-
.
- Ελληνικά
It is with a sense of national responsibility and historical debt that we are gathered here today to pay tribute to the hero of the community of Ayia Napa, Luke Luke, to draw strength by remembering his sacrifice, by standing up and our national spirit in the face of the trials our country is going through.
Today, we are not holding a simple and superficial annual memorial service. Today, we honor all those, our own people, who gave their lives for our country. We stand with the relatives and friends of those who fell defending the freedom of our country.
In times that continue to be difficult, we need the heroic role models, which, by highlighting them, we bequeath to new generations the visions, ideals and values of those who had the courage and courage to take on the all-armed conqueror without hesitation.
Louka Loukas was born in the village of Agia Napa, Famagusta district, on 10 August 1941.
Louka Loukas was born in the village of Agia Napa, Famagusta province, on 10 August 1941. His parents were Theodora and Andreas Louka and his siblings Georgia, Theognosia and Loukia.
Loukas graduated from the primary school of Ayia Napa and was a student at the Greek Gymnasium of Famagusta when he died.
He was a member of the EOKA student groups and his activities were mainly participation in demonstrations and protests against the occupation of Cyprus by the British, dropping leaflets and writing slogans, both in Famagusta and Ayia Napa.
On the night of 3 October 1958, thousands of Britons, with the tolerance of the authorities, carried out all kinds of violence against the Greek citizens of Famagusta, after the imposition of house arrest, avenging the murder of the Englishwoman Kaliff, which EOKA had categorically condemned.
The inhabitants of the town protested against their brutal treatment by English soldiers and clashed with them.
The clash took on the proportions of a general battle, resulting in over 200 people being wounded, two Greeks being killed and a little girl dying of fear.
Loukas Louka, who was at that time in the house of a fellow soldier and classmate, started to go to his own house, which was next door. English soldiers who were patrolling the streets seized him and, beating him mercilessly with clubs, killed him.
The conclusion of the death investigator as to the cause of his death is as follows : "The death of Loukas Andreas Loukas was due to internal haemorrhage caused by a thrombosis of the left meningeal artery. The thrombosis was caused by a blow from a blunt instrument, which caused a fracture of the skull above the left ear."
Fellow countrymen and women,
The example of the hero we commemorate today is one of the many that the struggle for freedom in our country has to highlight. The martyr-like manner of his death, despite his young age, underlines his commitment to the values and ideals he so fervently embodied until his last breath. Luke is a modern martyr. He sacrificed his life because he believed that our freedom from the English conquerors was possible.
He was a fine Greek, a Levantine who martyred for justice and self-determination. It is truly shocking to think of his martyrdom, through which emerges his magnificent sacrifice that made him immortal, along with the heroes of our martyred homeland.
Listening to the messages of EOKA's struggle, we too have a duty to put the interest of the homeland above personal gains and expediencies and to move forward with one mind in the hope of achieving our goal of a free and prosperous Cyprus.
We bind ourselves from the depths of our souls, as the chandeliered and all-powerful God, to place his soul in the Kingdom of Heaven, and to make him a participant in His own blessedness.
Eternal is his memory.
(Mk)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
