Akel and government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis were on Saturday engaged in a running battle of press releases denouncing one another, with seven statements flying back and forth, and opposing each other’s positions on the European Union’s plans to boost its military defences.

Akel had on Friday said that the European Council’s resolution to progress “European rearmament” constituted a “preparation for war” and “sealed the EU’s dangerous course of militarism”.

It also described the decision as “a new historic setback in living standards for the people of Europe”, given that the €800 billion to be channelled to armament efforts is to be extracted from European cohesion funds.

On this matter, it criticised President Nikos Christodoulides for his part in this “dead-end and dangerous path”, while also offering harsh criticism for his and the EU’s support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion of the country.

“The government … supports the arming of Ukraine to perpetuate the war. We point out that the involvement of Turkey – an occupying, aggressive power – in Ukraine is the Zelenskiy government’s fervent desire, and that government is openly supported by the Cypriot government,” it said.

Letymbiotis offered a swift response, saying the government “places absolute priority on the Republic of Cyprus’ defence, seeking a robust defensive footprint which will ensure the protection of our people and the preservation of our sovereignty.

“The EU must move decisively towards acquiring strategic autonomy and a common framework of understanding in the face of modern security challenges, especially in the eastern Mediterranean region,” he added.

Akel quickly responded, saying the government “probably believes the lies it is feeding the media” adding that “there is no other explanation for why it has come to believe that yesterday’s EU decisions concern, rather than protect, Cyprus.

“In the European Council conclusions, which were also signed by Christodoulides, there is no mention of either the eastern Mediterranean or Turkey. On the contrary, Turkey is being invited by France and the United Kingdom to summits on Ukraine when Christodoulides does not even get an invitation,” it added.

It said Turkey “is proclaimed as a ‘guarantor of peace’ by Zelenskiy” and is “receiving all the benefits from the revitalisation of relations between the EU and Turkey without having taken a step on the Cyprus problem, which Christodoulides supposedly linked”.

Letymbiotis then came back for a second time, saying, “unfortunately, Akel is still fixated on outdated perceptions and ideological entanglements, unable to free itself from policies which in the past led our country to isolation and marginalisation.

“It either does not understand things or is being deliberately misleading, following experiences from the era of Stalinism and propaganda,” he added.

He said the party’s “ideological myopia” is preventing it from “recognising the importance of adding, upon our own suggestion, specific references to protecting the security of the entire EU”.

As the matter dragged into Saturday afternoon, Akel responded again, saying, “if the presidential palace hasn’t caught on, the EU’s leadership just held an emergency videoconference with [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and the leaders of four other Nato states to inform them of European decisions on defence.

“In fact, the EU is including Turkey among the ‘likeminded states’ with which it will cooperate to ‘strengthen its defence’ and ‘support Ukraine’. If Christodoulides is satisfied with the European leadership’s stance towards Turkey, especially when it has not moved a single inch on the Cyprus problem, let him tell the people.”

Not to be deterred, Letymbiotis then offered another reply, saying it is “at least original for Akel to call out the government for not participating in a conference with Nato countries.

“It seems that they are in ideological confusion between pig-headedness and oppositional obsession,” he added.

The final act of the day was played out by Akel MP Giorgos Koukoumas, who said Christodoulides has “created a virtual reality in which he fights and wins battles alone.

“Illusions are dearly paid for by the people and the homeland,” he added.