It is with feelings of deep emotion and national pride that we have gathered here today, at the Holy Church of St. Nicholas, to pay our due tribute and due respect to the fallen of Lakatameia.
To all those who fell on the battlefields in defence of the homeland, both in the liberation struggle of EOKA and after the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus during the intercommunal riots and conflicts of 1963-64 and the Turkish invasion of 1974. The open wound of the drama of the missing persons that has existed for 48 so many years is the darkest page of the Turkish invasion.
First of all, I would like to thank the Mayor, the Municipal Secretary and the members of the Municipal Council of the Municipality of Lakatameia for the honorable invitation to deliver the commemorative speech for our heroes.[/I]
"To deliver the City to thee is neither my right, nor that of any other of its inhabitants," the last Byzantine Emperor thundered, "for we all with one soul prefer to die of our own free will and have no regrets about our lives."
Greek Christian education and the glorious history of the nation inspired the heroes we commemorate today in pure philanthropy, which was transmuted into a passion for freedom and justice. A passion that became their way of life, their experience, their need. They grew up with it, acted with it, dreamed with it.
Socrates' quotation from Plato's Crito "Patrice is more honourable than mother and father and other ancestors' ancestors", when required, became an inexhaustible experience and passion.
Their decision to place themselves at the service of the Fatherland and to take the Flags under their protection was far from conscious. For that is how they were brought up, that is how they grew up, that is how they were nurtured. With the principles, values and ideals of Hellenism. When necessary, they followed the path of duty and obligation, demonstrating unsurpassed fighting spirit, self-denial and heroism.
The heroes we commemorate today sealed the most important moments of modern Cypriot history with their active participation. They showed us the path of duty and honour and showed us all what it is like to sacrifice for freedom.
Today we recall memories of the turbulent Cypriot history. We return mentally to the pure struggle of EOKA to throw off the English yoke.
We remember the lyrics of George Seferis in his poem "Salamina of Cyprus", which were the best foreshadowing for the upcoming liberation struggle of Cypriot Hellenism.
For as our poet very prophetically wrote:
"The land has no bark to take it on its shoulder and leave"...
... "and however long his way may be, - the mandatophore - will bring to those who sought to chain Hellespont the terrible message of Salamis".
The struggle of EOKA was not just an outgrowth of the conditions of oppression and blatant deprivation of freedom by the British regime, but was the expression of self-determination of the Greeks of Cyprus, as it was established and flourished after the sacred example of our Greek ancestors a century and a half earlier in the Greek Revolution.
It began with a handful of amorphous children who, in the absence of weapons, supplies and martial knowledge, countered with an excess of vigour, daring, bravery and valour.
The infinite warriors of EOKA with their scarce weapons and means, but with enviable determination and self-denial, carried on their sturdy shoulders the burdens of the whole of Cypriot Hellenism.
They fought hard and in many cases unimaginable unequal battles with their armoured opponents and achieved, together with the world's admiration and eternal praise, the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus.
The first steps of the Republic of Cyprus after 1960 were marked by intercommunal riots and confrontations.
Memory returns with pain to the events of the intercommunal riots of 1963-64.
From December 1963, starting in Nicosia, the riots soon turned into armed conflicts and spread to the whole island. The undermining of the state and the attempt at partition, as organised by Turkey, combined of course with our own mistakes, were now clearly materialising. Blood, fire and hell. In August 1964, in an attempt by the National Guard and volunteer forces to avert the danger of expanding the Kokkin enclave, Turkey responded with heavy aerial bombardment of the entire area, spreading devastation and destruction.
Memory, vivid and relentless, palpates our unhealed wounds to this day and bears compelling witness to all those moments when the synergy of bravery and prudence were crowned by heroic sacrifice.
With immense respect we also bow before the heroic figures of our fallen, who fought a battle with superior enemy forces in defence of our homeland during the Turkish invasion of 1974.
To those who did not remain idle, imprisoned by fear, timidity and apathy. To those who, when they realised that freedom was in danger and the places they had grown up in were threatened, that the hotbeds they had sworn to guard were threatened, decided to fight for their survival, never moved by debt.
To those who showed us that in the hour of crisis there will always be a light.
To those who showed us that in the hour of crisis there will always be a light. Invisible to the many, but visible to the few.
Visible to those who will become leaders, guided by that unimaginable, unyielding and unyielding perseverance that tells them that everything can be achieved and everything can change as long as we believe it deep down and fight for it with all our strength.
For justice and freedom.
For these the heroes we commemorate today fought.
They fought for their homes, their neighbourhood, their village, the memories of their youth. They fought for their families and their children. For the families and children of all of Cyprus. For the principles and values bequeathed to them by their fathers and mothers. For all Cypriot Hellenism.
Respected relatives of our heroes,
Greeks and Greeks,
Lakatameia paid a heavy blood tax in the struggles of our homeland. Forty-one of our fellow human beings fell fighting for faith and country or in the performance of their duty in times of peace.
During the liberation struggle of EOKA 1955 - '59, three liberators offered their bodies as a sacrifice for the liberation from the English yoke.
Three years after the independence of Cyprus, in Abeliko, Agios Sozomenos, Trachona, Tripimeni and Tylliria, five heroes were sacrificed in the battles that took place during the intercommunal riots and confrontations of 1963 - '64.
During the brutal Turkish invasion of 1974, 30 heroes and heroines gave their blood on the altar of freedom, while the fate of 23 of our brothers has not yet been determined and they are still on the list of the missing.
Reflecting on the greatness of the sacrifice of the fallen of Lakatameia, the people we commemorate today, we are called upon to understand our own debt to our homeland.
We have a historical duty and responsibility towards our heroes and our dead to fight for what our country truly deserves.
We have an obligation to do our utmost to make our country a state of freedom and peace, which will guarantee the human rights of all its people, in conditions of cooperation, mutual understanding, mutual respect and solidarity.
We are determined to participate in a dialogue for the resolution of the Cyprus problem, based on basic and commonly accepted conditions. Based on the agreed solution framework and the UN Security Council resolutions and not on Turkey's unthinkable claims for a two-state solution basis as a precondition for the resumption of the dialogue. Only under these conditions will the dialogue process not be doomed from the outset to a deadlock.
The escalating Turkish provocations combined with the actions of violation of our sovereign rights, the unacceptable Turkish ambitions in the EEZ of Cyprus and Greece and in the Aegean Sea, and the complete disregard for international law cannot be accepted.
The Republic of Cyprus, as long as the Turkish provocations continue, by strengthening and utilizing the strong web of alliances and partnerships it has developed both regionally and internationally, will strengthen and upgrade the deterrent capabilities of the National Guard. This is our responsibility and duty to do so as long as this unacceptable anachronism continues to exist.
We pledge to all known and unknown heroes of our country's freedom that we will continue the struggle until final vindication. We pledge to all our fallen and missing that time and oblivion will not alter their memory.
Only in this way can we be worthy of their sacrifice. This will be the best memorial.
Eternal be the memory and glory that will accompany them and may the Almighty help to ascertain the fate of all our missing brothers and sisters.
(EP/EXP)
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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