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- Ελληνικά
The Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons, Mrs. Anna Aristotelous, delivered the following eulogy at the funeral of the 1974 hero Constantis Kokkinovoucou, at the Church of St. Panteleimon in Meneo:
It is with feelings of reverence, immense respect and deep emotion that we pay our last respects today to Constantis Kokkinovouco, of Contea, the scarped braka, the hero of devotion. Another victim of the brutal Turkish invasion. The man who remained rooted and devoted to his beloved land of Contea. Who, on the day of the second phase of the Turkish invasion and despite the exhortations of his children, refused to leave the fertile land of his village to escape Attila's hordes. The man who lived for almost a century in his village and is buried today, 143 years after his birth in 1880.
The destruction of the Turkish barbarity that our country experienced in the summer of 1974 determined the fate of the people then, determines the fate and future of the people to this day. The young and future generations. But Attila could in no way determine the fate of people like Constantine Kokkinovukos, who was neither frightened, nor afraid, nor did he share the exhortations of his children to leave his village. He remained proud, proud and free until the invader's bullets brought about his death. A death to which he arrived full of days, there on the soil of his beloved Contea, wearing his scarlet breeches, as prescribed by his own code of values and the protocol of another era. A code that stipulated that a man does not fear, does not bend, and does not abandon his land. He remains there on his land, devoted until his last breath.
Moreover, old Constantis shared the same land with his beloved wife Eleni whom he had lost earlier and they were happy to build a family with two children, Pantelis and Kyriakos, and to have grandchildren.
Son of Christofis and Cornelius, Constantis was born in 1880 and was a shepherd.
Son of Christofis and Cornelius, Constantis was born in 1880 and was a shepherd. His life had been inextricably linked to the land of Contea for almost a century, and his roots could not be severed on 14 August, neither by the brutalities of the invader, nor by the exhortations of his son to leave the village and move to a safer place in Xylofagou.
The first phase of the invasion kept them in their homes, as it did most of the inhabitants of Mesaria. The battles were fought in other areas, further north and west of their village. But at dawn on 14 August, Turkish forces carried out major attacks on National Guard positions in the area of Mias Milia, while Turkish warplanes were also bombing the surrounding area.
Bad news traveled fast and the villages east of Mias Milia, between Nicosia and Famagusta, began to be abandoned by their inhabitants. So did the Konteates, who attempted to flee in every way possible to escape from the Turkish soldiers. The family of Kokkinovukos decided to go to Xylofagou. However, they had a serious problem to deal with. The elderly grandfather refused to follow. Like him and two or three of his fellow villagers, who despite the urgings of the others who fled to escape the brutality of the invader, remained in the village, in their beloved Kontea. Not to defend it by fighting. Besides, their age did not allow that. But to live their last moments free in their beloved land, honouring it with their exclusive devotion, with true dedication, loyalty and commitment to it, until death.
The Turkish troops advanced from Mia Milia and occupied the new Nicosia - Famagusta road in the area of Trachoni Kythrea, thus cutting off a number of villages of Famagusta province from the free areas and imprisoning a number of inhabitants who had not abandoned their land.
The traces of Constantis Kokkinovukou's life disappear from the moment the Turkish troops invade the village. It was a conscious decision, in which he defied the dangers, and his own life. Constantis knew the end and waited in his home. According to testimonies, the 94-year-old was treated no differently from most victims of Turkish atrocities. He fell dead with gunshot wounds.
According to his brother and fellow villagers, he was found dead in the street at the Frank's cottage near the church of Agios Charalambos. They buried him in a pile of dung outside the door of the pen and put a cross on it.
The blood tax paid by the Kokkinovuku family was not only repaid by the grandfather's sacrifice, however. The invaders caused even greater pain and suffering to the family, since along with the proud old age, they also touched the younger generation. In that relay of brutality, the baton passed from grandfather to grandson. Michael Kokkinovukos, son of Kyriakos Kokkinovukos, and grandson of Constantis, only 19 years old, has been missing since 15 August, when, as a soldier of the National Guard, he answered the call of the homeland to defend it, with practical, steadfast and selfless love and devotion to the homeland.
The last time Michael was seen alive was in a house in Voni, not 30 kilometres from where his grandfather had tragically died. Michael Kokkinovukos was serving his military service that summer in the 120 Heavy Weapons Company, which after the beginning of the invasion on 20 July ended up in the area of Mias Milia Koutsoventi.
After fierce fighting and the rapid advance of the Turkish troops towards the Trachoni - Kythrea area, Michael Kokkinovukos moved towards Voni where he ended up in a house together with a number of other soldiers.
The next day, the Turkish invaders arrested all the soldiers who were inside the house, as well as all the male civilians and then drove them towards the area of the T/C village of Pekkiyou. Since then, their traces have been lost.
For decades, the Kokkinovuku family, which has been waiting for news about Michael, has also been waiting for news about grandfather Constantis, whose remains were finally found in the area of his beloved Kontea.
This closes a chapter, but not the book, for the Kokkinovoukou family, which is waiting patiently, along with many other families of the missing, for the fate of their loved ones to be determined. A wound that will not close. For half a century, it has remained open.
Today, the epilogue of the tragic story of Constantine Kokkinovoucou is being written. The State bids farewell to the man who remained rooted and dedicated to his beloved Countess. The man who did not fear, did not bend and did not abandon his land, defying his own life. We owe it to him to keep his memory unquenched and to pass on to the new generation his love and devotion to his native land.
At the same time, it is our duty to ensure that his sacrifice is vindicated. And to fight for the longed-for freedom of our homeland. To fight for a just solution that ends the occupation and colonization, frees Cyprus from foreign troops and restores and guarantees the human rights and basic freedoms of all Cypriots.
Respected relatives of the hero, in conclusion, I would like to address you. I know that neither words nor any manifestations can alleviate your pain, your immense and inconsolable sorrow for the fate of your loved one.
But the legacy left by our Constantine, who chose to remain smooth in the land that gave birth to him, even in the afterlife, is a model of pride, principles and values, and shows all of us the path of responsibility and duty to continue the struggle for vindication.
Constantine Kokkinovuke, today, all of us, humbly and modestly bid you farewell. Our respect, admiration, appreciation and love will accompany you forever.
May your memory be eternal, Constantine, and may the earth cover you lightly.
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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