The sacrifice of Dervis Ali Kavazoglou and Kostas Misiaoulis is a beacon of light for our struggle. It reminds the Cypriot people that this struggle can only be won if it is a struggle of both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, writes Giorgos Koukoumas
Dervis Ali Kavazoglou and Kostas Misiaoulis are for the Left of Cyprus a sacred symbol of struggle and sacrifice that encapsulates the struggle and vision for a free, independent and united Cyprus. Two communists, members of AKEL, one Greek Cypriot and one Turkish Cypriot. Fighters of the working class and the brotherhood of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, fighters against the imperialist plans for the partition of the island. They were murdered by the fascists and died in each other’s arms, to remain immortal in the history of Cyprus.
In order to understand the essence of their sacrifice, one needs a brief review of the troubled history of the Eastern Mediterranean island, where for centuries Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots have lived together. Our island’s geostrategic position placed it permanently in the crosshairs of the great powers, and in particular in the sights of NATO’s machinations to use it as a centre for controlling oil flows to the West, as a military base against the peoples of the Middle East and as a spy base against the Soviet Union.
After successive conquerors over the centuries, Cyprus found itself in the twentiethcentury under the boot of British colonialism, with its people plunged into poverty and misery. The struggle of the Cypriot people against colonialism was faced with a negative balance of power but at the same time was undermined internally by nationalism and anti-communism. Thus, instead of leading to self-determination and real freedom, it resulted in 1959 in the ‘Zurich-London Agreements’ which established an independent state, but with anachronistic foreign shackles. The two ‘mother countries’ – Greece and Turkey – as well as Britain acquired rights of intervention and guarantees in the newly created state. Greece and Turkey established military forces on the island and Britain kept two military bases. In addition, the constitution decided by the foreign powers, instead of bringing the Greek and Turkish communities together, introduced divisive elements. At that time, the prime ministers of Greece and Turkey had also signed two secret protocols (which were not implemented), which stipulated that the Republic of Cyprus would join NATO and that communist activity on the island would be banned.
In the face of this, the Communist Party of Cyprus (CPC)-AKEL, founded in 1926, united the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots in the struggle for bread and freedom. It fought to form a united anti-colonial front of Greeks and Turks, to redeem our land from the foreign conquerors. It was no coincidence, therefore, that the CPC-AKEL had both Greeks and Turks in its ranks. AKEL disagreed with the Zurich-London Agreements but when they were approved and implemented, it called on Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to work together in harmony to make their common state, the Republic of Cyprus, work and not to give pretext for foreign interference in the island. AKEL supported the decision of the Makarios government to join Cyprus with the Non-Aligned Movement and not NATO.
However, NATO was seeking total control of the island. And the only way left was the abolition of the Republic of Cyprus and the partition of the island, with the so called “double union” (i.e. to unite one part with NATO Greece and the other part with NATO Turkey). The best ally in this conspiracy was nationalism, which sowed the hatred and enmity between the Greek and the Turkish Cypriots and cultivated the slogan “Enosis” (=Union with Greece) among the Greek Cypriots and the slogan “Taksim” (= partition of the island) among the Turkish Cypriots, thus gnawing the foundations of the independent state.
AKEL was the force that resisted nationalism, unmasked the plans for division and mobilised the people against the transformation of Cyprus into a military base for foreign powers. This is why AKEL and the People’s Movement of the Left were fiercely attacked by the imperialist powers acting through agents in Cyprus and by the fascist forces of the two communities linked to the state intelligence services and parastatal forces of Greece and Turkey respectively. From the mid-1950s, the Turkish Cypriots chauvinists of the anti-communist TMT organisation led by the historical leader of the Turkish Cypriots, Rauf Denktash, unleashed a wave of terrorism against the Turkish Cypriots who were members of AKEL and PEO. In parallel, the Greek Cypriots AKEL cadres and leftists were confronted with the murderous terrorism of Georgios Grivas who slandered AKEL for “anti-Hellenism” and “treason”. It was in these conditions that the two AKEL cadres, the Turkish Cypriot Dervis Ali Kavazoglou and the Greek Cypriot Kostas Misiaoulis, lived and fought.
Dervis Ali Kavazoglu, a member of the Central Committee of AKEL, was an enlightened and leading figure. Among the Turkish Cypriots he was the counterweight against the domination of Denktash. He was a strong opponent of the imperialist and partitionist policy against Cyprus. He literally worked all over Cyprus, carrying the Party’s positions and consistently fought for the rights of the TCs as part of the Cypriot people. At the same time he had a high sense of justice. “To demand that our real rights and interests be preserved and secured is our legitimate and democratic right. But, we have no right to interfere with the rights of our fellow countrymen”. The Turkish Cypriots chauvinists considered him a traitor, an obstacle to the plans of their imperialist masters. A few days before his assassination, he received a letter which, among other things, said: “Atime, the day is not far off when your soul will go to hell”. The sender’s address was Denktash’s house in Turkey… But at the same time there were thousands of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots who considered him a brother and comrade.
Kostas Misiaoulis was a member of AKEL and a member of the PEO labour movement, and at the time when the British outlawed AKEL, he was running the illegal printing machinery of the party. Misiaoulis was extremely beloved by the people, and indeed it is characteristic – and rare for the time – that he became a member of his community council unanimously, that is, with the support of the right-wingers.
On April 11, 1965, Kavazoglou and Misiaoulis were on their way from Nicosia to Larnaca for party work among the Turkish Cypriots. On their way, members of the Turkish Cypriot anti-communist organisation TMT ambushed the two AKELists somewhere near the Turkish village of Lourutzina and murdered them in their car. They died embraced…
Their assassins wanted to terrorize every Cypriot who was fighting for our common homeland. But they were mistaken because Kavazoglou and Misiaoulis, embraced in life and death, became symbols of struggle and banners of Greek-Turkish friendship and the anti-imperialist struggle in Cyprus. Besides, in the years that followed, Cyprus continued to drown in blood, nationalism, foreign projects and tragedy. Today, AKEL is leading the struggle to end Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus and reunite our island and our people. The sacrifice of Kavazoglou and Misiaouli is a beacon of light for our struggle. It reminds the Cypriot people that this struggle can only be won if it is a struggle of both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots.
Giorgos Koukoumas is an MP for the Famagusta District of Cyprus and a member of the Central Committee of AKEL, the Progressive Party of Working People of Cyprus
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