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- Ελληνικά
Friends and friends,
We are gathered today in the sacred space of the church of Apostolos Varnavas to honor the hero Christodoulos Arrestis Mazarakis.
Christodoulos Mazarakis was the eldest son of Arrestis and Sophia Mazarakis. He was born on March 8, 1951 in Filousa Polousa Polos Chrysochous. On 20 July 1974, when the Turkish invasion took place, he was one of the first to enlist and presented himself as a reservist to his unit, the 187 Field Artillery Squadron based in Athalassa. On the same day, together with his unit and under orders, they went to Gerolakkos to resist the Turkish invaders. For three twenty-four hours they fought breathlessly even though their ammunition was almost exhausted. On the afternoon of 22 July a truce was ordered and there was a cease-fire. The next day, Christodoulos Mazarakis, following a military order, went with five other reservists to the Athalassa camp to carry ammunition to the airport area.
After the six reservists carried out the military order, the Turkish invaders ambushed them on their return. According to testimony, our reserve soldiers, although wounded, got out of the Land Rover and took up battle positions. The Turkish invaders continued to mercilessly beat the six soldiers for more than an hour. Our soldiers, although wounded, fought tooth and nail, without cover, without any help. Unfortunately, by the time reinforcements arrived, our reservists were already dead.
Christodoulos' body was buried in the military cemetery of Lakatamia without his family's knowledge. It was identified in 2000 using the DNA method and was buried with the proper honours in his native land, Mesogi.
Christodoulos, apart from his family, abandoned his fiancée Tasoula, who was carrying their daughter Eliada, whom unfortunately Christodoulos never met.
Dear ones,
Through the condemnation of the unfortunate anniversaries of 1974, memories and pain are revived every year on these days. Fifty unbearable years that have kept our country crippled by the violence of Turkish arms. They find it still remaining, as one of the blackest exceptions to international law and legitimacy.
The months of July and August are marked in our memory and in our hearts as the black months of Cypriot history. Months marked by pain, death and refugeeism.
These days the whole of Cyprus is in mourning. It mourns for the untimely loss of its young children, for the missing persons, for the refugees, but on the other hand it remembers and honours its heroes such as Christodoulos Mazarakis, who ran with self-denial to defend it from Attila's attacks. The young people who, unarmed and unarmed, tried to prevent the destruction. And who, like modern Leonids, did not coward or desert even when all seemed to be betrayed, remained there. For as the ancient Greek poet Theognis said, "Nothing is better than another fatherland". There is nothing more beloved than the homeland.
We therefore reverently bow our heads to those who remained faithful to the ideals and values of our race, watering with their blood the soil of our martyred homeland. The debt for us is heavy. Indebted to the sacrifice of our heroes, we cannot afford to give up our efforts to liberate our homeland. Therefore, with determination, with solidarity and unanimity, realising our historical and moral responsibility to honour, not only in word but especially in deed, the struggles and sacrifices of our heroes, we are ready to continue the struggle for the defence of the Republic of Cyprus, the full determination of the fate of each and every missing person and the finding of a just, viable and, above all, functional solution to the Cyprus problem, which will ensure the reunification of the country and the full independence and sovereignty of our homeland.
A solution fully compatible with our membership of the European Union and the best practices of the democratic countries of the United Nations, which will create the conditions and circumstances that will allow for lasting peace in our country, far from any foreign dependencies, giving all Cypriots the right to live in security and prosperity.
Since the beginning of President Christodoulides' administration, the main priority remains the promotion of the settlement of the Cyprus problem and the reunification of Cyprus.
This is reflected in all the efforts of the President and the Republic of Cyprus in general in this direction.
Despite the challenges, difficulties and problems we face, we do not accept the occupation, the present state of affairs cannot be the future of our country. We have no choice but to continue the effort to overturn the fait accompli. We are therefore working in this direction with actions, not words, to create the prospects for the resumption of meaningful negotiations aimed at finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, always on the basis of the agreed framework and on the basis of European principles and values. We envision a free homeland, run by its legitimate inhabitants, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians and Latins. We dream of a homeland that offers its inhabitants conditions of security, peace and prosperity.
Dear friends,
Our people are not intimidated, nor do they give up their just struggle. In the face of Turkey's intense challenges, we must remain steadfast in defending the basic principles of the Cyprus settlement. Protect our sovereign rights which are threatened on a daily basis. Our insistence on a just and dignified solution cannot and should not be seen by anyone, neither as an excessive demand, nor as an extreme pursuit and certainly not as a reluctance for a solution.
Guided by the spirit of the sacrifice of our heroes, we steel today our will and determination for the liberation of our homeland. We promise to continue their struggle.
The memorials of our heroes are not only for the repose of their souls. They are also for the uplifting of our own fighting spirit.
May the young blood of Christodoulos, which watered our land on that nightmare day of July 1974, imbue each of us as a historical voice, which will teach and guide each of us.
May God rest his soul.
Eternal be his memory.
(AF/AS)
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