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It is with feelings of deep emotion and national pride that we are here today, in the Holy Church of the Nativity of the Saviour, to commemorate and pay tribute to the EOKA fighters Christos Kkeli, Miltiadis Stylianou, Georgios Michael and the hero Charalambos Karagiannis. To the heroes of Tala and Kissonerga who gave their lives for freedom and justice in our homeland.
Our history is the mirror in which we must look in order to understand ourselves, our roots and our destiny. It is therefore our duty and obligation to preserve this knowledge, to pass it on to future generations and to use it as a beacon to shape a bright and promising future for our country. The national liberation struggle of 1955-59, one of the most glorious pages in the turbulent history of our country, is such a beacon. The explosions heard at dawn on April 1, 1955 were not an April Fool's joke. They were the rage of a people rising up against injustice. It was the beginning of a struggle, which was not only for freedom, but also for the recognition of human dignity and national identity. Young fighters, schoolboys and schoolgirls, priests, teachers, women, old people and even young children participated in it. This struggle was not easy. It required sacrifices, unparalleled courage, perseverance and absolute faith in the cause. Examples of self-sacrifice and selfless contribution to the homeland were recorded one after another. The sacrifices of the lads of Tala and Kissonerga, Christos Kkelis, Miltiades Stylianou, George Michael and Charalambos Karagiannis, whose memory we commemorate today, are such shining examples of offering to the struggle for freedom.
Christos Kkelis was born in Kissonerga, Paphos province, on 17 October 1934.
Christos Kkelis was born in Kissonerga, Paphos province, on 17 October 1934. His parents were Miltiades and Anna Kkelis and his siblings were Georgios, Ioannis, Kostas, Antonios, Maria, Eleni and Despina. He attended the primary school of Kissonerga and worked as a clerk in a building materials store in Paphos. An ardent fighter and patriot, courageous and wise, he joined the struggle in 1955 and was a dominant figure of the struggle in the Paphos district. He was a team leader and assistant section leader of Paphos. As assistant section chief he was in charge of guarding the sector's armament, as well as organising the groups of all the villages in the lowland area of Paphos province. At the head of these groups he developed remarkable activities, such as collecting guns and bullets from individuals in his village, making mines and grenades in large quantities and attacking the English. His contribution and action was heroic and great. On 17 November 1955 he blew up an army Land Rover with a landmine and on 26 November 1955 he dropped the first bomb in his village resulting in the death of the first British soldier in the sector. On 29 November 1955 and 8 January 1956 he led ambushes against the British in Kishonerga. He led a mortar attack on the Maa military camp between Kissonerga and Pegeia on 15 December 1956. On 20 January 1957 he hit the Strubio camp with three mortar shells. He also attacked Colonel MacMillan. He ambushed and subsequently attacked with guns against Inquisitor Windenson. The British army also suffered heavy casualties from the electric trap bombs which he placed in trees and detonated from a distance to avoid the risk of capture.
Because of the heavy activity in the area, the military authorities set up a military outpost in the village and imposed night house arrest. Christos Kellis, using a time mine, managed to hit the soldiers in the centre of the village during their night assembly, forcing them to dismantle the confinement. To avoid arrest, he did not sleep in his house and often stayed with the rebels in their shelters.
As heroic was his action, so was his death together with his fellow fighter Miltiadis Stylianou on 7 March 1957.
Miltiadis Stylianou was born in the village of Tala, Paphos district, on 16 June 1937.
Miltiadis Stylianou was born in the village of Tala, Paphos district, on 16 June 1937.
Miltiadis Stylianou was born in the village of Tala, Paphos district, on 16 June 1937. His parents were Stylianos Leonidas and Melpomene Stylianou. He had six siblings, Panagiotis, Androula, Maroula, Stefanos, Eleni and Efrosini. She graduated from Tala primary school. In 1955 he was a student in the 5th class of the Paphos College when he joined EOKA and took charge of his village team. He worked closely with the hero Christos Kkeli, who was assistant section chief of Pafos. He took part in many ambushes between Ktima - Pegeia. He helped in the collection of private weapons in Kissonerga. He transported weapons and explosives to and from the villages of Tala, Chloraka, Teletra and Mesogi. He hosted and hid guerrillas in his parents' house and fed them in their hideouts from 1956 until the day he was killed in action. In his father's orchard, at the site of Apis, he kept a special shelter for the leader of the group, Christo Kkeli.
He participated in many ambushes and attacks against the British, such as the ambush of senior military officer MacMillan and others that took place in Kissonerga, one in 1956 and three in 1957. On 7 March 1957, four days after the death of Grigoris Afxentiou, English soldiers, with the help of paid traitors, set up an ambush against the two fighters, Christos Kkeli and Miltiades Stylianou.
On 7 March 1957, four days after the death of Grigoris Afxentiou, English soldiers, with the help of paid traitors, set up an ambush against the two fighters, Christos Kkeli and Miltiades Stylianou. The traitors tricked fellow fighters of Christos and Miltiades, presenting themselves as rebels who escaped from the battle of Machaera. The two fighters, suspecting treason, met them in Stylianos' orchard, between Tala and Kissonerga, armed. They fought a long battle against the traitors, who were well holed up in an empty concrete tank, until they succeeded in wounding one of them. Then intervened English soldiers who, according to eyewitnesses, were lurking hidden in the surrounding carob trees. The heroes entered a small room, which housed a water pump, to dodge the fire and fought back by firing continuously at them. Finally, they were shot with grenades, which were thrown into the earthen roof that housed their shelter, and fell on the field of honor glorious and immortal.
Miltiades' struggle was deservedly continued by his family. His brother Panagiotis took over the supply of the guerrilla group in their region until his capture the following year. On the same day as Panagiotis, his father Stylianos was arrested, and was abused to such an extent that he was never able to work on his farms again. In honour of the hero's sacrifice and the family's contribution to our liberation struggle, the neighbours undertook the cultivation of their farms.
The third hero we commemorate today is George Michael. He was born in Kissonerga on October 26, 1939. His parents were Michael Konstantinou and Theodosa Michael. He had three siblings, Kyriakou, Eleni and Andreas. He finished primary school in Kissonerga and when he was killed he was attending the Pafos Lyceum. During the summer holidays he worked in construction work, contributing to his family's finances as the eldest son.
At the beginning of the EOKA struggle he joined the student groups of his school with the consent of his parents, who supported him in his activities, throwing leaflets and raising the Greek flag. George Michael assisted his uncle who was a deacon in his village church. From there he obtained the flags which he raised in the evenings. The English soldiers who came to take them down would be stoned by the children and women who were waiting for them.
He was distinguished for his enthusiasm and spontaneity. Despite his young age, as he was only 16, by his activity and perseverance, Michael managed to persuade Christos Kkeli to take him with him on attacks and ambushes against the English to train him. Kkelis himself, seeing his enthusiasm, said that "he was too young to cope on his own and was afraid of being killed unnecessarily."
On 13 March 1956, at ten in the morning, on his own initiative, he attacked with a grenade a convoy of military cars, full of soldiers, passing through his village. He hit the first car and proceeded to drive away. He was spotted by the soldiers of the second vehicle, who chased him, opened fire on him and killed him.
Charalambos Karagiannis is the last hero we honour today. He was born in Kissonerga in 1942. He graduated from the primary school of his village and then from the Greek High School of Paphos. After his pedagogical studies at the Cyprus Pedagogical Academy, he obtained a teacher's diploma and worked in Limassol primary schools for two years.
At that time, however, the intercommunal riots of 1963 began. With a fighter's soul, he was among the first to run in various battles that took place at that time, such as the battle of Limassol, Episkopi, Agios Hilarion and Pentadaktylos. Finally, when the Turks started fighting in the Paphos market and captured hundreds of Greek Cypriot prisoners, he ran from Limassol to help in the battles for their liberation. Later, he joined the National Guard. He was sent to Greece as an officer and returned after six months and took over the duties of training a company in the Athalassa artillery, thus combining his pedagogical training with the training of the soldiers of his company.
During a large National Guard exercise in which his company took part, and after a forty-eight-hour strenuous march, he returned to his camp for rest. He lay down to rest, but never awoke. His colleagues found him dead on February 2, 1965, a few meters away from the soldiers of his company.
Today, 69 years after the beginning of the EOKA liberation struggle and almost 50 years after the Turkish invasion and the sacrifice of so many of our heroes, 37% of our country's territory is still under Turkish occupation.
Today, 69 years after the beginning of the EOKA liberation struggle and almost 50 years after the Turkish invasion and the sacrifice of so many of our heroes, 37% of our country's territory is still under Turkish occupation. The sacrifices of our glorious heroes, our ancestors, our people, remind us that heroic sacrifice is not only about the past, but is also an eternal guide for the future. And it is our duty to continue their struggle for the freedom and reunification of our homeland and the prosperity of all our people.
As a Government, we have as our highest duty and our primary concern the redemption of our martyred homeland. Ending the occupation and reuniting our country under prosperous conditions, through a viable, comprehensive settlement, based on the agreed framework of the United Nations and the principles and values of the European Union (EU), will enable us to make the most of our country's potential and lead us towards the future. The appointment of the Personal Envoy of the UN Secretary General, as a result of the tireless efforts of the Government and the President of the Republic Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, is an important step in this direction and a great opportunity, in conjunction with the more active involvement of the EU.
Receiving the message of the sacrifice of the four heroic dead of the Leventomaniacs of Talas and Kissonerga, we have a heavy duty to walk on the road carved by the heroes of freedom for the vindication of their sacrifice and the vindication of our country.
We bow to the heroically fallen and to all those who fought and sacrificed for the homeland.
Eternal be the memory and the glory that accompanies the heroically fallen of Talas and Kissonerga.
(EN/NYAN/GS)
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