Averof, my old teacher… How the attack on DISY and AKEL blew up in his own face

Opinion akeldisyelectionsNicos Anastasiadespolitics Averof, my old teacher… How the attack on DISY and AKEL blew up in his own face Averof Neophytou Kouremenoi Relevant News Heading out to hunt while the mercury’s still climbing 19 August 2026 Averof, my old teacher… How the attack on DISY and AKEL blew up in his own face 19 August 2026 Jet ski rescue saves swimmer off Limassol beach 19 August 2026 newsroom 19 August 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber “Because blinkers have no place in politics as far as I’m concerned, let me put it to you plainly…” A pompous statement from Averof Neofytou, it has to be said. If only that principle actually governed politicians generally. Politics and politicians would sit far higher up the credibility scale, and would enjoy real respect from the public, instead of languishing at rock bottom, where they’ve sat for years. All it would take is for the people preaching about blinkers to actually practise it every time, not just when it suits them. Here’s the grandiose post in full: “Because blinkers have no place in politics as far as I’m concerned, let me put it to you plainly. The two traditional pro-solution forces above all others, AKEL and DISY, both of which, sadly, fearing the supposed political cost, have also recently set the Cyprus problem aside, bear responsibility for wrong decisions on the issue. In my view, history will charge AKEL with: 1. The No to the American-British-Canadian plan, and 2. The No to the Annan Plan. And DISY with: 1. Burying the Ghali ideas, and 2. The collapse of Crans-Montana.” Whether Averof is right or wrong on the points he’s charging DISY and AKEL with is a huge subject in its own right, and could fill a debate all on its own. There are plenty of contestable points in each case he raises. And clearly, this isn’t the moment for that debate. Besides, even if someone accepted he was entirely right, that wouldn’t rewrite history. Nor could it change the present or the future. What actually matters a great deal, though, is whether the politician declaring that “blinkers have no place in politics” applies that standard to himself, every single time. Take the burying of the Ghali ideas. That’s a charge that was levelled at DISY’s founder, Glafkos Clerides, back in 1992-93, as a way to get himself elected president at the expense of the then-president, Georgios Vasiliou. I went digging through my own archive but, unfortunately for Averof, found no trace of any reaction from him to that Clerides-DISY decision at the time. Evidently, back then, “blinkers had every place in politics.” Since 1992 is fairly distant, and anyone could argue Averof was only 31 at the time, without the political grounding he’d later acquire and certainly without the influence he’d go on to wield, let’s look at the second case instead. He accuses DISY, of which he was president at the time, of fearing the political cost and burying the Crans-Montana talks in 2017. Back then, Nicos Anastasiades was accused of failing to hold out to the end because he had his eye on re-election in 2018. Yet, as colleague Andreas Pimpisis rightly pointed out in his reporting, in September 2017 Averof Neofytou defended Anastasiades’s handling of the talks. He argued that the Guterres Framework and the informal document on the supervision mechanism ought to stand as acquis: “The continuation of dialogue must be based on that specific acquis,” he said. He added: “We are obliged to secure both the Framework and the Implementation Mechanism as acquis, exactly as the Greek Foreign Minister said,” referring to remarks he’d made to the National Council. He went further still, making his backing for the then DISY-led government even clearer, explaining why the Guterres Framework was never discussed: “Turkey, despite the efforts of President Anastasiades and Nikos Kotzias, insisted on keeping a role as guarantor power with the right to intervene. Unfortunately, the Turkish foreign minister never allowed us to reach a substantive discussion of the Supervision Mechanism, since he never accepted the Guterres Framework’s proposals to abolish the Guarantees.” Averof, my old teacher… It’s plain to see, blinkers have always had a place in politics. They still do, and it’s frankly unlikely there will ever come a day when they disappear. But the fact that Averof stands exposed by his own thunderous statement isn’t the real story here. He’s on much shakier ground because of the positions he’s taken on two separate podcasts. He’s adopted Holguín’s line that opening crossing points and confidence-building measures are a necessary precondition before a five-plus-one meeting can happen. He points to the Greek Cypriot side’s failure to agree on opening crossing points as the reason the Secretary-General is leaving empty-handed. It’s well known by now that Averof is desperate to achieve in 2028 what he couldn’t manage in 2023. But with positions like these, he’d be better off leaving the pitch right now. First, the battle he actually has to win is the one for the party’s internal nomination. With the jabs mentioned above, he’s already scored a rather spectacular own goal. Second, even if he does manage to secure the nomination, which is extremely difficult, he’d still need to convince the electorate to get him through to the second round, then actually elect him. If he thinks positions like these, that appeal to little more than a fringe of voters, are winning him ground, then he might as well believe the sun can rise in the west. Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Heading out to hunt while the mercury’s still climbing Jet ski rescue saves swimmer off Limassol beach Who exactly is Averof Neofytou talking to? 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