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Respected priesthood, Respected relatives of our Heroes, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Overwhelmed with feelings of reverence, with awe, immense respect and deep emotion we have come here today, in this sacred place, to honour with due honours the heroes of Peristeron. The fearless fighters who, when fate brought it, declared themselves present, sacrificing their lives, without any hesitation, for the freedom of our homeland.
Immortal heroes who glorified the honour and dignity of Cyprus. Old men who pass into eternity, transmuted into ideas, into ideals, into a shining light, and show us the way, so that we do not bend in the face of difficulties and do not desert in the face of danger.
Honoured relatives of our Heroes,
Greeks, Greeks,
Today, we remember and honour five heroic dead, Charalambos Palmas, Kostas Andreou, Andreas Pilavas, Doros Charalambous and Georgios Pantziaros, who, rushing from Peristeron, rushed to the front and defended their homeland and freedom in the face of the onslaught of the hordes of "Attila".
We remember the greatness of soul with which thousands of young men, like the five of Peristerona, stood up and fought. Young family men with children, who did not hesitate for a moment, and at the call of their country they enlisted as reservists and fought bravely.
The 28-year-old Haralambos Palmas came from Livadia Larnaca, but lived with his wife Andriani and his three children in Peristerona. He was a hard-working and diligent farmer. On 20 July 1974 he enlisted as a reservist in the 336 Infantry Battalion and was posted to an outpost at Agios Pavlos, Nicosia. On 15 August the outpost was cut off from the rest of the Company after a fierce battle with the invader. When they found themselves surrounded by the Turkish army and having exhausted all their ammunition, the heroic fighters of the Battalion were executed in cold blood by the Turks and abandoned in a trench. Their bodies were later transferred to the military cemetery in Lakatameia, where they were buried without identification. For 26 long years Haralambos' wife, children and all his relatives did not know his fate. In 2000 his remains were exhumed from the cemetery of Lakatameia and, after identification, his body was handed over to his family.
The hero's funeral was held with due honours in Peristerona on 23 September 2000. It is worth noting that Charalambos also fought the Turks during the period 1963-1967 in Kokkina and in the area of Trachona.
Kostas Andreou, also 28 years old, who came from Kato Moni, lived in Peristerona. In 1973 he had married Aliki Violari. At the beginning of the invasion, the hero enlisted as a reservist in the 306 Infantry Battalion, which was based in Neo Horio Kythrea. The privates of his company were ordered to man positions in the area of St. George of Glykiotissa. On 22 July, when there was a major clearing attack by the invaders, seven of the National Guardsmen, including Kostas, took refuge in an adjacent house. The next day, Turkish soldiers located and arrested the seven militiamen, executing five of them, including Kostas Andreou, in cold blood. Since then, his wife Aliki, his son Andreas, born just ten days before the invasion, and all his relatives waited in vain for news of him until 2007, when his remains were found in a mass grave in Kyrenia and, after being identified, were buried with hero's honours in the land of Peristerona.
Andreas Pilavas, born in Peristerona, lived with his wife Maroula Loizou and their two children in Nicosia. On 20 July 1974 he enlisted as a reservist in the 306 Infantry Battalion, which was based in Neo Horio Kythrea, and was called by the radio, along with other CYTA employees, to report to work for duty. He preferred, however, to serve his country by joining the National Guard. His Battalion was transferred to Kyrenia, where he fought fierce battles with Turkish troops. Before noon on July 22, an order was given to retreat and regroup in the area of the Praxander Gymnasium. While the Battalion was regrouping, it was again attacked. A group of National Guardsmen, including Andrew, took up fighting positions in an unfinished apartment building. On the morning of 25 July, Turkish soldiers surrounded the block of flats and arrested the militiamen. Together with an old man, who they were already holding as a prisoner, they led them to a spot near the sea, where they were executed in cold blood. The hero's remains were found in 2007 in a mass grave in Kyrenia, later identified and buried in Pallouriotissa.
Doros Charalambous from Argaki Morphou, born in 1944, married to Chrystallini Chatzikostis from Katokopia and father of two children, enlisted as a reservist in the 321 Infantry Battalion and participated from the very first day in fierce battles in the village of Kazivera. Upon reaching the village, the men of the Battalion came under heavy fire from the armed Turkish Cypriots of the village. The next day, 21 July 1974, at around 10 a.m., Doros was killed during an exchange of fire by a fatal hit from a curved-track missile. He was picked up by men of his company and taken to the temporary hospital in Morphou, to be subsequently buried in the town's cemetery. While the hero's relatives had, from the very first days, reliable information that he had fallen heroically fighting, for about 40 years they did not know exactly where he was buried. For many years, they honoured his memory on his cenotaph at the Macedonitissa Tomb. In 2016, his remains were exhumed from the cemetery in Morphou, where he was buried with other freedom fighters, followed by DNA confirmation. His funeral took place on 17 November 2019, in Nicosia and he was buried with hero's honours in his grave, which had been empty for decades, in the sacred area of the Macedonitissa Tomb.
Georgios Pantziaros was born in 1948 in Kato Zodia. On July 20, 1974, the hero joined the 321st Infantry Battalion as a reservist. Like Doros Charalambous, Pantziaros participated in the battles of Kazivera. George fell heroically fighting on the first day of the invasion. Afterwards, like other comrades, he was buried in the cemetery of Morphou. His parents were informed of his death by the priest of Morphou a few days later, after he had already been buried. The hero's individual cenotaph in the Macedonitissa Tomb was a place of memory and honour for many years. Following the same path as that of his fellow fighter Doros Charalambous, the remains of the heroic dead were exhumed from the cemetery of Morphos, identified and buried in 2020 with heroic honours, next to the grave of his parents, here in Peristeron.
Compatriots,
We pray today for the finding of our three missing persons from Peristerona, whose traces were lost in the black July 1974 and whose fate has not yet been determined. We pray for Andreas Papatryfonos, Mamas Kyriakou Tsiaklis and Kyriakos Hatzimamas.
Andreas Papatryfonos was born in Peristerona in 1944. On 20 July 1974 he enlisted as a reservist in the 366 Infantry Battalion in Paliometocho. In the evening of the same day he fought in battles in the area of Lapithos-Karavas. On 15 August, after a major enemy attack, the men of the Battalion were ordered to retreat and, since then, Andreas has been missing.
Mamas Kyriakou Tsiaklis, also a child of the heroic mother Peristerona, was born in 1956. On 20 July 1974 he was serving in the 190 Anti-Tank Artillery Squadron in Karavas. With the onset of the Turkish invasion, Mamas, along with his fellow soldiers, received instructions and moved towards Kyrenia. Near the area "Six Mile" the squadron was mercilessly hit by the Turkish air force. Instructions were immediately given to abandon vehicles and take cover. Mamas, along with a number of other soldiers, moved to the sea side. Since then their traces have been lost. The name of Mamas Kyriakos Tsiaklis is still on the long list of missing persons.
Kyriakos Hadjimamas was born in Peristerona in 1947. At the beginning of the invasion he enlisted as a reservist in the 306 Infantry Battalion in Neo Horio Kythrea and fought in the battles of Agios Georgios Kyrenia. On 22 July, after a major attack by the invaders, who were supported by their air force and a large number of tanks, a retreat was ordered during which, unfortunately, the traces of the fighter, who is still missing, were lost.
Greeks, Greeks,
Peristerona today honours its heroes. The volunteers who ran without a moment's hesitation, and in that difficult hour stood up and fought, to block the way to the invaders and conquerors. They were ready to give even their lives for their country and freedom. Out of love for their land and their community, for their family and all the people of their land, defending the supreme right to peaceful life and creation.
Against foreign powers who, taking advantage of mistakes and weaknesses, came to seize, plunder and conquer lands and labours that are not their own.
Today, we have the opportunity to express our gratitude and glorify the heroic fallen of the resistance against the treacherous coup and the Turkish invasion, who fell fighting on the battlefields of duty and honour, as defined by their deep democratic conscience and their devotion to legality.
As the President of the Republic Mr. Nicos Christodoulides has declared, our main concern is to work with all our forces to achieve a solution for an independent and truly sovereign state, free of any anachronistic guarantees and the presence of occupying troops. We are working for an end to the occupation, the reunification of our homeland through the achievement of a peaceful solution to the Cyprus problem. A solution that should be based on the relevant United Nations resolutions and Security Council decisions and in accordance with the principles and values of the European Union. To fight unwaveringly for the end of the occupation, the unity of the state, the safeguarding of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all the Cypriot people.
Respected relatives of our Heroes,
Your people did not hesitate to give their own lives in return, giving you, and all of us, the right to feel proud. With their sacrifice they deservedly earned a place in immortality and wrote their own page in the modern history of Cyprus, delivering the highest lessons of heroism, philanthropy and dedication to supreme values, so that they become shining examples and role models.
We bow reverently to the struggles of our heroes, who bravely fought for the faith in ideals.
(OP/MS)
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