Disy leader Annita Demetriou said on Wednesday that “patriotism means working for a better homeland”, as she called for a “free and reunified Cyprus”.

Speaking at an event in Larnaca to mark the October 28 Oxi anniversary, Dimitriou said the defence of national interests requires “strategy, boldness and determination”.

On the Cyprus problem, she repeated the party’s call for a Cyprus “without occupation troops or outdated guarantees”.

She said Turkey “cannot expect preferential treatment from the European Union while it occupies European territory and breaches international law”.

Demetriou recalled the Greek “No” of 1940 and said the resistance that followed showed that freedom, dignity and the defence of law depend on “the strength of a people’s resolve” rather than on the size of a state or the superiority of its weapons.

She also cited Cyprus’ contribution to the Second World War, in which more than 30,000 volunteers took part.

Dimitriou placed particular weight on the state’s duty to young people, saying the government should offer “quality education, affordable housing and decent salaries”, along with “real opportunities for professional and personal development”.

She described the Oxi anniversary as more than an occasion for historical remembrance, saying it is also a reminder of responsibility towards future generations.

“Let us not compromise with half a homeland. Let us not accept injustice as normality”, she concluded.

Disy president Annita Demetriou on Wednesday said that recent events threatened the unity of the party and called for the party to be put first amid ongoing tensions.

“It [the unity of the party] is certainly threatened. That is why I say that it also depends on our behaviour and actions. And we should all put Disy first and above all and of course, above Disy, our Cyprus,” she said, speaking at the October 28 parade in Nicosia.

Asked to comment on the latest installment in the Disy infighting after former finance minister Harris Georgiades handed her his resignation letter from his post at the Glafcos Clerides Institute on Tuesday, she said that she would not be accepting his resignation.

Demetriou said that there would be another attempt to resolve the issue and emphasised that “the result should be completely respected.”

“Disy members will vote, speak and decide,” she said, adding that the message of the day would be that “we should all do our own reflection”.

Demetriou on Tuesday had said that issues that arise within the party needed to be resolved through dialogue and not through resignations.

In a post on X she said that her personal decision was driven solely by her desire to unify the party.

“The resignation of Harris Georgiades from the position of president of the Glafkos Clerides Institute is not acceptable. Issues are not resolved through resignations, but through dialogue and this is what I will seek to do in the coming period,” she wrote.

Georgiades had offered his resignation as chairman of the Disy-affiliated Glafcos Clerides Institute thinktank and announced that he would not campaign for former Disy leader Averof Neophytou in the 2028 presidential elections if the latter wins Disy’s election to be its candidate.

Internal tensions unfolding within Disy came to a head after Averof Neophytou and George Pamboridis both formally submitted their candidacies for Disy’s presidential nomination on Monday.

This set the stage for an internal contest ahead of the 2028 presidential election with the winning candidate set to be chosen on November 28.

The race is taking place amid divisions within the party following the 2023 presidential election, with the outcome expected to influence both the direction of the party’s leadership and its chances of returning to government after Demetriou withdrew her own candidacy from the contest for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination in early October.