Our minds today turn to the tragedy taking place in the heart of Europe, said Speaker of the House of Representatives Anita Demetriou, noting that Cyprus stands by the side of the hard-pressed people of Ukraine.
Speaking at the annual religious memorial service of Evagoras Pallikaridis, which was held today at the Cathedral of St Theodoros, presided over by Metropolitan George of Paphos, she said that our minds inevitably run to the current tragedy taking place in the heart of Europe, in Ukraine. The Russian invasion, he said, is still causing scenes of chaos, suffering and despair, awakening the nightmare for Europe and the whole world.
He added that for Cyprus the images of the war evoke painful memories, because its wounds are still open.
That is why, he continued, "fully aligned with the decisions of the European Union, Cyprus stands by the side of the hard-pressed people of Ukraine, firmly committed to international law, respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states, but also to the fundamental European principles and values."
Unfortunately, he further said, for Cyprus the joy of liberation and the vindication of the struggles of Evagoras Pallikaridis and his fellow fighters was interrupted only fourteen years after its independence, when the discord and mutual strife that resulted in the coup d'état and the brutal Turkish invasion of black July 1974 came. With it came all the suffering: Death, refugees, the missing, the trapped, the suffering.
It is the wish of all of us, he continued, that freedom and peace may once again flutter in every corner of the world. Through unity and away from any expediency and pettiness, we aim in particular to free our homeland from the facts of occupation, to reunite it and transform it into a place of peace, security, democracy and prosperity for all its lawful inhabitants without exception.
Because only in this way, said Demetriou, will we do justice to the sacrifice of young Evagoras and all our heroes and martyrs.
Because only in this way, said Demetriou, will we do justice to the sacrifice of young Evagoras and all our heroes and martyrs. We cannot leave our debt to them unpaid. Because freedom means responsibility, she added.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives Anita Demetriou said that today, 65 years after the ruthless execution of Evagoras Pallikaridis, we honour his heroic memory and bow to the greatness of the soul of this eternal teenager, who with his supreme sacrifice became a symbol for all peoples struggling for the conquest of their freedom.[BR]Freedom, he noted, is the will to be responsible for one's place and country on the basis of principles and values that are so often shaken today.
She also sent the assurance that these principles and values will be both protected and preserved as the apple of our eye because, as she said, this is what the light defines, this is what our conscience and responsibility defines.
At the age of 19, Vagoris, Demetriou said, is following his fateful path to freedom and passing on to immortality. His conscious approach to death made him not only a national but also a global benchmark.
He was the youngest of the nine hanged men. His conviction and execution caused a worldwide outcry against the British colonialists, an outcry that succeeded in preventing the hanging of other militants who had been sentenced to death. He was the last to climb the scaffold of the gallows, he concluded. The flame was carried by members of the Pancyprian Reserve Ranger Association and the Runners' Associations Stelios Kyriakides and Pericles Demetriou.
In addition, at midnight on March 13, the time of the hero's hanging, fellow soldiers, classmates, friends and appreciators of his work will lay wreaths at his statue, opposite the school he attended, today's A' Lyceum of Paphos.
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