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(Cyprus and Palestine: Lessons in Negotiation and Struggle) *Contribution to the journal of “Palestine Magazine” published on 5th May 2025 on the occasion of Palestine Solidarity Day
23.05.2025 – Cyprus and Palestine are united by history, geography and destiny as two neighboring countries colonized by the same empires. This situation led to the combined development of resistance practices as well as colonization in Cyprus and Palestine. Starting with the 1931 uprising in Cyprus and the 1936 uprising in Palestine, events and phenomena develop at different paces, repeating and following each other.
The fate of around 700,000 people displaced in Palestine after the 1948 occupation was shared by 200,000 people in Cyprus after the 1974 occupation. Turkish colonialism in Cyprus and Zionist colonialism in Palestine are twin brothers in terms of the methods of settler colonialism carried out after the occupation, starting with the displacement of the natives.
Israel and Turkey are twin brothers in terms of the methods they apply in Palestine and Cyprus, starting from the paramilitary terror methods they applied before the occupation to the land grabbing and settler colonization after the occupation. Even the “settlement laws” they used to usurp the lands of the natives are the same and have similar racist characteristics. For Turkish occupiers in Cyprus, this law is known as the Settlement, Land Distribution, and Equivalent Property (İTEM) Law, while for Zionist occupiers in Palestine, it is called the Absentee Property Law.
In this context, it is useful to compare the struggle against the “Judaization of the Galilee” (Yehud ha-Galil) plan after June 1967, the second phase of the occupation in Palestine, with the Women Walk Home movement launched by refugees in Cyprus immediately after the 1974 invasion.
The right to return of refugees recognized by the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is protected in Palestine by UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
When the Turkish army invaded Cyprus in 1974, one out of every three people was displaced. On April 20, 1975, 30,000 Cypriot refugee women launched the Women Walk Home movement, marching toward the Turkish-occupied territories. This struggle continued at various intervals until 1989. Similarly, in Palestine, the resistance against Zionist land grabs and colonization policies culminated in the Land Day protests of March 30, 1976. Both movements were defenses of the right to return of refugees. These struggles in Cyprus and Palestine exemplify both nonviolent action and the united front strategy. These nonviolent actions faced Zionist terror in Palestine and the alliance of United Nations troops with the occupying Turkish army in Cyprus. In case of Cyprus, even the Cypriot authorities blocked the Women Walk Home movement, arguing that it would disrupt the “positive atmosphere” of the so-called UN-led negotiations for Cyprus. This highlights a crucial point, namely that the role of the UN in resolving colonial and occupation issues is inversely proportional to the effectiveness of revolutionary struggle.
From the Geneva talks in August 1974, following the occupation, to the Annan Plan in the early 2000s and the Crans-Montana process in 2017, negotiations without struggle have only served to legitimize war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In this regard, the Oslo process, which turned into a betrayal in Palestine, and the Annan Plan in Cyprus represent the peak moments of land theft and settler colonization. The greatest territorial losses occurred during and after these negotiation processes. Both Cypriots and Palestinians lost their land not when they fought, but when they “negotiated” under U.S. and UN supervision with their occupiers.
On the anniversary of Land Day in 2018, Palestinians launched the Great March of Return, which lasted nearly two years. Hundreds of people were killed and disabled. The violence of the Zionist terrorist organization against the nonviolent march of the Palestinians led to the emergence of the “Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions” formed by Marxist-Leninist, Islamic and Arab nationalist resistance organizations united within the framework of Palestinian nationalism. This example of a united front of resistance organizations is an important model for all oppressed nations. The resistance united on the basis of Palestinianness and Palestinian nationalism is also a compass for us who defend the struggle on the basis of Cypriotness and Cypriot nationalism.
The Need for a United Front of Palestinians and Cypriots
The inseparable destiny of Palestinians and Cypriots is evident in the geopolitical realities of the region. Despite not being a NATO member, five NATO militaries—Turkey, the United Kingdom, Greece, the United States, and France—utilize air and naval bases on Cyprus. This situation stems from treaties imposed on Cypriots, who fought a heroic armed national liberation struggle against British colonialism. These treaties placed approximately 3% of Cyprus under British control when the island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960 as a non-aligned republic. This control was further entrenched after the NATO-planned Turkish invasion in 1974. For decades, the UK and NATO have used these territories to advance their imperialist agenda throughout West Asia and North Africa.
Since the most recent Palestinian resistance began on October 7, 2023, these foreign military bases in Cyprus have served as a lifeline for the Zionist entity’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. They have also been used to bomb Yemen in retaliation for its resistance to the imperialist forces committing genocide against Palestinians.
All these actions are carried out on Cypriot territory, against the will of the Cypriot people, who have stood in solidarity with Palestinians from the very beginning of their shared struggle against occupation. As we always say, Cyprus is the windpipe of imperialism in the region. That is why the liberation of Cyprus means cutting off the windpipe of imperialism in the region.
For the freedom of the peoples of West Asia and North Africa, there is only one anti-imperialist solution for both Palestine and Cyprus. A liberated, unitary, democratic, and sovereign Palestine, from the river to the sea. A liberated, unitary, democratic, and sovereign Cyprus, from Akamas to Karpas.
The destiny of the lands of Palestine and Cyprus is as inseparable as the destiny of Palestinians and Cypriots. This underlines the need for a united front of Palestinians and Cypriots, just as much as the need for united fronts within Palestine and Cyprus.
Palestine for Palestinians! Cyprus for Cypriots!
Union of Cypriots