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- Ελληνικά
It is for me the highest honour and my duty to be among you today to convey the sincere respect of the State for the fallen heroes during the National Liberation Struggle of EOKA 1955-59 and the Turkish invasion of 1974 of the Community of Kyperounda.
Children of toil and industry, simple people, nurtured with the values and ideals of Hellenism.
Old boys who, when their homeland called them, were thunderously present and fought until the end, bravely and proudly, offering the most precious thing they had, their own lives.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Community of Kyperounda declared its presence in all the great struggles for the defence of the freedom of our homeland.
Savvas Augustis, Kyriakos N. Charalambous, George Charalambous and Christodoulos Kannauros ran to the command to throw off the British yoke, taking the sacred oath of freedom or death. They joined the National Liberation Struggle of EOKA 1055-59, with an unquenchable desire for freedom and justice, and fought with their fellow fighters to defend democracy. They defied the torture and humiliation of the British occupiers and shouted with their sacrifice that freedom is won with courage and bravery.
The sacrifice of the heroes in the unequal struggle of 1955-59 was not enough to prevent the predetermined fate of our country. Fifteen years later, in the summer of 1974, the sirens of war sounded again. On that fateful day in July, thousands of Turkish troops invaded and plundered the property and soil of our homeland. But the Greeks of Cyprus did not fade away. As worthy heirs and continuators of their compatriots who sacrificed themselves during the National Liberation Struggle of EOKA, Haralambos Eleftheriou and Neophytos Efthymiou Kouppi, despite being only 18 years old, with a high national spirit, faithful to the sacred values of Hellenism, found themselves serving in the Infantry Unit. Together with their fellow soldiers, they were thrown into battle and were cowardly killed by the Turkish military forces of Attila. Stylianos Andreas Antoniou and Sotiris Nicola Prokopiou perished on the battlefield in 1974 and since then their fate has been unknown for decades. Any hopes of their relatives to reunite with their loved ones were extinguished when their remains were identified by the DNA method in 2010 and 2017, respectively, and the land of their beloved Kyperounda welcomed in its bowels its worthy stalwarts.
But the agony and anticipation was not to end for the families of Georgios Stylianos Allagiotis, Dimitris Nikiforos Konstantinou, Savvas Dimitris Diakou, Elli Eugeniou, Eugene Sofokleous and Andreas Sofokleous, who are still on our long list of missing persons. For almost 50 years, their relatives, their fellow citizens and the entire society of Cyprus have been searching for answers about their fate.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The beacon of freedom and justice illuminates our path with the same unquenchable light that illuminated the path to the sacrifice of the brave men of Kyperounda. The heroes of the Community wrote their names in golden letters on the pages of the glorious history of Cypriot Hellenism.
Their sacrifice for the national restoration, at decisive historical moments of our homeland, requires all of us to continue the struggle for the reunification of our country and our people. The heroes of Kyperounta expect us to be worthy of their sacrifice, to draw the messages and to do our duty towards history, achieving our ultimate national goal.
The President of the Republic is working tirelessly and with determination for this goal, for the reunification of our homeland and for the creation of conditions of security, political stability, creation and peace for all the legal inhabitants of our Cyprus. Systematically, methodically and with a sense of responsibility, President Christodoulides is making every possible effort to ensure that the unacceptable demands of the Turkish side are met as soon as possible, to end the deadlock and to create the conditions for dialogue on the basis of what has been agreed and the principles of European and international law. Our goal is to give our children the opportunity to live in peace, development and prosperity, through a viable and workable solution that guarantees fundamental human rights to all its legitimate inhabitants.
In the effort to resolve the Cyprus problem, the role of the European and international factor is essential. It is for this very reason that, from the first day President Christodoulides took office, the Greek Cypriot side has sought the more active involvement of the European Union in order to strengthen the work of the United Nations. At the same time, the President of the Republic is in constant communication with the Secretary-General and the appointment of an envoy is expected in the near future, which will give impetus to the prospect of a resumption of negotiations.
Friends,
With unity, solidarity and realism, we must respond to the call of the times in order to overturn the unacceptable status quo, liberate our country and create a future of security, peace and prosperity for our children.
The heroic sacrifice of those who fought for the ideals of Hellenism and freedom reminds us of our duty to continue the struggle until the final vindication, until we live again free and reunited in the land that gave birth to us.
May the memory of all those we honour today be eternal, for their offer and sacrifice in defence of the homeland.
Honour and glory to the heroes of the Community of Kyperounda. Eternal be the glory that will accompany them.
(MKY)
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