Common statement from Bağımsızlık Yolu (Independence Path) and the New Internationalist Left–NEDA
As Bağımsızlık Yolu (Independence Path) and the New Internationalist Left–NEDA, we are taking the struggle we have built around the common interests of working people in the north and south of our island into the general election. Building on our common class perspective, our solidarity on the streets and our joint struggle against imperialism and capitalist exploitation, we are establishing an electoral cooperation between our organizations, through which NEDA will be represented on Bağımsızlık Yolu’s candidate lists. In a first for our island, we are overcoming the boundaries imposed by division through our shared struggle.
We have built this cooperation from working people’s lived experiences and the solidarity we have forged on the streets. Together, we have addressed low wages, insecure employment, rising rents, housing difficulties and the subordination of public services to the market in both the north and the south. We have united our efforts in support of working women’s struggle against exploitation and gender inequality. Together, we strengthened solidarity with the striking Ektam workers. We took part in joint organizing efforts that brought together women’s struggle for freedom and the Ektam workers’ resistance. We developed common demands and opportunities for collective struggle against the conditions imposed on working people by capital.
We approach the division of Cyprus from the same class perspective. Through our joint public discussions and statements, we have examined the role of imperialism, nationalism and the ruling classes in dividing the island. Against those who maintain their power by turning peoples against one another, we have championed working people’s common struggle. Together, we have emphasised that peace is strengthened by uncovering the truth, building solidarity between peoples and fighting the system of exploitation.
We are waging a joint struggle against the British bases and all foreign military bases in Cyprus. We demand the withdrawal of all foreign troops and the removal of all foreign bases from the island, and an end to Cyprus’s use as a center for warfare, logistics and intelligence by NATO and the imperialist powers. Together, we are strengthening our struggle for independence against the transformation of our island into a military base that brings death to other peoples.
Our solidarity with the Palestinian people against Israel’s genocidal actions is an inseparable part of this struggle. We have stood shoulder to shoulder at numerous Palestine solidarity protests in the north and south of Cyprus, organising together on the streets. Together, we have raised our voices to stop the genocide, lift the blockade of Gaza and demand freedom for Palestine. We have opposed our island’s complicity in Israel’s crimes. From Palestine to Lebanon, from Syria to Iran, we have defended solidarity among peoples against imperialist aggression.
We also stand together against ecological destruction and natural gas extraction in the waters around Cyprus. We call for the gas to remain beneath the seabed. Together, we oppose the plundering of nature for capitalist profit, the further militarisation of our island through competition over energy resources, and the pitting of peoples against one another. We refuse to surrender our land, our sea and our lives to corporate interests.
Today, we are extending this shared struggle into the general election. Together, we stand for class solidarity against those who divide working people through nationalism, for independence against imperialist dependency, and for socialism against capitalist exploitation.
Together on the streets, together in struggle, together in the general election!
Imperialism divided us; working people will reunite us! We are strengthening our common struggle for a federal, united, independent and socialist Cyprus!
