The Communist Initiative of Cyprus (CIC) issued a statement (here in Greek) calling the government to end every cooperation with Israel and stop facilitating the Netanyahu leadership in the Gaza war. The statement titled "Cyprus is directly involved in the Gaza massacre: Every cooperation with Israel must stop" reads:
The statement of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, against the Republic of Cyprus, are unfortunately not unfounded, nor do they arise from any intolerance. On the contrary, it is a result of the position that the Cypriot government has consistently taken, which has been unreservedly and by all means on the side of Israel, since the first day of the war. The Christodoulidis government (as well as the previous ones) is complicit in the crime and participates in the massacre and genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The fact that the British bases are a stronghold against the people of Palestine, Yemen, and all the peoples targeted by the murderous NATO is something everyone knows. As well as the fact that facilities are provided by the Cypriot state to Israel, with the use of airports and ports, with the military exercises of the Israeli army on Cypriot soil, and in addition to these, joint military exercises take place between Cyprus and Israel and in fact officers of the Cypriot army are trained by Israel based on official agreements! All this is known and one did not wait for the statements of the leader of Hezbollah to know what is happening.
President Christodoulides lies shamelessly when, in his attempt to justify the unacceptable attitude of the government, claims that Cyprus is supposedly part of the solution and not the problem. The government is staining its hands with blood at the expense of a people suffering from occupation and colonization. It is unthinkable that a semi-occupied country like Cyprus, on which the settlement is also an unceasing wound in its occupied territories, supports the crimes of an occupying army and allies itself with the occupying invader who seeks the annihilation of Palestine.
As CIC we have highlighted and warned many times about the government's dangerous policy on this matter which is dragging our people down a path of terror and destruction.
We have held demonstrations at the British bases and the UK High Commission, with the central slogan being: BASES AND NATO, OUT OF CYPRUS.
The Cyprus Communist Initiative calls on the working class of Cyprus, the popular strata, as well as every progressive person, to join forces with us, to step forward and organize the people's struggle against imperialism and unjust wars. To organize the struggle of our people for disengagement of Cyprus' participation in the imperialist operations against neighboring peoples in the region. To fight for the dismantling of the British bases in our country and to demand the immediate withdrawal of support to the murderous state of Israel.
As communists of Cyprus we will continue the struggle for:
- The disengagement of our country from the massacre in Palestine and the imperialist interventions, as well as the closing of all death bases and the withdrawal of all foreign armies.
- An end to the carnage in Gaza and the rest of the occupied territories and the recognition of an independent Palestinian state by ending the occupation and the crime of settlement.
Neither land, nor air or water for the murderers of the peoples!"
AKEL: International law and our country’s interests dictate no involvement whatsoever in the Israeli war in Gaza
From its side,the Press Office of the CC of AKEL points out:
Developments in the region, centred on the war in Gaza, and in particular the possibility of a wider conflagration in the Middle East, are causing concern and pose enormous dangers for all the states and peoples in our neighbourhood.
AKEL has from the very first moment supported and continues to support the position that Cyprus must not have even the slightest involvement in the Israeli war in Gaza, which constitutes a genocide being committed against the Palestinians, but must explicitly denounce it and align itself with the positions expressed by the United Nations. This is what international law and elementary morality, but also the interests and security of our country and people dictate.
In addition, the Republic of Cyprus must urgently express to the British Government our country’s total opposition to the use of the British bases for any involvement in military operations in the region.
Furthermore, we recall that the status of the British bases, even as it is defined by the Treaty of Establishment, requires the approval of the Republic of Cyprus for the use of the bases by any third states outside the Commonwealth.
Cyprus must become a bridge of peace and not an aggressive launching for any foreign power.
This is the right thing to do, but it is also in the interests of our people and homeland.