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The commemorative speech was read by the Minister of Energy, Trade and Industry Mr. George Papanastasiou, who represented the President of the Republic at the memorialo
It is with feelings of honour and pride that I pay the due tribute to the hero Michael Olympios, the honour that the State owes to all those who watered the land and the history of our country with their blood and sweat.
Today, here, in the Community of Lympion, under the cruel and unseeing gaze of the Turkish invader, the honour to the hero Michael Olympios and to all the heroes born and nurtured by our land is as timely as ever.
50 years after the brutal Turkish invasion of 1974, our homeland, through the example of its heroes, must increase its struggle, strengthen its voice, and intensify its will for freedom and reunification.
Therefore, I congratulate the initiators and organizers of the annual national memorial to the hero Michael Olympios, the Athletic Association Apollo Lympion, the family of the hero and the Athletic and Cultural Association of Idali "Michael Olympios", because today our country needs beacons and markers in its struggle. We need light in the long and difficult path of our effort to find a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem.
Michael Olympios is undoubtedly another great example of bravery and courage, genuine and pure love for religion and country, faith in the ideals and values of our history. His life and his course in this world were characterized by dignity, militancy and a firm commitment to the vision of freedom and self-determination of our country.
Born in 1937 in Lympia, in today's acritical community of Lympion, to parents Charalambos and Anna Makrykosta and siblings Maria, Irini and Katina, he grew up in an environment of deep Christian piety and was nurtured with the ideals of his homeland. Due to financial hardship, he drops out of school and enters the struggle for a living at a very early age, just after graduating from primary school.
With the beginning of the national liberation struggle of EOKA, on April 1, 1955, Michael Olympios immediately joined the ranks of the organization with enthusiasm and militancy and, together with other young people, took intense action in the region.
Unfortunately, two years later he was arrested by the British colonialists and taken successively to the Omorphita, Kokkinotrimithia and Pyla detention centres.
Unfortunately, two years later he was arrested by the British colonialists and taken successively to the Omorphita, Kokkinotrimithia and Pyla detention centres. There, in detention facilities that are a disgrace to the modern history of Europe, the fighters went through hell, experienced brutality and relentless violence, and were subjected to torture reminiscent of the concentration camps of the Second World War. In the English detention centres, the philanthropy of the EOKA fighters was severely tested and their patriotism was weighed in the miserable living conditions. Just as in the case of Michael Olybios, his humanoid English torturers, unable to break down his resistance and fortitude, during one of the tortures deeply injured his right arm and stood in the way of any proposed medical treatment, which unfortunately determined the development of his health.
With the end of British rule and the Declaration of Independence, Michael Olympius, bearing on his body the stigmata of his devotion to the cause, rejoiced with dignity in the freedom of Cyprus and refused to redeem his contribution with titles and honours. Still, despite the suffering he endures from his unhealed wound and its complications, he does not lose his faith and his fighting spirit is in no way diminished. A fact that General Georgios Grivas Digenis himself praised during the Turkish counter-insurgency of 1964, where Michael Olympios, even though wounded, took part to defend the rights of his homeland once again.
The years went by with the complications of the wound getting worse. His successive transfers to the British holding cells upon his capture were followed by successive trips to Greece and Europe and an endless marathon of operations on his arm. Until amputation was inevitable. And it was 1969, just ten years after the end of the EOKA struggle, the year in which Michael Olympios left the mundane world and his soul flew forever free towards the blue sky.
At the age of 32, leaving behind his wife Androula and his children Charalambos and Charitos, he worthily entered the pantheon of the immortals, taking his own place of honour against the call of history and life. Young in age, but mature and ready in soul, forged by the struggle of industry, patriotism, patience, faith and dignity.
Michael Olympios, ladies and gentlemen, also belongs to those cases in which the sacrifice of a man becomes a source of life, activity and contribution. Michael Olympius, through the Association bearing his name, is now a symbol and inspiration for actions of social, cultural, environmental and sporting interest and, in general, actions aimed at the healthy employment of young people in particular. This is thanks to the legacy that his name and action left to his family and relatives, to those who believed and believe in his genuine and worthy struggle.
Names and figures like Michael Olympios do not leave us complacent, nor do they allow us to lay down our arms in the struggle for freedom and the reunification of our country. If the example of Michael Olympius' life has anything to teach us, it is the strength of the soul, indomitable patriotism, patience in hardship and physical suffering, and a strong faith in God and our ideals.
Conditions and circumstances are not and have never been propitious. Despite the difficulties, problems and challenges caused by the Turkish approach, our concerted actions at the diplomatic level have succeeded in attracting international attention, especially from the United Nations and the European Union in the effort to resume the talks.
We made a promise, friends, and we will keep it to the end, doing everything possible. A promise of unremitting struggle and effort with the sole aim of liberation, the reunification of our country on the basis of the United Nations resolutions, the agreed framework and the principles and values of the European Union.
Our example is the myriad of fighters and heroes of our homeland for freedom and vindication of its aspirations.
Our example and guide is the hero of our homeland and life, Michael Olympios.
Eternal be his memory.
(PM/AF/MS)
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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