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- Ελληνικά
Feelings of gratitude and emotion flood us every time we commemorate the glorious liberation struggle of EOKA, the purest struggle of this land, and we remember the protagonists and the unsung heroes of this unforgettable uprising.
At dawn on the first of April 1955, 69 years ago, the Greeks of Cyprus, men, women, young people, youth and children, decided to go uphill, to take paths, to find the stairs that lead to freedom! The slogan "freedom or death" became a personal vow, but also a collective promise for the overwhelming majority of our people, ordinary people who prioritized love for their homeland above all else and claimed the universal value of freedom for themselves and their children.
Almost seven decades since then, the clock of history marks the call of memory, inviting us to pay our due debt to the heroic yesterday with the basic demand of securing a better and safer tomorrow.
We bow with gratitude to the greatness of those who offered their lives, were abused, tortured, imprisoned, arrested, or in any way gave their presence in the armed struggle of EOKA in the villages, in the cities, in the mountains, with the sole declared goal of throwing off the British yoke, self-determination and union with Greece.
With minimal weapons and rudimentary military training, under the leadership of Archbishop Makarios and General Georgios Grivas Digenis, the Greeks of Cyprus delivered lessons of heroism and wrote with their blood the newest pages of the nation's history, next to the epics of 1821 and 1940.
Many are the highlights, milestones and events of the Cypriot revolution. The greatness of the 1955 struggle lies, however, in the massive participation of ordinary people who delivered lessons of courage and self-denial. Underage schoolchildren made the earth vibrate with demonstrations. Housewives were hiding the secret leaflets of the Organisation in their bosoms. Elderly housewives offered shelter to the persecuted militants. Priests in every corner of Cyprus, from Karpasi to Paphos, hid the secret orders of the organisation in the pages of the holy gospels. All these were the fighters of EOKA. They were not superheroes, they were ordinary, simple people who demanded the obvious. As I mentioned, the struggle of EOKA encapsulates in itself the universal and timeless standards of Hellenism. The April 1 uprising was a renewing movement of historical cleansing and national renaissance and its rare ethos is recorded in the greatness and the individual attitude to life of the named and anonymous fighters.
We have every reason to feel proud of our ancestors.
We have every reason to feel proud of our ancestors. They did what their conscience dictated to them, even if they did not know geopolitics, and even if they had no military knowledge. But they all had the most important quality: They did not reckon with fear and death. Their attitude to life, the value system of the named and unnamed fighters of EOKA gave a meaning to the pan-April uprising that functioned as a movement of national rebirth.
April 1, 1955 stands out as the most beautiful and brightest page in the history of Cypriot Hellenism.
April 1, 1955 stands out as the most beautiful and brightest page in the history of Cypriot Hellenism. The inactive soul did not recognize the English conquerors, it remained free. In the history of Hellenism there are always milestones that like beacons illuminate and guide us. The struggle of EOKA, however, remains to this day the most brilliant milestone in the history of Cypriot Hellenism for shaking off the colonial yoke and gaining its freedom. Today, therefore, if we really want to commemorate this day, we should not forget the supreme duty for freedom, for justice, for dignity.
The political goal of the struggle, the Union with Greece, may not have been achieved, but the struggle led to the end of the colonial yoke and the birth of the independent Republic of Cyprus, the most important thing we have to date.
The struggle of EOKA proved that the greatest lesson of history is that united we can achieve any goal. We must never let discord prevail over unadulterated love for our homeland, which has been under occupation for 50 years. Therefore, if there is one thing we must preserve as the apple of our eye, it is unity and unity of purpose, so that we are united and strong enough to fight to liberate our land and reunite our country. This is our sacred duty.
Guided by the principles and values of the European Union, we will exhaust every possibility and use any hope to create the conditions for the liberation and resolution of the Cyprus problem. With the support of Greece, which remains our most valuable and selfless ally, we are exploiting synergies with our European partners and with third countries in order to achieve our goal. With an enhanced role in the region, always within our capabilities, with prestige in the international political and economic arena, the Republic of Cyprus will in a few days complete 20 years of presence in the European family, as a full and equal member. The principles and values of the European Union remain the signposts of our course to address the multiple challenges we face, with the need to resolve the Cyprus problem as a top priority.
As I have repeatedly mentioned, I strongly believe that we have an obligation and a duty to tell our children and the younger generation about EOKA, about the struggles and sacrifices of all those who gave their lives for a better Cyprus, for the Republic of Cyprus that we have today.
As I have repeatedly mentioned, I strongly believe that we have an obligation and a duty to tell our children and the younger generation about EOKA, about the struggles and sacrifices of all those who gave their lives for a better Cyprus, for the Republic of Cyprus that we have today. Because virtue and courage require deep knowledge. And knowledge first and foremost of yourself, that is, of your real history. This in no way works negatively towards the efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, since the viability of a possible solution passes to a large extent through and through the respect of one's historical identity and certainly not through self-abolition.
We also have a moral obligation and duty to support and maintain our mental faith and endurance.
We also have a moral obligation and duty to support and maintain our mental faith and endurance. This debt is not only a remembrance, but a documentation of the importance of the Struggle itself and its justification. The heroes call to us, the martyrs and fighters of EOKA, who took on the colonialists, call to us and show us the heavy historical legacies we carry. With unity and unanimity, therefore, let us stand upright and unbowed until the blessed hour of the liberation of our enslaved lands.
We believe in our struggle. Our aims are clear and we draw lessons from our rich history. The struggle of EOKA, which we have as a legacy, is the inexhaustible source to which we return each time we are tested. And today, as every April 1, we rightly take recourse to the greatness of our people to remember that nothing, but nothing, is given away.
With dignity, with credibility, with a coherent plan and methodical approach, we work so that our people can live and create in security, peace and prosperity. Our unjust heroes cry out to us from the depths of history. We owe it to our children.
Happy Birthday to Greeks everywhere.
(PM/AF/EATH)
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