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It is with feelings of reverence and extreme pride that we gathered today to pay our last respects to the brave son of our country, Andreas Georgiou of Stavros and Athena, two parents who experienced his absence for decades without ever knowing the truth of the fate of their beloved Andreas.
To the worthy son of Cyprus, to the lad of Kyrenia and until recently missing Andreas, who decades after his sacrifice is now included in the list of eminent heroes of Cypriot history, along with the other lads who selflessly offered their lives on the altar of freedom and democracy.
Today, we pay our last respects, fully aware of our supreme duty, which dictates that we must never give up the struggle for vindication, following Andreas' shining example. The hero of Cypriot freedom. The courageous fighter who did not faint in the face of adversity, and with self-sacrifice defended the freedom of our country.
Faithful to the call of his homeland, Andreas transmuted into action the motto "Mother and father and of all other ancestors, Patris is honourable", falling fighting for altars and hearths.
Andreas Georgiou was born on February 4, 1952. When the Turkish invasion occurred on 20 July 1974, he was serving his military service in the 251 Infantry Battalion, based in Glykiotissa Kyrenia, manning the Kyrenia Fortress along with his fellow soldiers.
The situation was spiralling out of control, with the Turkish army landing armoured invaders, tanks and other military equipment on the shores of Pente Mili, while warplanes attacked the wider Kyrenia area.
On 22 July an officer, together with Andreas Georgiou and another soldier, left the Fortress to meet a small convoy of tanks arriving at the site, the first tank in line with Greek insignia.
In fact, it was our tank which had come into the possession of the Turks after fierce fighting with men of the National Guard, and which the invaders deliberately placed first, in order to approach the Fortress without casualties.
Immediately the Turkish soldiers manning the tanks captured the three men of the National Guard. At gunpoint they led the officer towards their commander and subsequently to a prisoner holding area. Andreas and the second soldier, at gunpoint, were led outside Kyrenia, towards the Pella - Pais area. Since then, their fate was unknown.
The capture of the three men was witnessed by other soldiers who were inside the Fortress. Seeing that the Turkish tanks were now moving inside Kyrenia, at dawn the next day, 23 July 1974, the soldiers used an exit to the sea side, leaving the Fortress. With many precautions they reached the area of Agios Epiktitos Kyrenia.
The remains of the hero Andreas George were found decades later in Pella-Pais by the Committee of Inquiry on Missing Persons and subsequently identified by DNA. His joyful parents, Stavros and Athena, are not alive to be reunited with them. They are "gone" with the pain of absence and the grief of finding their deserving child. With regret, bitterness and anguish his sister also "left". Andrew's father passed away in 2001 and his sister almost eight years ago. His mother, who passed away in 2019, refused for years to leave Cyprus and join her son, George, in Greece. She chose to remain in Cyprus, alone, because her hero was here waiting for her.... She went to Greece just before the end of her life, but even at that time, at the time of death she was chanting his name. "Take care of Andrikko, take care of Andrikko" were her last words to the hero's brother before he passed away.
Present today, at the final farewell... are Andreas' brother, George, and the hero's nephews. The children of his brothers. Among them, Andrew the Younger. The child who bears the name of our hero of Kyrenia whom we bid farewell to today.
Adonis Ioannidis is also present. The man whose information was crucial and contributed greatly to the identification of Andreas. It was this information he gave us recently that helped end the martyrdom and the unspoken drama of anticipation and uncertainty. It was these that contributed to the redemption of the hero's loved ones and the bestowal of due honours upon him. The Service is grateful to him for this act and invites all those who can contribute in the same way to do so. Thank you, Adonis.
The young hero we bid farewell to today, a shining example of bravery and a beacon of remembrance, shows the State the path of responsibility and duty.
He shows us all that freedom, the supreme good for which every sacrifice is worthy, can only be obtained with virtue and courage. And Andrew possessed both virtue and daring.
We ought to keep his memory unquenched, to pass on to the new generation his self-sacrifice as an example of bravery. At the same time, it is our duty to ensure the vindication of Andreas' self-sacrifice.
Our wish is that the longed-for freedom of our homeland is not far away.
Andreas, brave man, hero, our hero, we humbly and modestly bid you farewell today, with emotion, respect and pride.
Eternally grateful, the State bows reverently before the greatness of your sacrifice.
Eternal memory.
(ΕΠ)
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