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- Ελληνικά
August 19, 1974, Yialousa.
Turkish soldiers arrest Christos and eight other residents of the community. Their cold-blooded murder writes the first act of the crime.
In 2007, after 33 years, the remains of Christos are found in a mass grave and identified through scientific methods.
On 27 July 2007, the final act of the crime is written with the funeral and final resting place of the soul of the untimely murdered judge Christos Hatzinikolaou.
On 27 July 2007, the final act of the crime is written with the funeral and final resting place of the soul of the untimely murdered judge Christos Hatzinikolaou.
Ladies and gentlemen,
50 years later and the souls of relatives, colleagues and friends are still seeking vindication.
50 years later and the families are still searching for their people, searching for the hope that will come both in their own homes and in the homes of their unknown, but similarly stricken, compatriots.
Christos, the colleague who was prematurely lost along with his compatriots and thousands of other Cypriots, was not lost for nothing. He was not lost without purpose. The reason and the purpose were superior, it was the debt to the homeland and the universal human values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
The sacrifice of the heroes of '74, dear ones, was, is and remains in our souls as a sacrifice of survival and preservation of individual, collective, social and political identity.
On a human level, the protagonists of this tragedy, the murdered, the missing and their families help us to remember and reflect on our own contribution, our own responsibility. The burden of loss, but also the continuation and acceptance of a new harsh reality, is unbearable. And yet the memory of her late father, the example for her children and continuing the struggle to find the remains of Christos and so many other missing persons was her first and last thought.
It is poignant how a man of justice leaves this life in such an unjust way. The memory of Christos Hatzinikolaou will always be for us a starting point for the sacrifices of all ordinary people and a reminder of the collective responsibility of both the State and each and every one of us to continue the struggle for reunification and to honour those who gave the most precious thing of all, their lives for their country.
Thank you.
(EAT/EP)
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