"Farewell comrade" - Cyprus paid last respect to communist leader Demetris Christofias

Thousands of cypriots, men and women of every age, attended the funeral of the former President of Cyprus and long-time General Secretary of AKEL, Demetris Christofias, who died on Friday at the age of 72. 

The funeral, which took place in Strovolos, dictrict of Nicosia, was also attended by numerous officials, including the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiades, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, members of the Cypriot government, as well as representatives of political parties from Cyprus and Greece. 

"Greece's communists will always remember him"- KKE on the passing of D. Christofias

Regarding the passing away of the former General Secretary of the CC of AKEL, also former President of the Republic of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued a statement of condolences. 

More specifically, the statement of the CC of the KKE points out:

"Comrade Demetris Christofias was born in August 1946 in the village of Kato Dikomo of Keryneia district and as a pupil he joined action. From an early age he believed in the right and served the interests of the cypriot people in all phases of his life. 

Former President of Cyprus and long-time AKEL leader Demetris Christofias dies at 72

Demetris Christofias.

Demetris Christofias, the former President of the Republic of Cyprus and long-time General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL party, has died in Nicosia. He was 72 years old. 

Doctors had said earlier that his health condition was extremely critical and irreversible.

Born in 1946, Christofias studied in Moscow, in the Soviet Union, at the Institute of Social Sciences, Academy of Social Sciences, from which he received a degree in history.  

"The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is dangerous"- Statement by the KKE

The Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) in its statement on the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean notes:

"The situation in the Eastern Mediterranean is dangerous. This is clear due to the violation of Cyprus' EEZ by the Turkish drilling ship "Fatih" and the search and rescue ship "Barbaros", the threats of the Turkish government regarding Cyprus and the Aegean, as well as due to the intensification of the criminal Israeli aggression against Palestine and its bombing of Gaza.

KKE: Statement on the trilateral Greece - Cyprus - Israel summit with the US participation

Pompeo - Anastasiadis- Netanyahu- Tsipras.

On the occasion of the trilateral summit in Jerusalem between Greece, Cyprus and Israel, with the participation of the United States of America, the Press Bureau of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement:

"The trilateral meeting in Jerusalem between Greece - Cyprus - Israel, with the participation of the American Secretary of State is being presented a “milestone” in developments.

The SYRIZA government is 'leading the dance', which up until a few days ago hoped that the trilateral meeting would be hosted in Crete and that the participation of Pompeo would be recorded as yet another recognition of its "offer" to  American-NATO designs in the eastern Mediterranean and wider.

92 years since the foundation of the Cypriot Communist Party - Statement by AKEL

The 19th of August marked the 92nd anniversary since the foundation of the Communist Party of Cyprus which in 1941 was renamed as AKEL (Progressive Party of Working People). 

On the occasion of the Party's foundation, the Press Office of the Central Committee of AKEL issued the following statement:

"The foundation of the Communist Party of Cyprus in Limassol on 19 August 1926 was and remains a landmark in our country’s history. From that day onwards, the working people of Cyprus acquired their own Party. 

The revolutionary message conveyed throughout Cypriot society by the Communist Party of Cyprus (CPC) is summarized in the following reference of its Program: "People are no longer dividedinto Greeks and Turks to fight amongst themselves about the greatness of their homelands, but dividedinto the poor and the wealthy." This is the class and internationalist content of the ideology that has been guiding the CPC-AKEL for 92 years.

AKEL honored the memory of Cypriot communist leader Ezekias Papaioannou

Ezekias Papaioannou (1908-1988).

Last April, during the inauguration ceremony of a park named after Ezekias Papaioannou* in the city of Limassol, the Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) honored the memory of the Cypriot communist leader. AKEL's General Secretary Andros Kyprianou praised the role of Papaioannou in Cypriot politics and made some references to the late leader's life and political activity.

Among other things, Kyprianou referred to Papaioannou as "one of the most important political leaders of our country, one of the important personalities of the international communist movement" and "a Communist who lived a life full of struggles and service", beginning his speech with a passage from the memoirs of former Cypriot President (also former AKEL leader) Demetris Christofias: 

KKE Gen. Secretary Koutsoumbas warns of a “hot” incident between Greece and Turkey

“As the situation goes on, I am afraid that we will not avoid a “hot” incident” said Dimitris Koutsoumbas, General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece during a TV interview on Tuesday.

Speaking to ANT1 News, Koutsoumbas expressed his Party's concern about the latest developments in the Greek-Turkish relations. More specifically, he said:

“It seems that the policy of the Turkish bourgeois class, of the Turkish government, of Mr Erdogan, is oriented to put on the table- he already does verbally as well as practically- the violation of Greece's sovereign rights, the challenge of the Lausanne treaty, of Greek islands and islets in the Aegean which are Greek territory." 

"British imperialists out of Cyprus": Militant demonstration by the KKE at Akrotiri

A militant demonstration organised by the Cyprus Party Organisation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) was held on Sunday outside the British RAF base at Akrotiri, from where airstrikes were launched against Syria. 

Carrying placards with slogans "NATO Killers Go Home" and KKE flags, the protesters called the working people of Cyprus to "assert their opposition to the facilitations given to the British butchers who are bombing the Syrian people. The British bases must be closed down now. Neither soil, nor water to the murderers of the people". Various international media (BBC, Associated Press, Sky News, etc.) reporting from Cyprus referred to the demonstration. 

AKEL expresses "deep concern" about the nuclear power station in Turkey's Akkuyu

In a statement today, the Cypriot Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL) expresses its deep concern for the beginning of the construction of the nuclear plant in Akkuyu, Turkey. 

The construction was launched yesterday April 3, with a ceremony attended by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin,  as part of the agreement signed between Turkey and Russia in 2010, Russian State Nuclear Energy Agency Rosatom undertook the construction of the NPP in Turkey's southern province of Mersin.

63 years ago: EOKA's nationalists begin the armed struggle in Cyprus

Members of EOKA in Troodos mountain. Third
from the right is Georgios Grivas (sitting).

It was the 1st of April 1955, 63 years ago, when the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters, known by the acronym EOKA, began its armed guerrilla struggle aiming at the union of Cyprus with Greece. 

EOKA was a nationalist, deeply anticommunist organisation. The plans for its creation had already began in 1950, with the active support of the Greek bourgeois class and the consent of Archbishop Makarios. The organisation's leader was the notorious nationalist, known for his anticommunist sentiments, Georgios Grivas. 

It is characteristic that during the Nazi occupation of Greece in 1940s, Grivas had founded and led the "X" far-right guerrilla organisation, which was mainly made up by officers of the bourgeois Greek army. During the December 1944 events in Athens, members of the "X organisation fought alongside Greek bourgeois forces and British imperialists against the EAM-ELAS popular movement. 

KKE: The EU's verbal condemnations of Turkey do not consist a guarantee for peace

Regarding the European Union-Turkey Summit in Varna, the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece issued the following comment:

"The complacency environment which is cultivated after the EU-Turkish Summit of Varna does not correspond to reality and even more must not hide that actually it consists a revitalization of the EU-Turkey talks, in a series of issues, on the basis of the aknowledgement that Turkey is a strategic partner of the EU.

"NO to imperialists!" - Greek communists send powerful message during KKE rally

With the major slogans being "NO to the plans of Government-Imperialists" and "Disengagement from NATO-EU", thousands of people attended the anti-imperialist rally organised by the Communist Party of Greece on Tuesday afternoon in Athens' Syntagma Square. 

Workers, students, unemployed people, pensioners as well as soldiers raised their voices against the NATO-EU plans in the Balkans and the Middle East and expressed their solidarity to the struggle of the people who fight against imperialism in every corner of the world. The rally was addressed by the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas who refered to the developments in the Greek-Turkish relations, the dangerous role of the US-NATO-EU in the Aegean and the Balkans and condemned the government of SYRIZA for being a loyal servant of the imperialist unions. 

AKEL condemns attack on "Afrika" newspaper: "The moral perpetrator is President Erdogan himself"

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 22nd January 2018, Nicosia.

AKEL denounces today’s attacks by extreme nationalist forces against the “Afrika” newspaper in the occupied areas. The moral perpetrator of the attacks is the Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan himself, whose recent references in Bursa bluntly targeted the newspaper “Afrika”.

As AKEL, we express our solidarity with Sener Levent and the newspaper “Afrika”, which is once again being targeted because it dared to refer to Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus on the occasion of Turkey’s ongoing invasion of Syria’s Arfin region.

Statement by the KKE on the 43 years since the 1974 Turkish invasion in Cyprus

On the occassion of the 43 years since the invasion of the Turkish military forces in Cyprus (20 July 1974), the Press Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement:

Source: 902.gr / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

“43 years have been passed since the Turkish invasion and the continuous occupation of the 37% of Cyprus, since the crime against the Cypriot people which took place within the framework of NATO, with the support of the American and British imperialism.

Cyprus Issue: The KKE warns about the dangerous partition "solution" that is being promoted

Source: inter.kke.gr.

On July 11, 2017 a discussion of the leaders of the political parties was held in the Greek parliament regarding the developments in the Cyprus issue and the outcome of the negotiations in Geneva.

During the discussion, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, GS of the CC of KKE, underlined that the Cyprus issue is an international problem of invasion and occupation of the northern part of Cyprus by Turkey. It is a problem that bears the stamp of NATO intervention, of the general imperialist plans for the region.

Tripartite Summit of Greece-Cyprus-Israel: Who will be benefited from this "strategic partnership"?

Source: inter.kke.gr.

Another link in the chain of plans and antagonisms that are dangerous for the peoples

On 15/6 the 3rd Greece-Israel High Level Cooperation Council and the Tripartite Summit of Greece-Cyprus-Israel were held in Thessaloniki with the participation of the Prime Ministers A. Tsipras and B. Netanyahu and the Cypriot President N. Anastasiades.

The discussions and decisions taken there reflect the government's goal regarding the geo-strategic enhancement of local business groups, the interconnection of capital from the three countries and the expansion of their joint business activity, mainly regarding energy resources and transport routes.

KKE: People’s struggle for a united Cyprus without guarantors and protectors

Source: inter.kke.gr.

The Party Organization of the KKE in Cyprus held on Saturday the 11^th of February a meeting in Lefkosia (Nicosia), Cyprus with as its theme the positions of the KKE on the Cyprus issue. Giorgos Marinos, member of the PB of the CC of the KKE, spoke at the meeting.

His speech was as follows:

“The KKE is preparing for the 20^th Congress which will be held between 30^th of March and 2^nd of April and there is an ongoing creative dialogue- on the basis of the theses of the CC- in which members and friends are participating, a large number of working people.

The major objective of the Theses of the CC and the final decisions of the Congress is the all-round ideological-political-organizational steeling of the KKE and its Youth, as a Party of revolutionary overthrow. This steeling is a necessary precondition in order to carry out the complex tasks of the labour movement's recasting, the struggle against imperialist war, the building of social alliance towards an anticapitalist, antimonopoly direction aimed at workers' power.

Elisseos Vagenas (KKE): The struggle for a united Cyprus must continue

The ongoing developments regarding the Cyprus Issue were the major subject of an interview given by Elisseos Vagenas, member of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and responsible for the Party's International Relations department, on the Voice of Greece radio.

As Vagenas pointed out, the bazaars for the "solution" plan move towards the creation of a new Annan Plan, which conditions the creation of two constituent states and, in fact, consists a dichotomοus solution, with occupational forces, foreign bases and guarantor powers remaining in the island.

He underlined that the actual basis of the bazaars is the dangerous developments in south eastern Mediterranean and in the Middle East and that the promoted solution in Cyprus could become the "pattern" for the occupation of other lands in Syria or Iraq.

KKE: The people must be ready and vigilant - Statement about foreign policy and the Cyprus Issue

Statement of the GS of the CC of the KKE about foreign policy and the Cyprus Issue.

The GS of the CC of the KKE, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, noted the following on 28/11/2016 in his statements on Foreign Policy and the Cyprus Issue:

“The KKE follows with concern the latest developments regarding both Greek-Turkish relations as well as the Cyprus Issue. The KKE expresses its opinion with responsibility and calls on the Greek people to be in a state of readiness and vigilance.

The major everyday problems which afflict our people are expected to worsen in the coming period, as a result of the second “evaluation” and the government's new agreements with its partners in the EU and IMF.