Sixty-eight years have passed today since the dawn of that morning that shook Cyprus to its core. On April 1, 1955, the armed struggle of the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA) began in the villages, towns and mountains, with the declared aim of the Greeks of Cyprus to throw off the British yoke and unite with the motherland.
In the evening hours of 31 March to 1 April 1955, the major Cypriot cities were shaken by the explosions of bombs placed in government buildings, police stations, substations of the Electricity Authority, the Cyprus Radio Service and a British camp in Famagusta. Responsibility for the bombings was claimed by EOKA in proclamations signed by its leader Georgios Grivas Digenis.
The first proclamation of EOKA, an invitation to the liberation struggle, justified the creation of the Organization:
"It is time to show the world that if international diplomacy is HIDEOUS and largely ANANDROS, the Cypriot soul is brave - if our powers do not want to yield our freedom, we can claim it with our own hands and with our blood. (...) The struggle will be hard. The oppressor has the means and the number. We have the soul, we have the right on our side. In another proclamation, the Political Committee of the Cyprus Struggle (PEKA) referred to the 'Volunteers of Freedom' as follows. All struggles for Freedom, in all ages, rely largely on the youth of a nation. This was amply demonstrated in the Titanic outbreak on our martyred island, which decided to break its chains once and for all. The Cypriot youth immediately and with astonishing enthusiasm gave their 'presence' to the sacred call of Leftheria. (...) The youth will never be fooled or won over. The game for them [ENGLISH] is lost. In their hands our young people know that they hold the future of their own and of the whole of Cyprus. They prefer dignity to disgrace, freedom to tyranny."[/P IN THE TOWNS AND VILLAGES, ORDINARY EVERYDAY PEOPLE CARRIED THE BANNER OF FAITH IN THE STRUGGLE OF EOKA TO THROW OFF THE COLONIAL YOKE AND POURED INTO THE STREETS SHOUTING THEIR DESIRE FOR FREEDOM AND UNION WITH GREECE.
Cypriot Hellenism experienced moments of heroism and self-sacrifice similar to those of the epics of the Regency of 1821 and 1940. The Greek valour and the passion for the defence of the homeland reaped in the souls of the young warriors of EOKA, who, without a second thought, offered their bodies on the altar of freedom, taking a prominent place in the pantheon of the heroes of Hellenism.
The struggle of EOKA encapsulates in itself the universal and timeless standards of Hellenism. The panhellenic uprising of April 1, 1955 was a renewing movement of historical cleansing and national rebirth and its rare ethos is recorded in the greatness and the individual attitude of its named and unnamed fighters.
The determination and self-denial of the fighters of EOKA is confirmed by the first death, which occurred as a sacrifice, on the first night of the Organization's action. Modestos Pantelis was electrocuted while trying to cause a short circuit just outside Avgorou.
However, national and human dignity remained intact for four whole years with the fighters surprising the British forces with their waves of attacks.
The struggle of EOKA was warmly embraced by the Greeks of Cyprus.
The struggle of EOKA was warmly embraced by the Greeks of Cyprus. It would be inappropriate to attempt evaluations, nor do we have the stature to venture a similar task. After all, who among all of us fell short in patriotism, in courage, in self-sacrifice and self-denial? The young students of the demonstrations and the distribution of leaflets or the housewives who hid the secret declarations of the Organisation in their bosoms? The old housewives who offered shelter to the persecuted militants, or the priests who under the Gospel kept the Chief's secret instructions?
From Leonidas' famous "MOLON LAVE" to our own historical march, when the defenders of our own Thermopylae, on the mountains of Machaera with Grigoris Afxentius and Dikomos with Kyriakos Matsis, having ordered their comrades to leave their hiding-places and surrender, and having been left alone, did not fall short of the glory of Leonidas' Spartans, but surpassed them.
Nine lads: Karaolis, Demetriou, Mavrommatis, Patatsos, Michael, Zacos, Panagidis, Koutsoftas, Pallikaridis, conscientiously and resolutely crossed the threshold of the cell of the dying and ascended unabashedly to the scaffold of their sacrifice, singing the hymn of Freedom by Dionysios Solomos. We reverently bow our heads to the heroic martyrs of the gallows and to those who suffered and perished from the horrible torture of the English, watering and growing with their blood the tree of Cypriot Freedom.
Today we humbly bow to all those who fought and fell on the battlefield and pay the minimum tribute, leaving our memory free to wander, to reflect and to embrace the altar of their altar. From the Barn of the four "free besieged" of Liopetriou, to Markos Drakos, Stylianos Lena, Charalambos Mouskos and Michalakis Paridis' holocausts.
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 1955-59 remains the most brilliant milestone in the history of Cypriot Hellenism for shaking off the colonial yoke and gaining its freedom. Today, therefore, reminds us of the supreme duty for Freedom and Justice.
Hellenism has held on and survived through the centuries, based on the love of its homeland, its language and its roots. That is why we have a duty to honour and remember the periods that have indelibly marked our course and to demonstrate this daily in practice through our behaviour and mentality, which as a society should characterise us in order to ensure our collective survival.
We have, yes, therefore, 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 by respecting one's historical identity and not through self-abolition.
We also have a moral obligation and duty to support and maintain our spiritual 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, 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 are fighting for the liberation and reunification of our homeland and the reconciliation of its people. We seek, through taking concrete initiatives, the resumption of talks for real peace and security on the basis of the agreed framework, international and European law, so that all our people can enjoy the benefits of a harmonious and prosperous coexistence and cooperation.
In the spirit of 1955-59, in the spirit of EOKA, we mentally live the greatness of our epic Struggle. We do not forget and we do not submit. We must remain dignified towards the sacrifices of our heroes, towards ourselves, towards history and our future. The only right we have is to continue the struggle until the final vindication, liberation and reunification of our homeland.
(PM/MB)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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