ID: 7615775 CNA – Fanitsa Zannettou
More than 500 people participated on Sunday in a protest in Larnaca, organised by the Pancyprian Peace Council (PPC) with the participation of other organisations and groups against “Cyprus turning into a war base”.
Protesters holding banners with slogans such as “Neither the US nor NATO, Cyprus is not a protectorate”, “Cyprus a bridge of peace and cooperation of peoples, without foreign armies and bases”, and “United for Palestine”, gathered in the morning in the area of the Medieval Castle in Larnaca and marched to the Cyprus Centre for Land, Open Seas and Port Security (CYCLOPS) which has been established in close cooperation with the US government.
Addressing the protest, AKEL General Secretary, Stefanos Stefanou, said that “we are here today to demonstrate and declare the simplest, most essential, most urgent demand for our homeland and our people”.
“We want a Cyprus that belongs to its people, not to NATO or any other military coalition, not to foreign guardians, not to foreign armies”, he said, adding that the country’s ports, airports, land and airspace were intended to serve Cyprus “and not the Americans, the Israelis or any other third parties.”
In his address, Tasos Kosteas, President of the Pancyprian Peace Council, said that they were protesting “against the ongoing militarisation of our homeland and its transformation into an outpost against our traditionally friendly neighbouring countries”.
He said that “within this extremely dangerous situation, Cyprus cannot and must not become an involved party” while also noting that it was “a paradox” for Cyprus “to cede part of our sovereignty to countries that violate the international law, while seeking support for a solution to the Cyprus problem on the basis of the same international law”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Also read: Terrorism and mass destruction weapons: CYCLOPS in the Middle East
Source: CNA/FZ/EAN/MK
