Disy asks if Akel ‘would rather stand with Hamas and Turkey’ over Israel

Disy has asked whether Akel wants to be “on the same side as Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and Turkey”, in a retort to the party’s criticism of a new pro-Israel parliamentary group launched on Wednesday. It also demanded that Akel apologise “for wanting Cyprus isolated”, saying the party “cannot stand its Western orientation”. Disy said the security and international position of Cyprus were too serious to be subordinated to Akel’s “ideological obsessions”. It said strengthening relations with Israel was “a strategic choice” and that it supported its MPs taking part in initiatives serving it. Related Articles • Parliament ‘cannot be turned into Israel lobby’ says Akel Disy argued that “a country under Turkish occupation needed strong international support and a presence where decisions affecting it are made”. It rejected what it called a “false equivalence” that backing the Palestinian people required limiting international cooperation, and said it would keep “building partnerships guided by national interests”. Disy said Akel had still not answered claims regarding funding and surveillance, and asked whether it “operated for decades as a secret satellite of the Soviet Union”. The claim relates to reports in the daily Simerini, which on Sunday published material from declassified files of the communist party’s central committee. The paper said they showed Cypriot students in the USSR collected tens of thousands of rubles, which were converted and circulated through the KGB. Akel had called the launch “extremely provocative” and said parliament “could not become a lobby” promoting a foreign state’s interests. It lambasted President Nikos Christodoulides’ government for backing the initiatives and cited a finding by the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry that “genocide had been committed in Gaza”. The new group, formed with the Israel Allies Foundation, has six members from Disy, Diko and Elam and is led by Diko MP Chrysis Pantelides.