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- Ελληνικά
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with feelings of deepest respect that we unveil, here at the building of the Refugee Association of Vasileia-Vavila, the monument to the fallen and missing of the two occupied communities.
Allow me first of all to underline the intense emotion that I personally experience today. Coming from our beloved village, where I spent the first years of my life, with my father in particular reminding us daily, until the last day of his life, of his love for his village, the unveiling of this venerable monument evokes deeply engraved memories in my soul, making the desire and the duty to continue the struggle for a return to the land of my birth even more urgent.
It was for this debt of defending the integrity of our homeland that our compatriots ran to fight that black July of 1974 against the Turkish invader: Aristodimou Alexis, the brothers Diakos Andreas and Diakos Savas, the couple Eleftheriou E. Eleftherios and Eleftheriou E. Elpiniki, with their eight-year-old child and my contemporary Eleftheriou E. Christakis, Karamanis P. Michalis, Karamanis Pantelis, the brothers Malekkos Angelos and Malekkos Kostas, Maratheytis Charalambos, the minor brothers Mastrappas K. Zenon and Mastrappas K. Stavros, Neophytou Abraham Roussos, 16-year-old Papapavlou Elias, Petrou Nikos, Pittas Kostas, Sergidis Joseph, Tenecketzis George, Fteroudis Charalambos, Charalambous Andreas, Charalambous Theophanis, Hadjigeorgiou Panagiotis and Hadjilois Sotiris.
It was their own sacrifice and their own struggle that raised a barrier to Turkey's long-term plans for Cyprus, along with the rest of our compatriots, preventing its further expansionist course on our island. It was their united struggle, after the traitorous coup that preceded it, that managed to preserve our identity and ensure our historical continuity.
In this context, the monument, which is being erected today at the Refugee Association of Vasileia-Vavila, is an expression of honour, appreciation and gratitude, which reflects on every single person of this land who demonstrated unparalleled self-denial, choosing the dignity of the homeland over his own life. At the same time, this monument expresses our solidarity and unreserved support for the relatives of all those whose fate has remained unclear for 50 years. This human drama, which these people experience every day with patience, agony and pain, is one of the most painful consequences of the Turkish invasion and a very serious humanitarian problem.
As the President of the Republic himself has repeatedly stressed, the Government makes it a priority to determine the fate of all our missing persons. Acting with particular sensitivity, we must continue our intense legal and diplomatic activity until the fate of all our missing persons, without exception, is determined, despite any difficulties and problems. This activism, combined with the fighting spirit and perseverance of the relatives of the missing persons, has resulted in the exhumation and identification of several of our 1,619 missing persons. However, the refusal of the Turkish side to cooperate and the passage of time make the work of the Missing Persons' Committee difficult, hindering the effectiveness of the efforts made. It is in this context that our side demands that both the European and the international community exert the necessary pressure on Turkey to cooperate towards the final resolution of the issue.
At the same time, we are striving to make our country a truly sovereign and independent state, a state of peace, prosperity and security for all its citizens without distinction. A state in which democratic institutions, human rights, the acquis communautaire, the principles and values of the European ideal and the United Nations will be applied and respected. We seek the resumption of talks to reach a just, viable and workable solution that will liberate and reunite our country, freeing it from foreign troops, third country guarantees and anachronistic guarantee systems.
Our children and our young people are the future of this country. We continue through our goal "I do not forget, I struggle, I claim" to cultivate the desire for liberation, militancy and peaceful coexistence in our land.
In this struggle we have the refugee world as a symbol.
In this struggle we have the refugee world as a symbol. All of you who have kept the flame of patience and perseverance burning for 50 years for the prevalence of the rights and rights of our people. We have as a beacon your own fighting spirit, faith and desire to return to the Kingdoms, Babylon and the rest of our occupied territories. Your own fighting spirit, faith and desire that you managed to pass on to the new generations, who keep the memory of the birthplace of our grandparents and parents unquenched. For this struggle we will expend all our strength because we owe it to those who lived, grew up and died in exile, to those who are still waiting for their return.
Friends,
The brave men and women of Vasileia and Babylon, standing up boldly against the invaders, have indelibly engraved their name in the history of our land.
The brave men and women of Vasileia and Babylon, standing up boldly against the invaders, have left an indelible mark on the history of our land. From today, the name of each and every one of them individually, engraved on the monument, whose unveiling takes place on this temporary roof, recalling their self-sacrifice and self-denial for the homeland, will indicate our own debt.
Glory and honor to the sacrifice of our 24 compatriots. My wish and prayer that the fate of 16 of those still missing will soon be determined.
Thank you.
(MS/EATH)
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