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Spyros Kyprianou
was an iconic figure in the modern history of Cyprus and twenty years since his death, he continues to be a point of reference and nostalgia, said DIKO President Nicolas Papadopoulos at the memorial service for the former President of the Republic.
The 20th memorial service of the former President was presided over by Metropolitan Nicholas of Amathus, at the Church of St Nicholas, in Limassol on Saturday, in the presence of Speaker of Parliament Anita Demetriou, political leaders, MPs, state officials and local authorities.
In his memorial speech, Nicolas Papadopoulos said that "today we honour the fighter of politics and life, we honour the memory of Spyros Kyprianou", adding that "in life he was an adamant defender of the rights of the Cypriot people". With his death, he noted, "it is precisely this virtue that he bequeathed to DIKO, to fight for freedom and democracy."
Saying that much has been written about the politician Spyros Kyprianou, the DIKO President said that "the unrepentant and adamant history will evaluate and appreciate his work and his contribution to the country."
A contribution, he continued, that began in his student days and ended with his death, "a political path that he continued as a teenage student, as a Minister, as a Party Leader, as Speaker of the Parliament, as President of the Republic of Cyprus".
At the same time, he indicated that he is also the man Spyros Kyprianou, "which is not left to the historian of the future, but to the ordinary man of the people who knew him, who talked with him, who lived his struggles".
"Spyros Kyprianou was, undoubtedly, an emblematic figure of the modern history of Cyprus, but also as a leader, as an indomitable fighter, the democratic people of Cyprus judged him and made him the banner of the struggle for freedom and justice," he added.
At the same time, he noted that twenty years after his death, his dream for a free and happy Cyprus remained unfulfilled and that "DIKO has a duty to honour, fulfil and honour Spyros Kyprianou's mortgage and to have it as a compass in its struggle for the liberation of Cyprus".
"This is the debt dictated by his memory and our debts to the Greek generations that have passed through these bloodstained soils and the generations that will follow," said the DIKO President, underlining that "twenty years after his death, Spyros Kyprianou is still a point of reference and nostalgia."
"Let us keep him alive in our hearts and let his always topical speech resonate within us," he concluded.
The memorial service was followed by a ceremony at the grave of the former President of the Republic, at the cemetery of Agios Nikolaos.
Source: CNA
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