A PEACEFUL anti-occupation gathering at the village of Dherynia on Saturday generated heated political debate, with the event this year tainted by the divisions highlighted in April’s referendum.
A row over the event, which was organised on the initiative of Famagusta Mayor Yiannakis Skordis, had been brewing for at least a week. Contrary to protocol, a number of VIPs and officials from DIKO and EDEK had apparently not been invited, media reports said.
Both of the parties had openly opposed the UN-brokered plan for a settlement on the island.
The purpose of the annual event is to commemorate the people of Famagusta – combatants and civilians – who died during the second phase of the Turkish invasion in 1974. However, this time around it was inevitably coloured by recent developments in the Cyprus issue, the referenda and their aftermath.
What’s more, the event happened to roughly coincide with the August 11 date when, under the Annan plan, the town of Famagusta and nearby boroughs would be returned to Greek Cypriots. Not surprisingly, a high percentage of refugees from the district voted ‘yes’ in the April 24 referendum.
On Saturday a number of people who were gathered at Dherynia heckled Education Minister Pefkios Georgiades as he was laying a wreath. The same welcome was reserved for DIKO acting chairman Nikos Cleanthous. Others began shouting slogans urging President Papadopoulos – who did not attend – to resign because of his stance vis-à-vis the referendum.
In stark contrast, the appearance of DISY boss Nikos Anastassiades and United Democrats leader George Vassiliou drew warm applause. The two politicians had been among the staunchest advocates of acceptance of the UN plan.
Also visible in the large crowd were supporters of the “Golden Dawn” ultra-nationalist, ultra-right group, who stood in military formation. The movement has its roots in post-dictatorship Greece.
Although yesterday the incident was condemned by everyone, parties nevertheless played out the blame game, accusing one another of instigating it. DIKO and EDEK suggested the heckling was orchestrated by DISY and also charged that the Famagusta mayor had “corrupted” the nature of an event that was supposed to denounce the invasion and occupation.
“An important national event was allowed to degenerate into fascist practices and harassment,” protested EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou.
For his part, Mayor Skordis described the hecklers as “thugs” but tried to play down the cacophony. According to Skordis, those guilty were “only about 10 persons out of an attendance of some 4,000.”
Speaking at another memorial service, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said certain quarters were trying to pose as patriots while in fact doing their country a disservice. The comment was understood to refer to the main opposition party.
“They’re on a wild goose chase, scrounging for kudos from foreigners,” he remarked.
His comments drew a swift response from DISY through Averoff Neofytou, who accused the government of employing divisive tactics. “An entire political movement is being labelled as unpatriotic here… I think the administration needs to be a little more careful.”
The polemic escalated even further when the President described the hecklers and their instigators as the “yes crowd” who tried to “hijack a memorial event, despite knowing that 76 percent of the population disagrees with them.”
Asked yesterday why he did not attend, Papadopoulos said he had not been sent an invitation until a day earlier, by which time he had made other arrangements.
Real or not, the spat was seen as another episode in the worsening of relations between the pro-‘yes’ and pro-‘no’ camps. A truce was declared last week, when Anastassiades met the President to discuss developments in the Cyprus issue.
The lull was short-lived. DISY officials were criticised over the weekend for recently meeting with Turkish Cypriot politicians in the north, while Anastassiades hinted in an interview that all the President was interested in was consolidating his grip on power and did not care about a solution to the Cyprus issue.
The DISY boss went on to urge Papadopoulos to kick-start another round of dialogue with the Turkish-Cypriot community and meet with their leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Papadopoulos replied there was no point in meeting with Talat now, given that the northern regime had only recently brushed off the government’s package of confidence-building measures. He also dismissed DISY’s proposal as “political posturing and overkill”.
