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- Ελληνικά
With mixed feelings, on the one hand of sadness and emotion and on the other of hope for the next day, we are here in this park dedicated to the sacrifice of the Themistocleous family. A family that was called upon to pay the heaviest blood tax of the Cypriot tragedy of 1974. A family whose fate played the ugliest, most treacherous and most unjust game on that black dawn of 14 August. No matter how hard one tries, one will not be able to put oneself in the place of the sad father, husband and grandfather Andreas Themistocleous. What is it like to see everything you love threatened and to be unable to defend it? What is it like to see your wife, your four daughters and your six-month-old grandchild fall into the hands of the conquerors and not be able to save them? Not even in your worst nightmare can you bear the pain and grief at the prospect of losing everything you love.
On that black dawn of August 14, the theatre of war found the Turkish troops making the defence line of Mia Milia a priority. Early on, Turkish planes fired on positions of the National Guard, whose men, by whatever means available, held their positions for several hours. By noon, a disengagement is ordered. Thus, despite resistance, the men of the National Guard retreat. This development opens the way for Attila's ground troops, who are now beginning to move towards the next villages. Among their targets are Trachoni, Kythrea, Palaikythro and Assia. These villages are the ones that experienced the harshest aspect of the war. They found themselves face to face with the invaders. Their inhabitants were called upon to make decisions that determined their course, and to this day they mourn not only for the invasion and occupation, but also for the dozens of their fellow villagers who are either still missing or whose remains were found decades later, and whose names were added to our lists of the fallen.
After the National Guard lines are broken, the residents of the surrounding villages learn the bad news and then a giant operation begins to move the civilians to safer areas. In the midst of this chaos, the large Themistocleous family prepares for the big exit. Andreas Themistokleous, his wife Eleni, his son Panikos, their four daughters, Themistoula, Maro, Sulla and Angeliki, along with their six-month-old infant Andreas, had taken cover under trees in the courtyard of the village priest's house for protection from the savage bombardment of Turkish planes. Once informed of the brutalities of the Turkish troops and with no vehicle to leave the area, they set off on foot, and through the fields they move towards Nicosia. Just outside the village they are noticed by the Turkish troops, who fire at them from a distance. One of their fellow villagers, who was also leaving the village with his family, was wounded by the shots. Then Andreas Themistocleous and his son Panikos realize that without a car or a tractor they will not be able to save their family and their fellow villagers. Then they decide to run to catch a tractor, which had a cart on it, and in which they saw other fellow villagers, to beg them to return to save the injured man and women and children. In the process, they realize that their effort is in vain, as Turkish troops are approaching. This forced the tractor driver to increase his speed to save those he was carrying in his carriage. Now it was only a matter of time. The remaining members of the Themistocleous family and the second family are now exposed to the invaders. There is no contingency plan and no way of escape. From the distance created in their attempt to catch up with the tractor, they see the Turkish troops approaching and encircling their loved ones. Scenes of ancient tragedy ensue.
Andrew and his son Panikos' anguish for the rest of their family members is not fleeting. It lasts months, years, decades. From the summer of 1974 to the summer of 2015 to be informed that their remains have been identified. To be able to hold a funeral and give them, 41 years late, a final farewell. Among the dead was little Andrew, just six months old. The youngest victim of the Turkish invasion. In the face of such stories, words cannot ease the pain and reduce the tragedy and bitterness that not only the Themistokleous family, but all the families of our missing persons and of the victims of the Turkish invasion, are rightly experiencing.
It is for this reason that such initiatives, such as today's, remind us of the heavy legacy that the Themistocleous family, with the blood of its members, bequeaths to new generations, keeping the memory of Helen, Angeliki, Themistoula, Maro, Sulla and little Andreas unquenched and immortal over the years. We congratulate the Mayor of Gerion Mr. Neofytos Papalazarou and the Municipal Council for this initiative to dedicate the park to the memory of the six members of the Themistokleous family.
Our duty is nothing but to keep the flame of return unquenched through such initiatives and actions. To preserve in our collective memory the people and places we have lost and to demand a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem. Above all, to ensure that never again will a human being experience what the Themistocleous family experienced and is still experiencing.
(PM/EP/NZ)
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