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"People who walk towards death by singing, walk towards life" the Greek writer Polyvios Dimitrakopoulos once wrote.
His words capture with impeccable accuracy the unparalleled heroism of the Greeks, their passion for freedom and their decision, beyond reason for the time, to rebel against the Turkish yoke.
Hellenes,
The Greeks, defying the balance of power, dared, fought, fought, bled and succeeded, securing for the Greek people the most precious good. Freedom. As the Greek philhellene Lord Byron wrote during the Greek epic: "Those who die for a great cause never fail." That spring, the few and powerless Rajahs, no longer able to endure four centuries of slavery, with few resources at their disposal, took on the mighty Ottoman Empire. They raised the banner of the Revolution, on a day that was significant for Christians, on the day of the Annunciation, shouted "Freedom or Death" and wrote with their blood the beginning of the history of modern Greece.
The revolt that was declared on March 25 was not an instantaneous outburst of an oppressed people. On the contrary, it was the conclusion of a long process of national awakening. The pre-revolutionary work of Greek intellectuals such as King Feraios, Cosmas of Aetolo and Adamantios Korais inflamed the souls of enslaved Greeks. The long perseverance, the four centuries of resistance to the infernalistic oppression of the Ottomans, in no way diminished the tireless commitment of the Greeks to their ethnological acquis.
"How long, lads, will we live in the alleys, alone like lions, on the ridges in the mountains? Better is one hour of free life than forty years of slavery and prison", wrote King Ferraeus to Thurion, and the Greeks gave flesh and blood to his prophetic words, rising up against the Turkish oppressor. Kolokotronis, Diakos, Androutsos, Karaiskakis, Papaflessas, Makrygiannis, Botsaris, Nikitaras, Miaoulis, Kanaris and so many others took the lead and crushed the enemy. The free besieged of Messolonghi attempt a heroic exit, the women of Souliou dance the dance of death in Zalongo, Kougi, Psara, Arkadi become holocausts. Alamana, Gravia, Balti, Maniaki, Dervenakia, Halkidiki, Naoussa became altars to testify that the will of a people is capable of teaching how to live free. Over 800,000,000 souls were sacrificed in the struggle to free some one and a half million people, the majority of whom were homeless, impoverished and without hope.
The epic of 1821, my friends, is a magnum opus above logic, it is the beginning of an inexorable march that defied the logic of numbers, marked and sanctified by the deeds of its heroes, named and unnamed, which even today remain inconceivable to the human mind.
Our small homeland, Cyprus, could not remain uninvolved in the great national uprising, having its own significant contribution to the struggle. It responded to the appeals of the Society of Friends for the preparation of the struggle, and according to official records, about a thousand Cypriots had participated in various battles of the revolution.
In our own country, the reaction of the Turks was cruel and inhuman. With the hanging of Archbishop Kyprianos and other clergymen only a few months after the beginning of the Greek Revolution, on 9 July 1821, as well as the massacres of many guards and dignitaries, with looting, confiscation of property and other forms of oppression, Cyprus paid a heavy price and the Turks did not allow another revolutionary movement to manifest itself.
The Revolution of 1821, however, became a source of inspiration and courage in the struggle of the Cypriots of 1955-59 for shaking off the colonial yoke and self-determination. A small people rose up against a powerful British Empire, without considering its size and the immense superiority of the conqueror.
Fellow countrymen and women,
"Our Nation has been crucified many times before, but behold we live". The wisdom-filled words of one of the greatest protagonists of the Greek Revolution, Theodoros Kolokotronis, have been and continue to be a beacon of hope and agility and an example for future generations.
If the Greek nation has survived to this day, if it has survived after so many centuries of slavery, it owes it to the unquenchable spark burning in the innards of Greece. "Our fate," says Makriyannis, "has always kept the Greeks few. From time immemorial until now, all the beasts fight to eat us and cannot. They eat, they eat, but there is always yeast left. This yeast is the spark that brought death."
Cypriot Hellenism, more than 200 years after the beginning of the Greek revolution, is not looking for miracles. It is, however, seeking a just and viable solution that will end the occupation and reunite our homeland. A workable solution that has the guarantees that it will stand the test of time. A democratic solution, a just solution based on international and European law. A solution for the benefit of all Cypriots, which will ensure the prosperity and progress of the whole people.
Twenty years after our country's accession to the European Union, the Republic of Cyprus is now a reliable partner, actively participating in European affairs and fully committed to the reunification and resolution of the Cyprus problem, which will guarantee fundamental rights and be compatible with European principles and values.
Twenty years after our country's accession to the European Union, the Republic of Cyprus is now a reliable partner, actively participating in European affairs and fully committed to the reunification and resolution of the Cyprus problem, which will guarantee fundamental rights and be compatible with European principles and values.
Cyprus, through the President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, through initiatives, concrete actions and actions, achieved the appointment of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General. We are under no illusions and do not ignore the difficulties and challenges. But we have a duty to work methodically to ensure the resumption of the talks.
With unity, unity of purpose, assertive realism and collegiality, we must move forward to end the fait accompli created by the passage of time. We have a debt to our history, to the past, to the future and to the heroes of Hellenism, who fought and gave their lives for freedom and universal human ideals.
Honor and glory to the immortal fighters of Hellenism! Honor and glory to the indefatigable Greek soul!
(ΔΚ)
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