This online article was published in April 2020 on the blog of the Cyprus Movements Archive.

For Costis Ahniotis

Costis Ahniotis passed away three years ago, a day like today.

As a student in France, he was politically active in the extra-parliamentary left, and with his return to Cyprus he became actively involved with the Cypriot extra-parliamentary Left, the rapprochement movement and the political circles of the walled city of Nicosia. He participated in the magazine ‘Discussion Bulletin’ [Δελτίο Συζήτησης], through which the first written discussions of the Cypriot far-left developed.

In the beginning of the 1980s, he was active in the Communist Circle, continuing publications with the publication of the magazine Within the Walls between 1985-1990, which constituted a key text for the exposition of the theoretical concerns and dialogue of the broader left. In that period he had a key role in the formation of the group ‘Friends of Akamas’, with the aim of the preservation of the natural environment of the Akamas peninsula.

He further participates in the publication of the bi-communal magazine Hade (1998-2001), one of the most note-worthy attempts for an autonomous channel of communication between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, before the opening of the checkpoints. During the same period he was part of the publishing team of the social and political dialogue magazine ‘From the Beginning’ [Εξ Υπαρχής] (1999-2004).

In 2004 he forms, together with other comrades, the ‘Platform of Leftists for YES’ and organizes afterwards, alongside other teachers, the G/c and T/c Teachers' Platform "United Cyprus", while publishing the magazine of the Greek Cypriot section of the platform, Kalemi [Το Καλέμι] (2008-11).

During the period of the intensification of the economic crisis that started in 2008, he organized, together with other members of the extra-parliamentary left, in ERAS, while afterwards he was a candidate in the European parliamentary elections of 2014 with the bi-communal electoral list of Δράσυ-Eylem, the first bi-communal electoral list that had ever participated in an election in the history of the Republic of Cyprus. Between 2014-2016 he participated in the attempt of forming the website of alternative information Platforma News, while in the last months of his life, he participated in the Leftist Movement – We Want Federation.

The 11th issue of the Entropy [Εντροπία] magazine features a tribute to Costis Ahniotis, while the documentary Tongue focuses on his life in relation to the Cyprocentric extra-parliamentary left. The audio recording of Costis’ discussion with sociologist Andreas Paanayiotou also exists (in Greek), on the subject ‘Radical Narrations of the Cyprus Problem from the 1970s onwards: The Rise of Cypriot Consciousness and of the Bi-communal Movement’, organized in 2017 by Syspirosi Atakton.

We have recently translated his 1988 text ’cypriot consciousness’, making it available in English for the first time.