Saturday 21 January 2023, University of Nicosia
Every report, every testimony about the suffering that the Turkish invasion of our island has brought is a reminder of our debt to those who sacrificed themselves to defend our freedom, as well as our debt to the present and future generations not to prove ourselves inferior and insolent, and with responsibility, courage and determination to claim our rights, as recognized and defined by the decisions and resolutions of the United Nations, the verdicts of international courts and every other concept of international law.
Thus, in the context of this common understanding, we are deeply touched by the initiative of the Community Council of Neo Chorio Kythrea to pay due tribute to the many Neochorites who fell on the battlefields or were executed in cold blood by the Turkish invaders and the Turkish Cypriot extremists who for years have been watered with the poison of hatred against the Greek Cypriots.
The publication of the book will certainly serve for present and future generations as a valuable historical source of memory for the great contribution of Neos Chorio Kythrea to the struggles for our freedom and independence.
Indeed, Neos Chorio Kythrea has a sad record. The tragic account of the dead, the cold-blooded murdered and the missing, wants the community of Neos Chorio to count the most victims of the horrors of war and destruction during the bitter summer of 1974. Despite the overwhelming, numerical and technological superiority of the invaders, too many of our young people turned out to defend our small homeland. Among them was the flower of the community of Neos Chorio.
In memory of all of them we reverently close our eyes and pray for the vindication of the struggle they fought, without ignoring that "the Ephialtes had already appeared" and "the Medes will finally cross".
Congratulating the President and the members of the Community Council of Neos Chorio for the initiative of publishing this book, I wish with them that its publication contributes to the further cultivation of the young people's love for their land, as well as their fighting duty for the liberation and reunification of our country by returning to our hallowed soil.
We remain eternally committed to this goal. Each and every one of us feels the full extent of our debt to those who sacrificed for us and future generations. Our hearts pulse the same. The Hellenism of Cyprus will stand the test, it has been tested in its historical past by other barbarians as well, it will be vindicated and will continue to grow in this corner of the eastern Mediterranean where it has stood, no matter what other difficulties and challenges it may have to face.
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Note.: The greeting was read on behalf of the Commissioner for the Presidency, Mr. Fotis Fotiou, by Marianna Christodoulou, an official of his office.
(SX/NG)
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