Something I feel I must emphasize first, is the emotion I feel, as I firmly believe all of us do. After many years, the erection of the memorial to the prisoners of war of 1974 is finally being promoted. A tribute due to our compatriots who lived through all the hell of the war, having been captured as prisoners on the battlefields or as civilians in their places of residence, and then experiencing all the brutality and savagery of Attila the Hun.
In their persons we honour all those young men of the time who responded with enthusiasm and love for their country to its call to defend its freedom and territorial integrity from the invasion of the barbarian Attila the Barbarian. We honour all our compatriots who were captured and suffered the horrors during their captivity, looking forward to the hour of their liberation; we honour, in general, the heroism and self-sacrifice shown by our young people, and even older persons, in that bitter summer of the great ordeal for our homeland and our people.
They were faced with death. They experienced torture, hardships, murders of their comrades-in-arms. Many of them fought the enemy without orders and help from anywhere and ended up without hope in the hands of Attila. Their liberation, with what they experienced, was literally a return to life.
Our thoughts go back to those days when, after many efforts, the return of the prisoners to the free areas was achieved. At the barricade of Ledra Palace and at the Hotel School in Nicosia, images were recorded that will always remain unforgettable. Images of mourning, anguish, but also of joy and relief.
Mothers, fathers, husbands and brothers with photos of their loved ones in their hands waiting for the prisoner buses and asking about their missing loved ones. And in the silent gazes of the liberated there was on the one hand the depression for what they had experienced and on the other hand the anticipation of the happy moment of meeting their loved ones.
According to the records of the International Red Cross, 2647 of our compatriots were captured in the summer of 1974, most of whom were civilians. While about half of them were transferred to prisons in Turkey.
Today, 48 years since then, Cyprus is still experiencing the tragic consequences of the betrayal of the coup d'état which brought destruction by the Turkish Attila. The loss and disappearance of thousands of lives, the captivity, refugeeism and the imprisonment of many others. The occupation of 37.5% of our territories, the destruction of our holy and sacred places. All this on the basis of Ankara's plans, which were conceived since colonial times, for the partition of our homeland and the complete Turkishization of the occupied part, with the subsequent aim of exercising control over our entire island.
Continuing our efforts to resolve the mainly humanitarian problem of our missing persons, which remains and is the most tragic aspect of the drama that our country has been experiencing ever since, we continue, unfortunately, to be confronted with Turkish aggression, as it has extended to the entire Eastern Mediterranean region and beyond.
Revisionism and all the aggressive and blackmailing tactics of Ankara do not, however, dampen our spirit and our will to justify the sacrifice of all our heroes and martyrs. Our immutable goal is the redemption of our betrayed and wronged people. Ensuring the survival of Cypriot Hellenism here, where history has placed it, which can in no way be overstated or ignored.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I warmly congratulate the award winners and all participants in the art competition for the erection of the monument. I particularly congratulate the first prize winners Christos Hadjichristos and Kyriakos Miltiados. Warm thanks to the managers of the Museum of Agonism for hosting the event and the exhibition of the works.
In the person of the President of the Association of Prisoners of War 1974, Mr. Vassos Christou, I express to all our deep appreciation and gratitude. Their tragic experience, what they lived and experienced at the hands of Attila, the fear, the agony, the anguish, the martyrdom and the unknown of tomorrow can in no way be replaced. The memorial to be erected there near Ledra Palace will remind everyone of the tragedy of the moments our country lived through, and with it our debt to those who suffered so much and cannot be forgotten.
(ΕΠ)
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