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It is with feelings of emotion and national pride that we recall today some of the most important periods of Cypriot history.
We hold the national memorial of the heroically fallen, murdered and killed in the line of duty, residents of the community of Ebas, paying, with the due respect due, the appropriate honours to those who watered with their blood our sacred land and sealed with their struggle and sacrifice the history of our homeland.
We wish, pray and pray for the discovery and determination of the fate of the Community's missing.
Remembrance returns to the turbulent historical path of Cyprus. To those tragic decades of the twentieth century that left an indelible mark on our homeland and to the events that determined its subsequent historical course.
We recall the period of British rule in Cyprus, when Cypriot Hellenism was groaning under the colonial yoke.
The unquenchable desire for national vindication led to the heroic events of the glorious struggle of EOKA and was destined, in 1959, to make small Cyprus - the one that had taken on the entire imperial superpower - a better one.
Along with all those who, despising death, fought and sacrificed and made their mother and father proud, honouring the most beautiful ideal, that of freedom, was Georgios Christoforou. The 19-year-old young man, whose difficulties in life forced him to interrupt his schooling and follow the profession of a tailor, on November 20, '58, cheerfully climbed the steps of duty to his homeland, murdered cowardly, after having been horribly tortured.
At the death interrogation the English defiantly stated: 'Georgios Christoforou died of wounds while in legal custody.'
The victorious struggle of the EOKA, the one that overwhelmed the World, proved that when the will of the weak for survival and justice is strong and steadfast, then it can achieve the impossible. This glorious struggle was able to be capitalised diplomatically, since the Zurich-London agreements of 1960 gave Cyprus a donor constitution, with clear weaknesses and heterodox provisions.
Turkey, which assumed the role of guarantor power, immediately after the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus began to implement its dichotomous plans. After the 'bloody Christmas' of 1963 and the armed clashes, which began to spread beyond the capital to other cities, the community of Ebha lost one of its own children on New Year's Day '64. Neophytos Metaxas[/B], who fell victim to a cowardly murder by the Turks. Before the tears were even dry, on 23 January the community was black-faced and mourned in tears for two more of its children, who met a tragic death murdered by Turkish insurgents. Nikolaos Ellinas and Napoleon Nikiforou, who, after their active involvement in the EOKA struggle, participated once again in the national rally for the defence of the homeland, performing guard duties at the boundaries of the communities of Ebas and Mutallou.
As time passed, relations between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in Paphos deteriorated. On 4 March 64, the UN Security Council adopted the landmark Resolution 186, which recognized the existence of the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time, however, it accelerated events towards conflict, because the Turks wanted at all costs to destabilise the functioning of the State and create a fait accompli in all the cities of Cyprus.
On the black Saturday of 7 March, while many people were shopping in the municipal market of the city for the necessities for Tyrrhenian Sunday and Clean Monday, an automatic weapon was fired from the minaret in the heart of Muttalos.
On the black Saturday of 7 March, while many people were shopping in the municipal market of the city for the necessities for Tyrrhenian Sunday and Clean Monday, a burst of an automatic weapon was fired from the minaret in the heart of Muttalos. Most of the people who were standing carelessly in the market, panicked and rushed away. Many sought shelter in Greek shops.
The machine gun fire was the trigger for the Turkish Cypriots to implement an organized plan of action that included shooting at civilians, violent massacres and the capture of many Greek Cypriots, taking them to warehouses in Muttalos.
[C][D] The machine gun fire was the trigger for the Turkish Cypriots to implement an organized plan of action that included shooting at civilians, violent massacres and the capture of many Greek Cypriots, transporting them to warehouses in Muttalos.
The brutal killings and dozens of injuries from the events in the marketplace were followed on 9 March by a sweeping counter-attack by armed forces against the Turkish outposts, with the participation of many Greek Cypriot volunteers.
The Turkish brutality in the tragic events of the Ktima resulted in the loss of two more children of Emba.
The Turkish brutality in the tragic events of the Ktima resulted in the loss of two more children of Emba. Ariadne Nikolaou and Chrystalla Christofi, who were brutally and unjustifiably murdered.
In the following period of time until the summer, Turkish expansionism focused on the attempt to establish a bridgehead in the Kokkinia - Mansoura enclave. In the bleak August of 1964, the Tilliria area was severely attacked by the ruthless and heavily armed Turkish forces. The bombardment by the Turkish air force was the culmination of an organized and devastating plan, which, if not countered dynamically, could have been absolutely devastating for our homeland.
Critical historical moments require endless courage, self-denial, self-sacrifice, and selfless patriotism. These characteristics were demonstrated to the highest degree by the officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted youth of the then newly formed National Guard, as well as by all the volunteer fighters who took part in the battles of Tilliria and the wider region.
These characteristics were displayed by the then sixteen-year-old George Nearchou and the eighteen-year-old Euripides Charalambous, who without a moment's hesitation rushed to volunteer to serve their country and lay down their lives as a libation on the holy altar of freedom. There, where napalm bombs were raining down, burning together with the bodies of our heroically fallen and the souls of the whole of Cypriot Hellenism. This was Andreas Alexiou, who lost his life in the line of duty on the Chrysopateritsa - Tilliria Tower road.
Greeks, Greeks,
The heroic resistance of the Cypriot Hellenism of 1963-'64, to prevent the dissolution of the Republic of Cyprus, was followed by the depressing decade of civil strife, which, led, unfortunately, by the national centre, led to the treacherous coup of July 15, 1974.
Andreas Makarios[/B], 17 years old at the time, feeling the need to defend democracy, boarded, together with other resistance fighters, one of the trucks that started in Paphos and headed for Limassol, in order to support those defending democracy.
On the way, the truck he was in was attacked by an ambush organized by coup plotters. Andreas was mortally wounded and was buried in a mass grave.
41 years later, his remains were identified by DNA and on 4 March 2015 he was buried with the honours due to every hero of our country.
The civil strife opened wide the door of entry to Turkey, making it easier for it to implement its dichotomous plans that had been prevented with so much effort and pain a few years earlier. The Turkish invasion was a fatal and tragic inevitability. The youth of Cyprus, both enlisted and unenlisted, are once again called to arms.
They are called to defend once again the freedom and territorial integrity of our homeland against a quantitatively and qualitatively superior invader.
Today, therefore, we honour the then conscript soldier of the 398 Infantry Battalion Christodoulos Polydorou, who fell heroically fighting on 22 July '74 in Tziaos, fighting the invader along with the rest of the Battalion's fighters.
At the same time, while paying tribute to our heroically fallen fighters, we recite a prayer to find the missing persons of the community. To Charalambos Papatheocharous, who was the first to lead the dance of the heroes of Emba, fighting in World War II, and Andreas Touloupos and Chrysanthos Evripidou, who perished defending their homeland during the days of the Turkish invasion.
We respectfully salute the strength and courage with which these families and their own people are facing this drama.
This is because the bitter reality is that the ongoing struggle of the families of our missing persons is not simply to find their loved ones, but to ensure that their traces will not be lost forever because of the long period of time that has passed.
I want to assure them that as a Government we will do everything possible to ascertain the fate of our last missing person, to close this open wound that has been eating away at our insides for almost half a century.
We are aware of the insurmountable difficulties arising from Turkey's refusal to cooperate and we call on the international community to finally assume its obligation to convince Ankara to help resolve this humanitarian drama.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The deep wounds caused by the Turkish invasion are still fresh.
Children, in the absence of a parent, were forced to become the father or mother in their families.
Parents lost their children from one day to the next.
Grandparents lived the rest of their lives and left the world with the unbearable pain of losing their grandchildren.
Whole families were condemned to experience a tragic reality, which since 1974 was destined to be at the same time an unhealed wound for the Republic of Cyprus.
In the face of the contribution of the people we commemorate today, we must also consider our own responsibility towards our history.
With the same determination and the same will, we too must continue to fight to make our country a free state, where peace and justice prevail from end to end.
The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Christodoulides has stated directly and clearly, both at home and abroad, his intention to break the deadlock and to build the conditions that will allow the resumption of sincere and constructive talks.
In this effort, in addition to the United Nations, the effective involvement of our partners in the European Union will play a decisive role.
In this context, there is no room for communication games, unnecessary blame-shifting, brazen claims and provocative actions aimed at creating new fait accompli.
Under no circumstances will political claims for a "solution of two independent states" be discussed and constitute a solution for us. On the contrary, such proposals undermine any convergence of views and positions, threatening the failure of the process from the outset.
Our intention is to continue with the same intensity and the same will to fight with the same intensity to reach the much desired solution to the Cyprus problem. We seek a just, viable and workable solution. A solution that will liberate our country and allow our people to live in security and prosperity.
This is what the sacrifice of those we commemorate today has been calling us to do for so many years.
(...) We owe
and those who came, passed,
will come, will pass. [BR]Judges, we will be judged by [BR]the unborn, the dead (...)
Paraphrasing the poem of our great poet Kostis Palamas, we become recipients of the message he dictates to us and renew our vow that we will continue to fight for what belongs to us. For the rights of our homeland and our people.
Only in this way will we prove ourselves worthy of the march of the heroes of our homeland.
Eternal be the memory and glory that accompanies them and may the Almighty help to determine the fate of all our missing persons
Thank you.
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