Greek and Turkish Cypriot organisations will join forces this Tuesday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and join the regional campaign for a nuclear-free Europe.

The organisers, highlighting their opposition to the proposed nuclear power plant in Akkuyu on Turkey’s southern coast, are joining the call of anti-nuclear movements across the continent for April 26 to be a “European anti-nuclear day of action”.

“We call on all Cypriots to join us on 26 April at 9pm until 10 o’clock in the evening, on both sides of Ledra Street with their candles… We will create a human chain for the commemoration of the victims of Chernobyl,” said an announcement of the bicommunal initiative.

“Nuclear power is dangerous: yesterday at Chernobyl, today at Fukushima. There is no need for such a scenario to occur again tomorrow at Akkuyu which is just 90 km away from the Kyrenia coast,” it added.

The bicommunal group highlighted that more and more people are becoming aware that “the much advertised safety of the nuclear plants is highly questionable”.

The recent events in Japan has shined a light on nuclear projects in many other countries like Turkey, which plans to build a nuclear station near Akkuyu,  a highly seismic area, near the coast of Cyprus.

“Radiation from the normal operation of the plant as well as any serious leak as a result of an accident will demolish the quality of life of the nearby living beings, including humans. This Eastern Mediterranean basin is a huge and interconnected ecosystem. In the instance of a radiation leak, this will harm tens of kilometres around the nuclear plants,” said the group.

It notes: “Nuclear waste by itself is an environmental disaster that will last for centuries and no one can claim that there is a safe way of its disposal, since the danger of leak is always there. The cost of the disposal of nuclear waste is very high and this negates the theory that nuclear power is a cheap source of energy. This cost or the cost of environmental impact is not calculated. We honestly wonder: which area wishes to keep nuclear waste for some tens of thousands of years buried in their land?”

The group further argues that the nuclear danger facing Japan today could be repeated in many other parts of the world, particularly Akkuyu, which is located very close to a dangerous fault line.

“Our future is inextricably linked with the development of renewable energy and energy conservation,” it concludes.

The bicommunal initiative comprises of a number of parties and unions from across the divide, namely: AKEL, New Cyprus Party, United Cyprus Party, Cyprus Green Party, EDON, KTÖS, KTOEÖS, KTAMS, DAÜ-B?R-SEN, BES, ÇA?-SEN, and the Turkish Cypriot Association for Democracy (UK)

Source: Cyprus Mail

Also the leaders of the Republican Turkish Party and the Communal Democracy Party invite all Cypriots to a rally on Monday to support a Cyprus settlement based on a bi zonal  and bi communal Federation. The Turkish Cypriot Unions have stated they do not support this rally and that the New Cyprus party and the United Social Democratic party plan  a rally on May day.