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- Ελληνικά
The funeral of Yiannakis Charalambous, who died during the bombings of July 20, 1974, at the Athalassa Hospital, was held this morning at the Church of St. John the Theologian in Katydata.
Στον eulogy, the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons Ms Anna Aristotelous said that on 20 July 1974 Turkish warships approached the coast of Pente Mili Kyrenia on 20 July 1974, landing armoured troops, tanks and other war equipment, while Turkish warplanes were attacking with ferocity the National Guard positions and other areas in Kyrenia, as well as other areas of Cyprus.
On that black day for our country, Ms. Aristotelous said, Turkish war planes, which were flying over Nicosia, attacked the Athalassa Hospital with bombs, without any hesitation. "This is the day Attila showed his true barbaric face, bombing a hospital, spreading devastation, pain and destruction," he said, stressing that one of the bombs hit a central inpatient ward. Thirty-three people died and were buried in craters created by the bombings, while others were injured and taken to Nicosia General Hospital.
Yiannakis Charalambous was one of the 33 who died. "One of the 33 innocent victims of Turkish brutality, but at the same time a victim of the conditions of the time," Ms. Aristotelous said, noting that the personal story of the fallen man is shocking. "In our last farewell we will share what marked his brief passing from life. Short, but meaningful and pure, like his soul," she continued.
Giannakis Charalambous was born in 1945 in Katydata. His parents were Charalambos Christoforou, who passed away five years after his birth, and Mirianthi Ioannou. He had two younger sisters, Androula and Charalambia.
As Ms. Aristotelous said, Giannakis became ill at the age of three. The wrong medication he received caused him to lose his speech and affected his cognitive development. He never attended school and stayed at home with his grandparents while his mother worked to raise her three orphans. "He was lonely and quiet but at the same time very friendly with anyone who paid attention to him. That was what his pure and innocent soul dictated. He spent his hours in the churchyard playing with improvised toys. And he waited for the other children. His friends. He looked forward to meeting them after school to play. Doing what all children his age did, but excluded from the educational sphere," Ms. Aristotelous said.
The main care of Giannakis Charalambous was taken by his grandmother Evridiki and his grandfather Giannis, who also took on the role of father for the three orphans.
"This is how our Giannakis' life went until the late 60s. Until his mother and his two sisters took the decision to emigrate to Australia," Ms. Aristotelous noted, explaining that difficulties led them to the distant continent to work and create a better life. There they were met by his mother's sister, who offered them shelter and work."
"Our Yannakis did not follow his family. His special needs held him back, as Australia prohibited the immigration of people with our Yannakis' special needs. He was separated from his mother and sisters and stayed at home with his grandparents. He remained in his village. He remained lonely, quiet and loved by everyone," Ms. Aristotelous continued.
Giannakis Charalambous' life changed violently again, forcing him to experience the feeling of separation for a second time when his "guardians", his grandfather and grandmother, experienced health problems. "The absence of state social care and assistance, as well as society's prejudice against people with disabilities, left little room for manoeuvre. The solution then for the vulnerable situation in which our Giannakis found himself was the Athalassa hospital. He was taken there in 1972, two years before the Turkish invasion," Ms. Aristotelous pointed out.
On July 20, 1974, the epilogue of his life was written. He died tragically during the bombing of the hospital by the Turkish air force. As the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons said, his grandfather could not bear the news of his death and died four days later. His mother consciously never returned to Cyprus and passed away in Australia at an old age.
"The end of Yiannakis Charalambous' life was tragic, as was his own life. He was a victim of social prejudice and exclusion. He was a victim of the state's failure to create the necessary support structures for vulnerable people like our Yannakis. He was a victim of the indiscriminate bombing of a hospital that was considered a safe place because of the international protection afforded to hospital facilities in wartime. In her eulogy, the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons explained that Yannakis and most of the hospital inmates who were killed were in the same ward.
In her eulogy, the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing and Trapped Persons explained that Yannakis and most of the hospital inmates who were killed were in the same ward. They were roughly buried in the craters created by the bombing, without any ceremonies or the newly established procedures. A few years ago, he continued, the exact place of their burial was located, and after it was decided to exhume them, it was determined by the DNA method that among the bones found, there was part of the remains of Yiannakis Charalambous.
"The fallen man we are burying today. The innocent victim of Turkish barbarism, the victim of social exclusion and stereotypes, the victim of a cruel society that fears diversity. Our Giannakis was wronged by society, marginalized by stigma, direct and indirect discrimination and prejudice, and unfortunately, at the age of 29, he was destined to lose his life in the most tragic way, in the place where he was found to receive protection and care", Ms. Aristotelous stressed.
She stressed that the life and loss of Giannakis Charalambous demonstrates to the State the path of responsibility and duty at multiple levels.
"We as a society," said Ms. Aristotelous, "owe a big apology to Giannakis for the injustices, marginalization and callousness of the state, which he experienced to the greatest extent possible from the early years of his life, from the age of 3, until his tragic end. We have a duty to ensure that his loss is vindicated." The State's commitment and obligation, she stressed, is to protect all members of society, accepting their particularities, safeguarding their self-evident individual and social rights.
Referring to the drama experienced by the relatives of the missing persons, Ms. Aristotelous stressed that it is the State's duty not to forget and its obligation to continue the struggle to locate all our missing persons. "And that is what we are doing. Revealing the truth is the inalienable right of the relatives and the only consolation," she concluded.
(NΓ)
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