In an interview with Kathimerini (4 August 2024), Kourtellaris stressed that we are fighting for the goal of a socialist-communist society in which the working class has power.
Read the full interview below:
What was the need behind the founding of the Communist Initiative of Cyprus (CIC)?
The need to rebuild the workers’ and people’s movement and the need to develop a different perspective for society and the economy, different from the existing socio-economic capitalist system that creates suffocating dead ends and reproduces poverty. The need to fight for a society in which the working class is in power.
What system do you suggest?
Our perception is that there are classes: the working class and the bourgeoisie, so there is a class struggle, contrary to what the AKEL candidate for the 2018 presidential election claimed for a while. That is why we are fighting with the aim of building a socialist-communist society in which the working class, those who produce the country’s wealth, have power. Unlike all the parties that have governed this country, we have come to put forward proposals that are outside the framework of the capitalist system.
But your proposal was implemented and failed.
A 70-year implementation with weaknesses and mistakes, but also great successes, cannot serve as a reason for the failure of the system – in contrast to the capitalist system that has prevailed for two centuries, which has destroyed the environment and imposed destructive wars, poverty and misery on people.
People who lived under the socialist system say they cannot imagine a return to the days when they had to queue for bread.
Despite all the anti-communist propaganda, all surveys since the fall of the socialist countries show that the majority of the population in these countries say that they had it better then than afterwards. In the so-called free economy, on the other hand, 150,000 of our compatriots are currently living on the poverty line, for example in Cyprus.
Is there an example that applies to you, such as China or Cuba?
I must say that we are firmly attached to the island of the revolution, but the context in Latin America is different. Nor do we believe that a country that will be in the realm of socialism tomorrow should copy another country.
To speak of a socialist-communist society today sounds backward.
And yet we say it is novel and exciting. Our initiative has attracted people, especially young people, who are still fascinated by the ideals of communist ideology.
Will you remain an association or will you develop into a party?
The association is the forerunner of an attempt by people who are communists and children of the working class. Our goal is to establish a communist party that will also participate in elections.
Starting with the 2026 parliamentary elections?
I think our position is clear.
What will the party be called and what will its emblem be?
We are not ashamed to call ourselves communists, and that is why the name of the party will include the word “communist.” The emblem will certainly be the honorable symbol of the struggles of the working class all over the world, the hammer and sickle.
Like other members of the Communist Initiative, you were politically active in AKEL, but then left instead of fighting the battle internally. Why?
The history of AKEL has been a history of struggles for the people and the working class for many, many years. We are not here to replace or replace AKEL. We are here to propose a different development for society and the economy. We left AKEL because it does not do justice to us ideologically and politically.
So they do not consider AKEL a communist party.
There is currently no communist parliamentary party in Cyprus.
Your grandfather Christos Kourtellaris was an important member of AKEL. Were you approached by the party to prevent you from becoming politically autonomous?
No, there was no intervention from AKEL.
Your relationship with the Communist Party of Greece (KKE)?
We honour the KKE, we respect it, we admire it, we have a common language and common visions.
Is there a cooperation?
No, there is no cooperation.
Your relationship to Omonia Square on May 29th?
There is no connection to a football club.
What are your fundamental positions on the Cyprus problem?
We are fighting for an intact and independent Cyprus, without foreign troops and bases, without foreign guarantors and protectors, for a Cyprus with an international personality, one citizenship, one sovereignty and a unified economy. We are fighting for a state with one people and not two constituent states, so that the class character of the confrontation is highlighted and not the ethnic conflict as it is portrayed today.
Do you accept the BBF as a basis for a solution?
The BBF has substance, and we saw it in the Annan Plan and in Crans Montana. The BBF is a solution that reinforces ethnic separation and is not a federal solution, but a confederal solution between two constituent states.
But it is the basis for a solution set out in UN Security Council resolutions.
From the beginning, there was no bi-zonality in the UN resolutions. In any case, today there is a balance of power in the UN that favors NATO and Turkey.
Which model do you support?
We do not want to give the solution a name, such as a unitary state, a federation, etc., but we do want to set out the principles that must apply to any solution.
How can we involve Turkish Cypriots in our efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue?
We also have Turkish Cypriot members in the CIC. The Turkish Cypriots are our compatriots and therefore we strive for a united class front that will oppose imperialism for a truly just solution to the Cyprus problem and for a lasting peace.
What is your position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is unacceptable. But we should also note the dirty role that the US, NATO and the EU are playing behind Zelensky. The war that is being waged is an imperialist war and is being waged in the interests of the bourgeoisies of the conflicting countries. The price of this war is paid by ordinary people, both Ukrainians and Russians, but also the peoples of the EU.
About the war in the Gaza Strip?
This is not a war in Gaza. It is the genocide of the Palestinian people by the murderous state of Israel.
You mentioned the EU. We are a member state. What is your position on Cyprus’s European status?
Some time ago we made an in-depth analysis of the EU, which proves its reactionary character. We are fighting for withdrawal from the EU and the parallel organisation of the struggle for a different society.
So you think we should leave the EU and the Eurozone. Should we go back to the pound?
It is not the currency that determines the character of an economy. We have evidence that after joining the EU, people became impoverished, small industries were destroyed, agriculture was levelled, small and medium-sized enterprises disappeared and the cooperative movement was dissolved.
There is a view that EU membership has essentially determined Cyprus’s western orientation.
For us, the right orientation is one that is determined by the interests of the working class.
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