ATHENS – “We do not forget the crimes of the military regime, we do not forget the persecutions, the imprisonments, the exiles, the murders. The economic crimes and scandals of the junta,” main opposition SYRIZA underlined on Tuesday, 53 years after what the party described as the “US-incited coup d’etat of April 21, 1967 that imposed a harsh seven-year dictatorship and led to the betrayal of Cyprus.”

“Nor do we forget,” SYRIZA noted, “that in that dark period, many of our leftist and democratic compatriots did not submit to tyrannical rule but, risking their security and lives, chose to fight for freedom and democracy.”

“Today, in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that is testing the endurance of our society at all levels, their own example shows us the way.”

In particular, the announcement stressed that “we are fighting for everyone’s access to public health, so that social freedoms and labour rights are not demolished under the guise of a pandemic.”

It also noted that “we propose social solidarity, our collective struggle to keep society upright.”

“This is our tribute to the anti-dictatorship militants,” the main opposition concluded.