The declaration of the pseudo-state in occupied Cyprus by Rauf Denktash in November 1983 was another step in Turkey’s attempt to consolidate the partition of Cyprus and our people.

This action constituted a new and ongoing violation of International Law by the occupying power Turkey, an act which was also condemned by the UN, in particular with the adoption of UN Security Council Resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984). In the years that followed, Turkey systematically implemented – and indeed in recent years has intensified – a draconian strategy of political, economic and cultural assimilation of the occupied territories and the Turkish Cypriot community itself.

AKEL condemns the declaration of the illegal regime, defending the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Cyprus, which is the common home of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

We condemn the 45-year occupation of our homeland, but also Turkey’s new aggression against Cyprus and its sovereign rights this time at sea. We respond with our total commitment to the struggle for freedom and the reunification of our country. For the liberation of Cyprus from the Turkish occupation, from the foreign guarantees and intervention rights, from the barbed wires of division and armies.

For a solution of the Cyprus problem based on principles that will transform the Republic of Cyprus into a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as described in the relevant UN resolutions.

AKEL declares in every direction that it will never compromise with the partitionist status quo and that it will never accept or discuss a solution of the Cyprus problem outside the agreed framework, confederation or a two-state solution.

At the same time, we address a greeting of friendship and unity to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots who are resisting the occupation, the colonization, Ankara’s suffocation embrace and chauvinism; to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots who are defending the existence and identity of their community, as well as the prospect of the reunification of our common homeland. Ten days before the two leaders’ crucial meeting with the UN Secretary-General in Berlin, AKEL calls on everyone – the political leadership, political forces and people – to sense that the Cyprus problem and Cyprus itself are going through critical and dangerous times.

It is our hope that the tripartite meeting will lead to steps towards the resumption of substantive negotiations, on the agreed basis and framework. On the occasion of the anniversary of the declaration of the pseudo-state,

AKEL is organized an anti-occupation political rally on, Friday, 15th November 2019, at the Orfeas check point in Nicosia at 19:00 p.m.

The keynote speaker at the event willpGeneral Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL Andros Kyprianou.