and the displaced, who continue to experience the consequences of the occupation,” it said.

It added that “the achievement of a just, sustainable, and workable solution, which will reunite Cyprus in conditions of security and prosperity for all its lawful residents, is our historic responsibility”.

“With the support of Greece and leveraging our status as a member state of the European Union, we must consistently continue our efforts for a solution based on the agreed framework and European Union principles and values,” it said.

It added that it “reaffirms its commitment to national unity, solidarity, and oneness, and condemns the ongoing occupation and division of our homeland”.

“Our goal remains a free and reunified Cyprus, without occupying troops, guarantees, and invasive rights, where all citizens will live in conditions of permanent security and prosperity,” it said.

Akel said that it wished to “pay tribute to all our people who defended Cyprus during the Turkish invasion”, and to also pay tribute to “the Greek soldiers who fought alongside the Cypriot people”.

“Their sacrifice remains a timeless symbol of the fight for freedom and reunification,” it said.

It added that it will “continue to be together and by the side of our compatriots who bore the burden of the tragedy of 1974”, listing “the victims, the relatives of the missing, the prisoners of war, the wounded and disabled of war, the female victims of rape, the displaced community, and the enclaved”.

Then, it disputed Turkey’s position that it had acted in line with its rights and responsibilities in line with the Treaty of Guarantee, saying that Turkey’s arrival on the island, as well as the Greek military junta-sponsored coup d’état five days prior, were parts of “the Nato plan for the dismemberment of Cyprus”.

“Turkey never had as its goal either the ‘restoration of constitutional order’ or the ‘protection of Turkish Cypriots’, but the occupation and partition of our homeland and people,” it said.

It added that Turkey had “taken the baton of betrayal from July 15, invaded our island, sowing death, havoc, and destruction”, while “violating every concept of international law … shedding blood among our people, leaving behind thousands of dead and missing, uprooting tens of thousands of Cypriots and committing mass atrocities and war crimes”.

“In the 52 years of occupation which followed, Ankara, through colonisation, the illegal proclamation of the pseudo-state, and the strategy of political and economic control of the Turkish Cypriot people as well as its cultural assimilation, is trying to consolidate the division of the island and our people,” it said.

In response, it said, it will “never compromise either with the perpetuation of the current division or with the unacceptable Turkish demands for the legalisation of crime with a two-state solution”.

“The only realistic prospect for ending the occupation and the division was and remains the resolution of the Cyprus problem with a solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined in the relevant UN resolutions,” it said.

Elam, meanwhile, said that “the barbaric Turkish invasion indelibly marked our homeland, plunging it into mourning”, and that “our Cyprus suffered the murder of civilians, captivity, displacement, the rape of women and children, and a host of other war crimes”.

“Today, Cypriot Hellenism endures the consequences of the invasion and ongoing illegal occupation of 37 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, deprived of human rights. Fifty-two years after the atrocity, Turkey remains unpunished and the Cyprus problem remains unsolved,” it said.

It added that “instead of steps forward, current developments revolve around discussions based on the racist and undemocratic solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, and continuous concessions to the illegal formation of the occupied territories”.

“Elam continues to stand against all those who intend to sell our homeland out with a solution to Turkish standards, which would legitimise the faits accomplis of the invasion and give room to Turkish expansionism,” it said.

It added that it “remains faithful to the path of liberation, justice, and vindication”, and that “the Cyprus problem is not a bicommunal dispute, but a problem of invasion and illegal occupation”.

Diko said that it “condemns the Turkish invasion and the crimes of Atilla, and at the same time pays due tribute to those who defended democracy, freedom, and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus”.

“We honour our fallen and missing, the prisoners of war and the victims, the families who lived and continue to live with loss and uncertainty. We honour the displaced, who were forced to build their lives from scratch, without ever giving up the right to return,” it said.

It went on to say that it is “keeping the flame of historical truth unextinguished, especially at a time when Turkey and its entrenched forces in the occupied territories are engaging in provocative celebrations stained with the blood of our heroes”.

“We will not allow the attacker to be equated with the victim. We will not accept the falsification of history. We do not consider occupation normality, nor partition inevitable,” it said.

It added that it “remains committed to achieving a proper, functional, and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem”, and that such a solution will “ensure the transformation of the Republic of Cyprus into a functional, federal, and European state”.

That state, it said, will be “liberated from Turkish occupation and free from foreign troops, anachronistic guarantees, and interventionist rights”, while being “the common home for Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians, and Latins”.