07.09.2023 – The Union of Cypriots represented Cyprus at the 1st World Congress of the United Front (International Anti-Imperialist United Front Against Fascism, War, and Environmental Destruction), which took place in Thuringia, Germany.
The congress drew 124 international participants from 46 countries, while 30 persons from 18 countries were unable to attend for various reasons. Following the election of the nine-member Consultative Committee at the congress, the new committee comprises of three women and six men from Germany, Peru, Turkey, Russia, South Africa, Western Sahara, Cyprus, and a Southeast Asian country. The two co-chairs, Edith Luz from Peru and Monika Gärtner-Engel from Germany, were unanimously elected at the congress and will collaborate closely with three youth co-chairs from Nepal, Peru, and Tunisia.
The United Front was formed as an alliance encompassing various formations from Europe, America, Africa, and Asia, which include progressives, anti-war activists, environmentalists, revolutionaries, militant women’s movements, youth organizations, indigenous peoples’ movements, human rights organizations, and national liberation movements. Peoples’ movements from four continents are united in their goal to combat fascism, wars, and environmental destruction on an anti-imperialist platform.
The Union of Cypriots, an active participant in the United Front since its inception and a member of the organization’s Consultative Committee, co-signed two out of the six political resolutions adopted at the congress, alongside the Palestinian delegation. The first of these resolutions was about opposing Zionism and advocating for the liberation of Palestine, while the second called for resistance to the occupation of Cyprus, settler colonialism on the island, and the imposition of an ethnic-based “bi-communal bi-zonal federation” by Western powers. These resolutions were adopted with widespread support and consensus.
The resolution adopted by the United Front regarding Cyprus at its founding congress is the following:
Imperialist occupation and settler colonialism continue to persist in Cyprus since the NATO-planned Turkish invasion in 1974. Currently, while five NATO militaries – Turkey, the United Kingdom, Greece, the United States and France – utilize air and naval bases on the island that are strategically located at the crossroads of three continents. Since the occupation, Turkey’s settler colonial policy continues to oppress Turkish-speaking Cypriots and prevent Greek-speaking Cypriots, who were forcibly displaced during the Turkish invasion, from returning to their homes. After Cyprus gained its independence from British Colonialism in 1960, Western imperialists have been promoting ethnically-based segregation among the Cypriot people through plans such as the “bi-zonal bi-communal federation”. However, from the ABC (American-British-Canadian) plan in 1979, Cypriots have consistently rejected the idea of living in an apartheid state. We believe that the liberation of Cyprus is an important key to a free West Asia and North Africa. We support the democratic and class unity of Cypriots, as well as the territorial and social integrity of a unitary Cyprus without foreign presence.
(Photograph: rf-foto)
