Akel marks 83 years

Eighty three years was marked on Sunday since the founding the Akel party.

On April 14, 1941, the founding meeting of the party was held in Skarinou, on the initiative of the outlawed Communist Party of Cyprus (KKK), which worked with local leaders to form a party to represent working people and those on the left.

Akel took on the baton of the communist party and became a force in local politics for workers struggles and socio-economic problems.

With its founding, it joined the camp of anti-fascist, anti-Hitler forces and worked to upgrade the contribution of the Cypriot people to the universal struggle against Hitler.

In the following decades, it was a force in the anti-colonial struggle, mobilising the people in rallies, demonstrations, political strikes and working to internationalise the Cyprus issue.

An Akel statement said the party was, and remains identified with brotherhood and the common struggles of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, struggles in which remain to this day.

“KKK-Akel, in its almost a century of life, is at the vanguard of all small and large struggles identified with the working people and remains tireless and militant in the service of the people,” the party said.

In its history, the party has struggled through imprisonments, persecutions, prohibitions and murders. “It fought and defended with sacrifices and blood, democracy and freedom and did not hesitate to stand against fascism, imperialism and foreign invaders,” the party said.

Through its positions in the Cyprus parliament, the European Parliament and local government, the party said it continues to fight for “the rights of workers, for economic development that produces prosperity for all, for the modernisation of the state, for democratic freedoms, against racism, nationalism and intolerance, for the social goods of health and education, for ecology and the environment”.

Looking to the future, Akel said it sends a message of optimism, with the momentum of its history and with the strength of its ideology for the political and electoral battles to come.