This weeks funeral of 15 Turkish Cypriot victims of the atrocities committed by EOKA B in the villages of Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda in 1974 reminds us that chauvinism has been one of the main causes of our country’s tragedy.

As AKEL, we express our sincere condolences to all the relatives, friends and fellow villagers of the victims. The victims of the fascists of EOKA B in the mass slaughter of 126 people in the three villages were not soldiers on an army mission, they were unprotected citizens, the majority of whom were women and children.

The story becomes even more macabre if we take into account that these people were murdered, since previously many people were raped and abused.

The bloody massacre provoked by the chauvinism of EOKA B, and in particular the specific massacre committed on 14th August 1974, was a major cause for a cycle of crimes that were to follow. Subsequently,

Turkish Cypriot chauvinists proceeded to carry out a series of other crimes of retaliation that led to the massacre of unarmed Greek Cypriot citizens over the next few days. AKEL once again condemns all the crimes by chauvinism that were committed in our country with civilian casualties, whether they were Greek Cypriots or Turkish Cypriots. The condemnation of these crimes must be done by all those who want to heal the wounds of the past and build a peaceful future.

At the same time, it is imperative that the struggle against chauvinism and the ideologies that reproduce is waged by a society that does not want to repeat this dark chapter of its history.