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Before I proceed with my memorial references, as a minimum sign of respect and honor, allow me to express the immense grief and deepest sorrow of the Ministry of Defense for the unexpected loss of second-year Evelpi George Hatzionas.
George was a model of an excellent Eyelpie with ambitions and dreams. He was a virtuous young man who modestly sought distinction in everything he undertook.
With humility he was always discreetly at the side of every fellow human being in need, ready to selflessly offer his help.
The great family of the National Guard will always remember him as a virtuous man, proud and smiling. Cyprus mourns a true lad, who died while training in defence of the homeland. The state's sincere condolences to his loved ones. May God give them strength and courage. Farewell to the light Sophomore Evelpi Hatzionas George of Savvas, of the 1st Company Evelpedon Force.
It is with feelings of deep emotion and immense national pride that we have gathered here today, at Camp Michalakis Paridis, in Aplada, to pay, with due respect, the appropriate tribute to the heroically fallen warriors of the 286 Mechanized Infantry Battalion and, at the same time, to pray to the Most High to determine the fate of our missing.
The memory of all, terrible and relentless, returns today more vividly than ever to the grim, black, painful and deadly days of the Turkish invasion of 1974. We inevitably recall the sad images of 20 July, when the blue summer skies of Cyprus were filled with armed Turkish paratroopers and the beloved sea of Kyrenia was laden with death and destruction arriving from Turkey.
In our ears echo the deafening roar of the planes, the booms and blasts of machine guns that disturbed the quiet summer morning, causing scenes of panic and distress among the people.
We feel the same shudder caused by the prolonged piercing sound of the war sirens and experience the same anxiety of the terrified mothers who hugged their children tightly as they rushed to perform their duty to their country, giving their blessing and kissing them crosswise.
We experience the same immense fear experienced by the young children, who fearfully, with a silent tear, stayed behind and bid farewell to their conscripted father or brother.
The same sacred pain experienced by the relatives of our missing persons for five decades now, who, praying daily to the Virgin Mary, anxiously await the return of their loved ones.
The Greek poet and painter Nikos Engonopoulos, in a poem, in a few lines, sums up and describes in a very eloquent way what is fitting for spirited patriots.
"[...]
For the great, for the free,
For the brave, for the strong,
Words fit the great, the free,
the brave, the strong,
For them the absolute submission of every element, the silence,
for them tears, for them beacons,
and olive branches
[...]"
To these heroic fallen of the 286th Mechanized Infantry Battalion all honors and glory are due.
For they acted of their own free will, putting honor and love of country above all else. And in honor is embedded the ethos of a man.
The heroes we commemorate today turned their gaze to the glorious past of Hellenism.
The heroes we commemorate today turned their gaze to the glorious past of Hellenism. They weighed the difficult moments of the present and poured themselves into the struggle to defend their native land, guided by the sacred legacies of our immortal ancestors.
Having as their plumage the Greek militancy and as an inexhaustible source of strength the honoured military oath they swore, which gushed from the souls of the heroes lying on the bloodstained soil of our homeland.
In their ears echoed the age-old Spartan command calling for a choice between victory or death.
"The Phantom of Theseus in arms kathoran before them, upon the barbarians bearing" the Greek biographer Plutarch submits to us in his "Parallel Lives", describing how the Athenians who fought at Marathon against the Medes saw before them armed Theseus fighting with them.
In the same way, the heroes of the three thousand years of Hellenism's history were mentally next to the fighters of the 286th Mechanized Infantry Battalion. They participated in the struggle, as if they were present, mentally, as apparitions, as "phantoms", adorning with their magnificence the unparalleled sacrifice of our own braves.
The 286 paid a heavy blood tax. 32 heroically killed, 8 missing, 54 seriously wounded and 13 who suffered the painful experience of capture, captivity and humiliation.
The numbers document the magnitude of the sacrifice and sacrifice. The pain of the losses was unbearable, since the personnel of the Unit, after miscalculations and repeated wrong assessments and decisions of the then leadership of the National Guard, ended up fighting against multiple enemy forces.
Despite the bitterness and disappointment, they were on the front lines of the struggle, fighting with vigour, courage and bravery.
They met the merciless Turkish land and air assault from a modern, all-out modern war machine, opposing their meager and obsolete weaponry and resources - many of them from World War II -, unreliable communications, zero information and significant personnel shortages.
Historically, the 286th Armoured Infantry Battalion, later renamed the Motorized Battalion, was established in March 1965, based at the "Lieutenant Colonel Michael Pournara Camp" in Kato Lakatameia. It was the first motorized unit of the National Guard, with BTR armored personnel carriers.
In 1973, it was relocated to Kokkinotrimithia, next to the Camp of the 23rd Tank Division, since the staff plans provided for the joint undertaking of combat missions, as a reserve of the General Staff.
On 18 July 1974, the main body of the Unit was concentrated in the old GSP Stadium.
On 18 July 1974, the main body of the Unit was concentrated in the old GSP Stadium.
Despite the information about an expected Turkish military operation, the order to move the Unit was not issued in time by the GEF during the evening hours of the same or the next day, but was issued on the morning of 20 July, when the Turkish invasion was in progress.
According to the order given, the Battalion was to move from Nicosia to Kyrenia, on the route Gerolakkos - Kontenos - Panagra - Karavas.
During the movement the Battalion proceeded in sparse formations. Near the village of Kontenos, Turkish fighters spotted the unit and launched a merciless attack on its vehicles. The fact that the mission was ordered to be carried out in broad daylight, the choice of this particular route and the lack of anti-aircraft cover caused the unit significant losses in personnel and resources.
An important detail is the fact that the movement of the 286th column was intercepted by a damaged military vehicle of the 281st Infantry Battalion, which suffered the same losses in the exact same area a few hours earlier. Lieutenant Colonel George Boutos' unit, which was following the route, was not informed and did not know about this incident.
Thus, after the tragic result at Kontenos, 286, with the losses it had already suffered, was largely put out of action. The total of seven dead and twenty-five wounded, including their Commander, who later expired in a hospital in Athens, the large number of soldiers who suffered mental trauma, and the six armoured vehicles destroyed had a catalytic effect on the unit's cohesion, morale, determination and strength before it entered the war.
Nevertheless, in the following days the Unit was repeatedly engaged with enemy forces.
It participated, along with other National Guard Units, in the fierce fighting against the Turks in the bridgehead, which failed because there were insufficient forces to eliminate it.
Due to unsuccessful efforts to coordinate with other units under the "Bufa Group" and many incorrect and contradictory orders at the highest level, the unit engaged the enemy without the necessary organization and preparation.
The 286th Motorized Battalion, although wounded, fought hard in both phases of the Turkish invasion. At Konteno, Lapithos, Karavas, Agridaki, Agios Hermolaos, Skullura, Agios Vasilios, Filia and Nicosia Airport, the men of the Unit gave their best.
Exhausted, overworked and with the pain of the loss of their comrades-in-arms in their souls, with as much weaponry, means and war supplies as they had left, but with unparalleled vigour and emblematic fighting spirit, they continued to defend our beloved homeland to the last drop of their blood.
The final account of the 286th Motorized Battalion in the war remains tragic. 40 absent. 32 killed and 8 missing, among them the 4 -to this day- missing of the platoon of reserve lieutenant Joseph Sergidis, the loss of which- on the Lapatsa Heights- is one of the most tragic contributions of the Battalion in the operations of the summer of '74.
From this place, we not only honour the gloriously fallen fighters of the 286, but also strengthen and reinforce our will to continue our efforts for liberation and return.
We have a heavy duty and responsibility towards our heroes, towards our homeland and our history.
We have a heavy duty and responsibility towards our heroes, towards our homeland and our history. With faith in the justice of the struggle and with national rallying and unity we are obliged to fight until the final vindication, to ensure the historical continuity of Hellenism in a peaceful and prosperous homeland.
This was and remains our supreme national goal. The solution of the Cyprus problem. A solution that will free us from the occupation troops and finally end colonization.
"The more anomaly remains, the more evil advances" George Seferis once said.
Because in this case, the acceptance of the existing reality, as a de facto imposed situation, is not only a sinless surrender of Cyprus, but also the prelude to potentially more and greater calamities for our homeland and Hellenism in general.
We owe the right, viable, secure solution to our history, to those who left with the pain of return, to our children and to future generations.
It is a top priority of the President of the Republic, Mr Nikos Christodoulides, to resume the talks under the auspices of the United Nations with the more active involvement of the EU. We believe that the involvement of a high-ranking European official in the new process will be of sufficient assistance to the efforts of the United Nations and will help to create the right climate for bringing the other side back to the negotiating table.
At the same time, we make it clear that we will not deviate from the justice of our struggle, from our principles and values, from the framework of a solution that will satisfy all the Cypriot people, in conditions of security, prosperity, equality and co-creation.
The unacceptable claim for a "two-state solution", which the Turkish side has been proclaiming lately and which departs from the principles of international law, is the prelude to the definitive partition of our homeland.
The Turkish narrative cannot be part of any discussion in a new dialogue process.
The criticality of the circumstances calls for unity and unanimity. We declare unequivocally that our primary objective is the resolution of our national question and to this end we are unwaveringly committed and determined to achieve the best result.
With the immortal heroes of the 286 Mechanized Infantry Battalion and all the heroes of the struggles of our homeland as our guides on the difficult road to liberation, we make this modest pledge before God and our history.
With the immortal heroes of the 286 Mechanized Infantry Battalion and all the heroes of the struggles of our homeland, we make this modest pledge before God and our history.
Eternal be the memory of all the heroes of our homeland and may the Almighty answer our prayers and supplications for the liberation of our homeland and the determination of the fate of all our missing brothers and sisters.
Thank you.
(NΓ/EXP)
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