Akel protests against Syria strike and use of British bases

Edon, the youth wing of communist Akel, staged a demonstration outside the heavily fortressed US embassy in Nicosia on Monday night to protest against air strikes on Syria at the weekend, some of which were launched from the British base at Akrotiri.

Main opposition Akel has accused the government of being complicit in the air strikes and asked it to state its official position, to which it said it received no response other than a public statement that the British bases were “entitled to do whatever they wanted”.

Former president, Demetris Christofias, who attended the rally, chastised the government for Cyprus’ involvement in “the adventurism of imperialists” and asked whether the bases were not part of Cyprus’ territory.

In a written statement, he said that the government “holds nothing sacred” as it failed to respect that Syria had been consistently by the side of Cyprus “defending the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus”.

Christofias said that after the coup of the Greek junta in Cyprus, Syria’s president at the time, Hafez al-Assad, offered US$100,000 to the then president, Makarios, who was in London, “to address immediate economic needs”.

He also referred to the “consistent attitude” of Syria in the Non-Aligned Movement, which defended the Republic of Cyprus and condemned the Turkish invasion and occupation.

“Of course, today’s rulers, couldn’t care less about such things,” Christofias said.

On Sunday a branch of the Greek communist party (KKE) held a peaceful demonstration outside the Akrotiri base. The protesters carried placards with slogans such as ‘Nato killers go home’ among a sea of party flags. A message read out by a KKE representative in Cyprus said it was a lie by the government that it had nothing to do with the US-UK-France air strikes.

 

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