In a statement marking the dark anniversary, AKEL notes, among other things, that “The dark anniversary of July 15 serves as a reminder of the greatest betrayal suffered by Cyprus and its people.”

The statement reads as follows

52 years since the fascist coup of July 15

The shame of this betrayal will forever haunt the fascists in Greece and Cyprus who colluded with Turkey and shed the blood of our people.

The dark anniversary of July 15 serves as a reminder of the greatest betrayal suffered by Cyprus and its people, when the fascist coup carried out by the Athens Junta and EOKA B handed the baton to Turkey to invade our island. The Cypriot people remember today the tanks that, on the junta’s orders, turned against the Presidential Palace, the Archbishopric, and other government buildings to overthrow the democratic government and assassinate the country’s democratically elected President. It recalls the hordes of the brutal EOKA B that raided every village and neighborhood in Cyprus, murdering, torturing, and arresting leftists and democratic Cypriots.

The coup to overthrow the Makarios government was not “reckless” but a deliberate collaboration with the NATO plan to partition our homeland, which is why it was followed by the Turkish invasion and the de facto division of our island and our people. Nor was it a “civil strife,” but rather an illegal act of terrorism by a dismal minority that, with the dollars of treason, turned against the entire people and the country’s legitimate government. Their betrayal continued because, once the invasion began, the coup plotters abandoned the battlefields, hid in the rear, and engaged in the murder of leftists, Makarian supporters, and Turkish Cypriot civilians, leaving the children of our people to face an unequal and treacherous confrontation with Attila.  The shame of betrayal will forever haunt the fascists in Greece and Cyprus who bathed our homeland and our people in blood.

AKEL pays tribute with gratitude, honor, and respect to the fighters of the Resistance who defended democracy and confronted EOKA-style terrorism, fascism, and the coup plotters in battles, in prisons, during interrogations, and under torture. AKEL once again recalls the House of Representatives’ Resolution of December 2022, which calls on the government and the entire State to honor the heroes of the Democratic Resistance and to refrain from any kind of tribute to the leader and members of EOKA B and/or officials of the coup government.

AKEL makes it clear to all that it will not cease to defend the democratic memory and the historical truth regarding the tragedy of 1974, in the face of the organized distortion of the truth by the right and the far right. The struggle against historical oblivion and the far right is an integral part of the Cypriot people’s anti-occupation struggle for freedom, reunification, and peace in our homeland.