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- Ελληνικά
One more stranded man passed away
One more stranded man of the village of Kormakitis, Antonis Siammoutis passed away on Wednesday 7/2/2024 at the age of 70. His funeral was held at the church of Agios Maronas in Anthoupolis. Representatives of the State, relatives, friends and fellow countrymen bid farewell to Antonis Siammoutis, who was born and lived in Kormakitis, but passed away far from his beloved village at the "Agios Antonios" Foundation.
On behalf of the President of the Republic, Mr. Ms Anna Aristotelous, Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons, attended the eulogy, expressing her emotion, respect and gratitude, bidding farewell to a great man who, as she stressed, never left his village.
Referring to the life of Antonis Siammoutis, Mrs. Aristotelous pointed out that he was born in 1953 and lived his whole life in Kormakitis. "A man born and raised in Kormakitis. The village he loved and in which he wanted to remain until his last breath. But unfortunately, due to the lack of a nursing home for our stranded people in his beloved village, he was lately in the "Agios Antonios" Foundation, to which he was transferred after he was discharged from the Nicosia General Hospital, where he was hospitalized".
He added that Antonis Siammoutis, despite the difficulties he faced, both he and all our internees, never left his village. "He chose after the Turkish invasion to remain in the place where he was born," said the Head of Humanitarian Affairs, noting that he preferred to suffer the hardships of the occupation in his daily life, rather than leave his home, his roots, the narrow streets of Kormakitis where he grew up.
As Ms. Aristotelous said, Antonis Siammoutis was a farmer and lived in Kormakitis for decades. "And if you asked him if he regretted remaining in occupied Kormakitis, his answer without a second thought would be no. He was willing to go through the same difficulties again, he would sacrifice again what he was deprived of all these years, but he would choose to live in his village. Even when health problems forced him to come to the free regions, he would return to his village of Kormakitis. He chose to go back and forth to the hospital without caring about the suffering he was undergoing. He had the need, even in his most difficult moments, when he had health problems, to go to his village, even for a short time. His love for his homeland, for his roots, for the soil he walked on, overshadowed every problem he faced," Ms. Aristotelous noted.
The Head of Humanitarian Affairs pointed out that Antonis Siammoutis, along with all our internees, has been keeping our Maronite villages alive for fifty years. "Thanks to these people, Kormakitis has remained alive. Their sacrifices oblige us to continue the struggle they started. It is these people who all these years have been teaching us what love for our land means," Ms. Aristotelous continued.
The Head of Humanitarian Affairs also mentioned that unfortunately, our interned people are dwindling and stressed that it is the obligation of all of us to support those who chose the most difficult path to keep our occupied villages alive.
"The least we can say to these people and to Antonis Siammoutis, whom we are saying goodbye to today, is a big thank you. Thank you for what you have offered to our country, thank you for what you have taught us and we assure you that we will continue the struggle and every effort that will contribute both to the improvement and upgrading of the living conditions of our interned people, who for 50 years have kept our Maronite villages alive, and to the support of our resettled people," Ms. Aristotelous concluded.
The Head of Humanitarian Affairs laid a wreath on behalf of the President of the Republic.
(PM/NYAN/EATH)
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