NICOSIA, Cyprus—Delegates with the Communist Party USA’s Hello Comrade project arrived in the eastern Mediterranean late last week, landing in Cyprus, a small but geopolitically strategic island nation situated between Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon.
The U.S. delegation has spent several days here meeting with their fraternal comrades from the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL), Cyprus’s communist party, as well as trade unionists, youth organizers from the United Democratic Youth Organization (EDON), and local community leaders of all stripes.
The goal of the CPUSA delegation is to strengthen international solidarity between both parties and bring lessons from the Cypriot people’s struggle back to people in the U.S. So far, there have been meetings and exchanges between the two parties, as well as between the Young Communist League USA and EDON. 
Additionally, American communist youth have been volunteering in the evening to help prepare for the annual EDON youth festival—a large popular gathering which will see many thousands of young participants, including activists and workers. Song, dance, arts, food, cultural exchanges, and of course, class-based politics will all be on the agenda.
Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of Cyprus, to which AKEL traces its roots. The party was founded in 1926 but was outlawed during the 1930s while the island was under British colonial rule.
As the Communist Party’s ideological successor, AKEL has carried the torch of socialism, peace, and democracy ever since. Today, Cypriot communists continue to build broad popular support among working people—from cities to villages—through class struggle, arts and culture, sports, and the fight for peace and reunification of the island.
“The Cyprus problem”
AKEL’s central focus remains the liberation of Cyprus from foreign occupation and the fight for national sovereignty.
After decades of clashes between the nationalists of both the ethnic Greek and ethnic Turkish communities—clashes that were intensified due to the role of imperialism—Turkey occupied the northern part of the island in 1974. That occupation, which covers 37% of Cyprus, continues to this day.
AKEL has long pushed for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation based on the relevant United Nations resolutions to ensure political and social equality for all Cypriots and to demilitarize Cyprus.
But progress has stalled for nearly a decade. Negotiations have been frozen since 2017, and many hundreds of thousands or more Turkish settlers now reside in the occupied north, while the current status quo is complicating efforts to reach a political solution.
AKEL views this demographic shift as a deliberate strategy by Ankara to erode the existence, identity, and political will of Turkish Cypriots and entrench Turkey’s control over the island.
Like many countries in the region, Cyprus was a former British colony. After decades of heroic struggle, independence was won in 1960—but with some colonial asterisks: two British military bases, which remain British territory to this day, and a Treaty of Guarantees that enabled Britain, Turkey, and Greece to have intervention rights in the island’s affairs.
As the main force for peace and sovereignty on the island, AKEL leads the charge against escalating militarization, from drone deployments to NATO’s creeping influence.
Despite not being a NATO member, Cyprus has seen increased military cooperation with EU allies—particularly Britain and Greece—which AKEL argues serves as a backdoor for NATO expansion. Recent reports confirm a U.S. military presence, alongside German troops stationed since the 2006 Lebanon War. At the same time, Cyprus has enhanced its military collaboration with Israel in the framework of its relations with the U.S.
The British bases have also played a role in regional conflicts. They hosted Israeli aircraft during the recent war with Iran and facilitated surveillance operations over Gaza, similar to how the bases have been used for past military invasions, including the U.S. wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). The party’s popular slogan makes their position clear to all: “No Cyprus in NATO—No NATO in Cyprus!”
Adding to these concerns, the Israeli government has quietly encouraged big Israeli investments and settling of its citizens in Cyprus. For Cypriots, this echoes the dynamics of historic Palestine’s occupation and raises alarms about Israeli influence on their country. Both Cyprus and Palestine were former colonial outposts of the British Empire in the region.
In 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union in a move AKEL initially opposed but accepted from 1995 and onwards. They saw this as an avenue to advocate for Cypriot reunification following the overthrow of socialism in Eastern Europe and the rise of globalization and NATO aggression.
Currently, Cyprus holds six seats in the European Parliament. AKEL has one member of the European Parliament (who sits as part of “The Left” group in the EP), and the party uses its seat as a platform to challenge austerity and advocate for peace, democracy, and Cypriot reunification.
“For us, it is an arena for continuing the struggle of Cyprus’s reunification and to block the far-right,” Vera Polycarpou, Head of International Relations and European Policy of AKEL and member of the Central Committee of AKEL, told People’s World.
“And of course, we are under no illusions. It [the EU] is a capitalist project,” she said.
Trade unionism in a service economy
AKEL’s roots are deeply tied to the labor movement. The party founded Cyprus’s first trade unions, and its affiliated federation, the Pancyprian Federation of Labor (PEO), remains an anchor for workers’ rights among the Cypriot working class.
But the 2008 financial crisis hit the working class hard. Union density plummeted from 75% to 50%, and today, 40% of Cypriot workers earn just €1,000 a month—barely enough to survive amid soaring inflation and austerity measures.
Most trade union members work in the public and semi-governmental sector, while private-sector organizing lags behind, particularly in Cyprus’s service-based economy. Top industries include tourism, construction, and healthcare. But the PEO is focusing on these tough-to-organize industries by deploying young workers to unionize hotels, airports, and hospitals.
Their strategy to popularize socialism in the labor movement is very pragmatic (and successful): They start with bread-and-butter issues, like wages and benefits, and then build toward broader political consciousness through the class struggle process.
As one young construction worker and member of PEO explained to People’s World: “You can’t talk about socialism if workers can’t pay rent.”
One of their current campaigns is to fight to preserve and make permanent cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) in union contracts in order to lessen the blow of inflation from the last decade’s economic crises. U.S. delegates noted that this demand mirrors labor struggles back home, most notably in the United Auto Workers’ demands during the 2023 “Stand Up Strike.”
A party in renewal
Last week, AKEL held its National Congress, where General Secretary Stefanos Stefanou was re-elected with 96% support.
The newly elected Central Committee expanded to 120 members, with a notable change in its composition: 40% are full-time party organizers while 60% are workers not employed by the party. This balance was a deliberate adjustment in order to bolster confidence among party members, who now feel greater control over the party’s direction.
A special moment of the congress was its continuous, unwavering solidarity with Palestine. The Palestinian ambassador delivered the opening address at the meeting, which reinforced AKEL’s commitment to anti-imperialist and national liberation struggles worldwide.
This took on added significance as Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza continues and U.S.-Israeli forces attack Iran. Cyprus, a small island nation just 40 minutes by air from occupied Palestine, plays a critical role—both as a NATO outpost on one hand and as a site of resistance against occupation on the other.
Looking ahead
In the coming days, the Hello Comrade delegation will join thousands of young communist activists and workers at the annual EDON festival, a vibrant gathering organized by AKEL’s youth wing. Run mostly by volunteer party cadres, the event showcases the energy of Cyprus’s communist movement—a mix of political education, cultural exchange, and grassroots mobilization.
The delegation will also meet with comrades from fraternal parties across Europe and the Middle East to deepen ties and strategize against the growing dangers of war and austerity internationally. For Cypriot communists, their path forward is to continue moving forward and resist foreign occupation, build working-class power, and strengthen international alliances.
Kypros, a comrade of AKEL, told People’s World while setting up for the coming EDON festival: “Our fight is local, but our struggle is international.”
Surely, the lessons learned here and the experiences gained will echo far beyond the shores of the Mediterranean.
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