NICOSIA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus' main opposition left-wing AKEL party marked on Thursday the 93rd anniversary of its precursor, the Cyprus Communist Party, and its social struggles over the decades, the party said in an announcement.
The Cyprus Communist Party was established on Aug. 15, 1926 in a small house in Limassol by around 20 progressive communists.
"This event completed a long process of discussion and fermentation within the first communist cores, which appeared on our island under the direct influence of the ideas and visions of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia," it said.
It added that the first communists in Cyprus had faced many difficulties as they found themselves targeted by the colonial power, plutocrats, clerics, and "the ignorance of the popular masses."
But despite adversities, convictions, unbearable fines, harassment and imprisonment, the Cyprus Communist Party not only endured, but created conditions for the fight for the rights of workers, peasants, craftsmen, women and youth by pursuing social justice, labor rights and setting ambitious visions and long-term goals.
"The communist party saw the exile of two of its leading figures after raising the issue of the full liberation of Cyprus from the colonial yoke, as well as the imprisonment of dozens of its members after the October 1931 anti-colonial revolt, while most of his political opponents cooperated and served the foreign power during the Palmerocracy," read the announcement.
Richmond Palmer was a British governor of Cyprus known for his harsh measures after the 1931 anti-colonial revolt. The Palmerocracy, which was named after him, lasted until the beginning of World War II.
AKEL, the Greek acronym for Progressive Party of the Working People, was established in 1941 after the Communist Party was declared as illegal.
"AKEL, the worthy successor of the Cyprus Communist Party, left its indelible mark on the political and social struggles, in which it continues to play a pioneering role up to the present day," AKEL's statement noted.
"Turning our memory back to 1926 and the course of the past nine decades, we pay tribute to the thousands who struggled and who, through sacrifices and struggles, created the best possible conditions for the common man and established AKEL as a serious and massive political and social force, which is a guarantee for the justification of our people - Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots," the statement said.
