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- Ελληνικά
It is with deep emotion that I am here today in this holy temple, just a few kilometres away from the barbed wire that keeps our homeland divided, from the barbed wire that widens the distance with the plain of our occupied Morphou. A plain on the edge of the vastness, with a panorama of the sea, rivers and streams, lemon and orange groves.
We gathered today to commemorate the children of Morphou, on the initiative of the Municipality, the Holy Metropolis of Morphou and the OELMEK, recalling at the same time our occupied land. We commemorate the intellectual and visionary Loukis Akritas who was from Morphou and became a national figure. That intellectual man who passed from the field of journalism and the writer-literary to the political side, serving with his work all Hellenism in Cyprus and Greece. Together with Loukis Akritas, occupied Morphou commemorates today, away from its thorns, its worthy children, the former Mayors and Municipal Councillors. We remember and honour them for their work and for their efforts to pass on the history, traditions and identity of their land to future generations.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our roots are very deep. We have a golden heritage from which we have neither bent, nor given up, nor compromised with the deeds of the Turkish occupation.
In his timeless speech in 1964, at a turbulent time in the history of the island - marked by the intercommunal riots - Loukis Akritas, in the celebrations of the heroic Exodus of Messolonghi, interweaves the perpetual struggles of Messolonghi and Cyprus.
In his timeless speech in 1964, at a turbulent time in the history of the island - marked by the intercommunal riots - Loukis Akritas, in the celebrations of the heroic Exodus of Messolonghi, interweaves the perpetual struggles of Messolonghi and Cyprus. He connects the sacrifice of the free besieged with that of the heroes of the island. It connects the Exodus with the struggle of Cypriot Hellenism. And he delivers the following in his historic speech: "There, on the major bastion of Hellenism where our homeland, Lefteria, faces tyranny from a fence - a dividing line. The siege of Messolonghi continues in the depths of time. And he continues: "The Free Besieged of Cyprus, armed with chariots, not very different from the rifles and pistols of the Guard, standing at the posture of the race, restore Messolonghi to the armies of the East...".
Loukis Akritas, a son of the small town of Morphou, after completing his secondary school studies, served as a teacher in Morphou, in the Prashtion of Kellaki and in Syncrasia. His love for Greece and his need for spiritual and national freedom lead him to take a great leap. In the summer of 1930 he left Cyprus with two letters of recommendation and with his dreams of participating in Greek life. He soon managed to associate his name with the national, intellectual and political centre of Hellenism.
Despite the difficulties, it did not take him long to distinguish himself in various fields. At first he won journalism with his pen, and subsequently excelled as a writer and author. Unknown until that time, he won his own place in the generation of the 1930s, which left a deep mark on modern Greek literature.
The Albanian war finds him a fighting soldier in the mountains. His experiences on the front will be recorded in his novel "Armoured", one of the best literary contributions to the period of the war.
During the occupation, he is in the resistance, leading a group of journalists and intellectuals. Later he had the honour of being a member of the tripartite "Liberation" committee, representing the government of George Papandreou in Greece. In the meantime he published his own illegal resistance newspaper 'Daily News', which continued to be published after the liberation of Greece.
The war, the occupation, and then the civil war, were the yeast that swelled and further shaped his attitude, his ideology, and his orientations. After liberation, Loukis was not just the editor of a newspaper, nor just a shareholder at certain moments in the history of Greece. Through all his activities he formed his unique, militant, political and intellectual personality and emerged as a fighter and leader. And while in the past he rejected proposals to get involved in politics, he decided to serve the country through the power and the platform that politics can contribute.
In September 1951, he was elected the first deputy of Athens, proving that the people knew and recognized his work. As an MP he was the first to put forward the demand for the self-determination of Cyprus, and the first to raise the Cyprus problem at the United Nations. The Cyprus problem was one of the issues that preoccupied him and he often raised it in all his capacities.
After the intercommunal riots of 1963, he rushed to Cyprus to witness first-hand the struggle of his compatriots and to convey the messages of Greece's support to the National Archbishop Makarios and the Cypriot people. In 1964, now appointed by Georgios Papandreou as Minister of Education, he fulfilled his old ambitions to dedicate himself to Greek education and the spiritual revival of the nation, and made breakthroughs and reforms.
This was Loukis Akritas: the teacher, the writer, the politician and the true patriot from Morphou, who passed away very early in 1965 at the age of 57, depriving Cyprus and Greece of an ardent fighter, a great intellectual and thinker. The child from Morphou who knew what Hellenism meant and always spoke with only a sense of national responsibility.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The occupied town of Morphou, until its occupation in 1974, was a breeding ground for people of education, art and culture such as Loukis Akritas. Worthy scavengers of the cultural, educational and social life of the town were also the past Mayors and Municipal Councillors of Morphou, whose memorial service is being held today. The late Ioannis Kyriakides, Kostis Georgiades, Joseph Chimonides, Eratosthenes Ierides, Polycarp Nicolopoulos, Polycleitos Iakovides, Andreas Charalambous, Christakis Christofides, Andis Pantelides, Andreas Frydas and Charalambos Pittas, who with the tireless support of the members of the Municipal Councils created a tradition of which the citizens of the town have the right to be proud. Who preserved the enviable cultural character even afterwards, in the difficult times of refugeeism.
Ladies and gentlemen,
What defines our mission is to preserve what the centuries and the history of Morfu of yesterday and today have bequeathed to us. This is how we honor Loukis Akritas, the Mayors and Councillors: by keeping hope and the fight alive to see the small town of Morphou and our occupied land again.
Representing the Government and the President of the Republic, I wish to convey that, feeling the weight of our historical responsibility, we are proceeding with the reunification of our homeland as our main objective, exhausting every effort in this direction. We are entering a new period for the Cyprus problem with a sincere political will to make a constructive contribution, including by taking other initiatives, in order to create the conditions for the immediate resumption of negotiations for a settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions and the principles and acquis of the European Union.
The recent decision to appoint a UN Secretariat envoy to Cyprus, following the persistent efforts of the President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides, leaves room for hope that there will be a constructive and productive discussion, which will create the conditions for the resumption of the talks from where they left off in 2017 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
This is seen under the circumstances and the difficulties that existed on the national issue - due to the prolonged stalemate - as a very positive development. The hope is that this will create the climate for the resumption of a meaningful dialogue with the sole objective of a viable, final settlement of the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, with political equality aligned with European principles and values.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The vindication of our struggle for freedom will be the best memorial for the late Loukis Akritas and all the former Mayors and Councillors of beloved Morphos. It is our eternal wish that their next memorial service will be held in a free land.
Eternal be their memory and the gratitude of all of us for their contribution.
(EFYs/NZ/AF)
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