A VISIT by a US warship to Limassol has left a set of embarrassing ironies for coalition partner AKEL, which sent people out to protest while Cypriot commandos received training on the ship by American marines with the blessing of the government.
To add insult to injury, AKEL Minister – Haris Thrasou – is the man who oversees who can come and go through the port. And if this isn’t enough, Limassol Akelite Mayor Demetris Kontides found himself in an awkward position after accepting a plaque from the US embassy just hours before the protest.
The US warship Donald Cook, which is deployed in the region, arrived in Limassol on Monday and leaves today after picking up supplies and carrying out a clean-up on a Limassol beach earlier yesterday.
AKEL mouthpiece Haravghi yesterday ran an article where the party and its youth wing EDON called on people to turn on en masse to demonstrate against the “imperialist” Americans.
The demonstration was organised by the Peace Council but all of AKEL’s party organs were urged to take part in sending the message that Cyprus territory cannot be used for the “imperialist agendas” against the Middle East.
They were also urged to denounce the “new world order” that imposes its will on the leaders of the world “and sacrifices populations for their own callous interests”
AKEL said it wanted to make clear that Cyprus does not want to be involved in any way in the warlike plans of the US and their allies. It called on all Cypriots to protest against the use of Cyprus in any way by the US and NATO, which promote despicable policies in Iraq and against the Palestinian people.
With such strong words, it was not surprising that Mayor Kontides was left reeling after accepting the plaque from the US embassy.
An official at the embassy said it was customary to give a plaque to the Mayor “to thank him for the town harbouring the ship”.
However Kontides told the Cyprus Mail last night he had no idea he was to receive a plaque from the Americans while his own party was urging a protest against their presence in Limassol.
“I went there. I didn’t know it was a military ship. I didn’t know they would give me a plaque. I passed from there to see what was going on and they gave me a plaque,” he said.
“It was my mistake anyway.”
Asked if he was going to give it back given that his party was opposed to the ship’s visit, Kontides said: “I don’t know. No one told me it was an army ship. I made a mistake.”
During the demonstration that began around 4.30pm, members of AKEL, EDON, left-wing union PEO and the party’s women’s organisation POGO joined members of the Peace Council at the port to protest. Around 300 people showed up some carrying banners saying: “USA Go Home” along with anti-Bush posters.
Peace Council chairman Aris Georgiou said they were there to oppose the use of Cyprus by the US and NATO and their aggressive war policies and illegal agendas.
“We have fought for, and want Cyprus to be a bridge of peace not a bridgehead of war,” he said. “It is the interventions of imperialism that are behind the problems and bloodshed in Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Cyprus.
Limassol AKEL representative Nicos Petrou read out a statement by the World Council of Peace and also expressed his strong opposition to the presence of the Donald Cook.
“This is an act of military imposition in the region of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East,” he said.
A senior officer from the ship said he would not like to comment on the protest.
“We are just demonstrating our abilities to your navy and marine police and at the same time we are learning their practices and the like and we think we can learn something from the Cypriot navy as well as they can learn something from us,” he said.
The ship
USS Donald Cook is an Arleigh Burke class destroyer in the US Navy. The ship, which is 154 metres long was commissioned in 1998, according to the ship’s website.
In June 2000 it departed on its maiden deployment to the Mediterranean and the Gulf as part of the USS George Washington Battle Group. It is named after Donald Cook, a Vietnam War Prisoner of War who died in captivity. The Cook also fired the first Tomahawk missile during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The Donald Cook carried 23 officers, 24 chief petty officers and 291 enlisted personnel.
It is now part of the USS Harry S. Truman Battle Group. Donald Cook is currently on a regularly scheduled six-month deployment in the region, conducting missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Donald Cook is the 25th of 35 Arleigh Burke Class destroyers currently authorised by Congress. Aegis destroyers are equipped to conduct a variety of missions, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, in support of the national military strategy.
The ship operates with aircraft carriers and battle groups in high-threat environments and provides essential escort capabilities to Navy and Marine Corps amphibious forces, combat logistics ships and convoys.
These multi-missioned ships are equipped with the Navy’s modern Aegis combat weapons system, which combines space-age communication, radar and weapons technologies in a single platform for unlimited flexibility while operating “Forward…From the Sea.”
