Today, Wednesday 2 November, the General Secretary of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) Dimitris Koutsoumpas met with the President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, regarding the developments on the Cyprus issue, as well as about the positions of the KKE on the developments in the wider region.

After the meeting, Dimitris Koutsoumpas made the following statement:

«I informed the President of the Republic about the developments in the region and the positions of the KKE. The sharpening of the contradictions, the antagonisms, the military conflicts and the accumulation of military weapons and forces throughout the region, from central and eastern Europe, the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Middle East do not foreshadow positive steps and issues for the people and especially for the Greek people.

The KKE considers that the Greek people must be vigilant, particularly as regards issues which have to do with- what we usually call- national issues of the country, such as the provocative and continuous statements, for example, by the President of Turkey, Erdogan, the calling into question of our country's sovereign rights, the disputing of the Aegean and our country's islands, as well as the developments with the new Annan Plan, which is essentially a dichotomous plan for Cyprus that is being advanced intensively during the recent period, should make us, as Greek society and as the Greek people, even more ready,  vigilant and mobilized.

The KKE will contribute, will continue to contribute with its responsible stance, steadily, towards the direction of solving all these problems, , in favour of peace, in favour of the sovereign rights of Greece, of Cyprus, to the benefit of the  peoples of the region.”

Mr Secretary, do you have a comment on AKEL’s statement which is very aggressive regarding the position you expressed on the Cyprus issue?

«AKEL has the right to have its own positions, just as the KKE also has the right to develop its positions around the Cyprus problem in a serious and consistent way. I should just remind you that it was the KKE that talked about the Annan Plan, about the need for the Cypriot people to be consulted and to say a resounding ”no” to it, as they in the end did. If the KKE did not exist with this position and other forces, we would not have been able to have this development in that period. And so it is today. The compromise which has been made for example, the painful compromise as AKEL and other parties from Cyprus and Greece called it, in relation to the bizonal, bicommunal federation, which was mainly the longstanding position of Turkey and the Turkish-Cypriot “state” reached the point of being considered a divine law, a position of principle. And indeed it is not just this, but today it is developing in essence into a dichotomous solution, into two constituent states. That is to say, we are not talking about a bizonal, bicommunal federation, but we are talking about a confederation, we are talking about two states which will have their own constitutions, their own flags, and of course the federation and the bizonal, bicommunal federation will simply be a smokescreen.

These issues are very serious and I would say that AKEL and other Cypriot parties, as well as the Greek parties, should utilize this development, these positions of the KKE, should study them more deeply because they assist the resolution of the Cyprus issue and not the division of Cyprus.”

Why do you think that Obama is visiting Greece in this period, which have described in this way?

 «Of course, he is not coming for the reason that the Greek government is invoking, i.e. to say congratulations to Greece for the refugees and to resolve the refugee problem or to assist with the negotiations.

The USA has strong interests here in the region, we see a lot of people coming and going in this period, and many others will come here from powerful capitalist states and the capitalist imperialist powers and of course it wants to advance its interests in its competition with Russia and other strong powers in the region as well. So we are concerned and worried and it is from this standpoint that the Greek people must see and confront this visit.”

ATHENS 2/11/2016                          PRESS OFFICE OF THE CC OF THE KKE