50th   Anniversary of the Division of Cyprus

Joint Declaration of Revolutionaries of Greece and Turkey

It has been exactly 50 years since the division of Cyprus. It is clear that as long as the imperialist capitalist system continues, the unification, security and independence of the island will never be achieved

On the island with a population of 600 thousand, where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots lived together before 1974, US and British imperialism, Turkish and Greek capitalists and their fascist extensions on the island organized an ethnic slaughter through massacres. These provocations accelerated after Cyprus was liberated from British colonialism in 1960. The International treaties that provided for the independence of Cyprus and a quasi-federal government have been undermined from the very beginning, since the Greek state systematically organised national pogroms against Turkish Cypriots in the south, orchestrated by the extreme nationalist EOKA B, leading to violent ethnic cleansings.

Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot labour leaders and socialists, who defended the unity and equality of the peoples on the island, were murdered by parastatal-paramilitary fascist factions from their own nations.

In 1974, the Greek military junta organised a coup in Cyprus in order to overthrow the Cypriot government, and violently annex the whole island to Greece. This served as a pretext for the Turkish Armed Forces to seize the northern part of the island in a two-staged military operation. The Greek Cypriot civilian population living there was driven to the south. Similarly, the Turks living in the south were ousted to the north of the island. The island was never reunited.

The consequences of the division of the island are evident today. Cyprus, which has an important strategic location, is today seen by the imperialist powers as an unsinkable aircraft carrier for dominance in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. The British and secret US bases on the island will be used as the main attack launching point for larger wars against Palestine and Lebanon. The southern part takes an active part in the quadrilateral axis along with Greece, Israel and Egypt, serving as a devoted ally to the Zionist State and at the same time a heaven for money laundering.The northern part of the island, under Turkish rule, has turned into a swamp where gambling, black money, illegal betting, prostitution, drugs and all kinds of other gang businesses are nestled. 

We will continue to defend Cyprus' right to self-determination against all these imperialist occupations and interventions and support the struggle for an independent, united and socialist federation of the peoples of Cyprus, with equal rights for all ethnicities.

• Recognition of the Cypriot People's Right to Self-Determination 
• All Foreign Troops and Bases out of Cyprus
• Down with the regime of Guarantor Countries
• Long Live an Independent United Socialist Cyprus, with equal right for all nationalities
• Mafias and Gangs Get Out of Cyprus
• Down with Nationalism, Racism and Chauvinism
• Long Live Proletarian Internationalism!
 

SEP (Turkey)

OKDE Spartakos ( Greece)