All present?- Sir, Eugoras is absent...
Present! says the teacher in a trembling voice.
Get up, Eugoras, and tell us Greek history.
Recalling the shocking verses of the Rhodian philologist and writer Fotis Varellis, about the supreme sacrifice of the fighter - poet of freedom Evagoras Pallikaridis, we came today to the Cathedral of St. Theodoros, to pay tribute with due respect to one of the most modest figures of modern Greek history.
To honour the eternal young fighter of EOKA.
"The smallest heir of Solomos and sponsor of the poets of our land". This is how he was described by the recipient of Cyprus' most important literary award, the unforgettable poet and member of EOKA, Pissa Galazi.
He who, as Tefcros Anthias wrote, "walked on the altar with a thurian gait, with dreamy, moonlight eyes"[/I].
He, who was both student and teacher and "left this world (...) modest, beautiful, great", with the lyrics of our National Anthem on his lips.
He who exchanged the schoolrooms for the valleys, the desks for the seedy dens, the schoolbooks for the revolutionary proclamations, the carefree youthful life for the ghastly scaffolding of the gallows.
It cannot, therefore, be but a supreme honour and a supreme duty for me to address this speech in memory of the great Greek Evagoras Pallicarides. His unsurpassed sacrifice, his unparalleled fortitude, but also his exquisite poetic speech have resounded for decades now as a hymn to humanity's eternal beloved, freedom.
For the "Eloquent the free, the free the lively" is recalled to us by Thucydides in Pericles' "Epitaph Discourse". Happy are the free and free the brave.
Eugoras, too, was lively. In his person the whole meaning of the national liberation struggle of EOKA is summed up, together with the valuable contribution of the Cypriot student youth to it. The contribution of the students, sometimes by organising mass mobilisations and demonstrations, distributing leaflets and leaflets, writing slogans on the walls, transmitting messages and instructions of the Organisation and participating in the surveillance of the British, was decisive in every phase of the struggle. It was just as decisive in raising the people's spirit and morale.
"On these marbles, no evil rust can touch",
the poet of Romiosis, Yannis Ritsos, "no chain on Romio's and on the cow's foot", submits to us. And what else can the youth of 55-59 be described as, but an ageri?
Fresh, fresh, soft and tender ageri, which kept the flame of militancy, hope and faith in the righteousness of the struggle for freedom unquenched.
Speaking of young people, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle condenses the deeper meaning in three lines.
(Young people) says "[...] they prefer to do what seems good to them rather than what is in their interest, because their actions are dictated by the heart rather than by calculation."This is because calculation takes account of interest, while heart and virtue take account of what is beautiful.
So did the hero we commemorate today, always guided by beauty, virtue, philanthropy and faith in the universal values of freedom and democracy.
Respected relatives of the hero,
Friends and friends,
Evagoras Pallikaridis was born on February 26, 1938, in Tsada, Paphos. His father was Miltiades Pallikaridis from Larnaca of Lapithos and his mother was Aphrodite Papadaniil from Tsada. He had four other siblings, Eleftherios, Andreas, Georgia and Maroulla.
From a very young age he stood out for his dynamic character, intelligence, wit, determination, fearless heart, but also for the pure love he had for mother Greece. He was erudite, thoughtful and endowed with the divine gift of capturing verses and poems on paper, using simple and everyday words, but full treasures of meaning and emotion.
Because of his dynamic and unyielding spirit, he realized early on that conflict with the colonial regime was the only option in the struggle for freedom and justice. On 1 June 53, at the tender age of 15, when Cypriot society was simmering like a cauldron about to burst because of London's refusal to fulfil its demand for self-determination, he led the student demonstrations in Paphos.
His first revolutionary act, which may have determined the rest of his course in the Struggle, was the initiative to remove the British flag from the forecourts of the "Jacobean Gymnasium" on the eve of the celebrations for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth. His action was the fuse that lit the fuse for militant demonstrations in the city, which caused the cancellation of the celebrations.
Shortly before the start of the EOKA struggle, in March 55, he participated in another militant demonstration, which resulted in his arrest by the police, his trial and later his release on payment of a fine.
Shortly before the start of the EOKA struggle, in March 55, he participated in another militant demonstration, which resulted in his arrest by the police, his trial and later his release on payment of a fine.
In April 55, with the start of the struggle, at only 17 years of age, he joined the ranks of the EOKA and, in addition to organising the student demonstrations, he undertook other tasks, including distributing leaflets and carrying out sabotage against government buildings and other British targets.
On 17 November, when he became aware that two British police officers were abusing a classmate, he lunged at them and succeeded in securing his release. On the same day, he was arrested and after being charged with participating in a riot, he was released pending trial, which was set for December 6.
For the disobedient Evagoras, freedom was a necessary and indispensable good, as it is for every right man; it was his oxygen in life.
The need for freedom and the freedom-loving speech of our poet Andreas Kalvos were constantly revolving in his mind.
Thus, on the eve of his trial, unable to bear the burdens of prison, he boldly chose, as he announced to his father and as he wrote in his poem:
"...to leave for mountains and ravines.
To have the moon as his companion by night
and by day to talk with the willows."
From an early age, therefore, he accepted the lonely fate of the warrior. The fate that follows every true freedom fighter. Having decided from the next day to climb the mountains as an EOKA guerrilla, he embraced his father and received his blessing. Then, in the afternoon, he went to the empty classroom of his school to leave his classmates his handwritten farewell, informing them that "he will take an uphill, he will take paths, to find the steps that lead to freedom (...) Hello, old classmates (...) With freedom together, he may find me. If I live, it will find me there."
Since then, the "Efteritirion Salpisma", as he prophetically called it, has been the most luminous and guiding beacon of our youth.
Leaving the life of the city, he first took refuge in the Monastery of St. Neophytos and subsequently became a rebel on the mountain as a member of one of the first groups organized in Paphos.
He actively participated in several operations, the most important of which were the attacks on the military base of Pomos and the police stations of Stroubios and Panagia and the ambushes at the mine of Kinousa, Lysos and Tsada.
In a short time he was put on a bounty by the British for the exorbitant sum of 5,000 pounds for the time.
During the guerrilla he continued to write poems inspired by life and action in the mountains, but also to praise the struggles and heroic sacrifices of his fellow fighters.There he wrote the poem for the sacrificed Charalambos Musko who was killed in an ambush on 15 December 55, in the village of Mersinaki. "A hero died, don't cry for him, friends [...] He went to bring us the Panorian freedom."
In the loneliness of the guerrilla he also wrote to commemorate the eight hanged men who experienced the gallows before him.
On 18 December 56, during an operation to move his group from the area of the Cross of Psoka to the area of Lysos, the sixth-grade student Evagoras Pallikaridis was found by an English patrol carrying a Bren submachine gun and ammunition loaded on a donkey. He was arrested and charged with illegal possession and trafficking of arms. He was confined in Paphos prison, where he suffered the horrors of horrible torture without breaking.
On 5 January 57, by decision of the Paphos District Court, after being charged with illegal transportation of arms, he was transferred to Nicosia Central Prison.
Nine days later, on 14 February, he was referred to the Higher Special Court for the trial of cases relating to participation in the liberation struggle and on the 25th of that month the judge issued the decision sentencing Evagoras Pallikarides to death by hanging.
"I know that you will sentence me", he replied after the announcement of his conviction. "You will hang me, I know it. What I have to say is this: what I did, I did as a Greek Cypriot fighting for the freedom of his homeland. Nothing else."
The condemnation of the death sentence of the young man caused a strong and at the same time touching reaction of the society. The Church of Cyprus, mayors, guilds, intellectuals and numerous ordinary citizens tried in every way to persuade the British authorities to pardon young Evagoras Pallikaridis. The effort to prevent the execution went beyond the borders of Cyprus and took on a global dimension. Through interventions and petitions to the British government and the UN, the Greek government, British and American MPs tried to obtain the annulment of the sentence and a pardon for Evagoras.
But in vain.
Before dawn on Thursday 14 March 57, shortly after midnight, Vagoris, the 19-year-old Levant, as a genuine descendant of Kinira, climbed the steps of the gallows. Standing tall and proud. With his head held high and a smile on his lips.
"At half past one hour, the stars shudder;
wrote the Corinthian poet and journalist Pantelis Trogadis,
wrote the poet and journalist Pantelis Trogadis.
Shortly after midnight, as he hung on the gallows, before his sacrifice the whole of Hellenism, the whole of the free world and Panorian freedom bowed in tears.
Defying death and with a smile on his lips, Vagoris was now taking a new uphill and new paths on the road to freedom.
At the first midnight hour, the executioners led Papantonis Erotokritou, the prison priest, into the courtyard of the gallows to perform the funeral service.
The lifeless body of Evagoras Pallikaridis was buried in the same tomb where a few days earlier the burnt body of the arch-hero Stavraetos of Machairas had been buried.
Around the holy place with the saints of Cypriot Hellenism, other young fighters of the freedom of our homeland were already buried.
The eight hanged Michalakis Karaolis, Andreas Demetriou, Andreas Zakos, Iakovos Patatsos, Charilaos Michael, Andreas Panagidis, Michael Koutsoftas and Stelios Mavrommatis. Also, Markos Drakos. And after Evagoras, Stylianos Lenas and Kyriakos Matsis.
Hellenes,
Unfortunately, the inconceivable achievement of our national liberation struggle, which led to the independence of our Cyprus and the sacrifice of Evagoras Pallikaridis and all the other EOKA fighters did not last long.
The division and mutual strife and then the tragedy of the Turkish invasion and occupation of 1974, which followed the treacherous coup d'état, brought devastation and death, refugeeism and the drama of our missing and stranded people, the enormous destruction of our cultural heritage.
The acceptance and maintenance of the dangerous status quo, as a result of the Turkish invasion and continued occupation, exacerbates the fait accompli and creates new ones, making it even more difficult to resolve the Cyprus problem on the basis of the agreed framework for a solution to the Cyprus problem and the relevant UN resolutions.
Our irreversible efforts are aimed at achieving a solution, without occupation troops, foreign guarantees and invasive rights, which will restore the unity of our homeland, its territory, its people and its institutions. A solution that will make our country a reunited, free and modern European state, which will be a common homeland of prosperity and security for all its legitimate citizens, without discrimination and exceptions.
In this direction, we must do everything possible, with the active involvement of the EU and the international factor, to break the deadlock and create the conditions for the resumption of dialogue.
As the President of the Republic, Mr Nicos Christodoulides, has repeatedly stated, the more active involvement of the EU will be a decisive factor in breaking the deadlock and resuming the talks.
A prerequisite is the demonstration of the necessary will on the part of the other side, which must meet its obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus, respecting international law and the principles and values of the EU. Turkey's adherence to anachronistic concepts, maximalist demands and grand idealism, as well as revisionist and expansionist policies, constitute an obstacle not only to the resolution of the Cyprus problem, but also to the maintenance of security, peace and stability in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
Only under conditions of security, prosperity and stability will we be able to ensure a better future for our children.
Only then will we be able to live peacefully in our common homeland without barbed wire, occupying armies and foreign guarantees.
Today, in front of the sacrifice of Evagoras Pallikaridis, we are called upon to reflect on our own share of responsibility towards our people and our history.
Today, in front of the sacrifice of Evagoras Pallikaridis, we are called upon to reflect on our own share of responsibility towards our people and our history.
We must all together, friends, with unity and unanimity, as our heroes did, keep the flame of the struggle for the liberation and reunification of our Cyprus burning.
This is what Pallikarides, Afxentios, Matsis and other heroes of our homeland's struggles expect from the pantheon of our immortal heroes.
Only in this way will we be able to stand worthy of history, worthy of their sacrifice.
Unquenchable will be the memory and the glory that accompanies Evagoras Pallikaridis, the eternal youth of Hellenism, but also all our heroes who throughout time have watered the tree of freedom of our homeland with their blood.
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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