It is really with special feelings of emotion that we pay today the minimum due tribute to the members and athletes of the Gymnastics Club "EVAGORAS" Famagusta who took part in the respective games of our homeland, especially to those who were sacrificed or are still missing. At the same time we pay due tribute to the fallen young people, but also to those who are still missing.
To those who took part in the struggles for the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, but also for ensuring its freedom and territorial integrity during the barbaric Turkish invasion.
The Gymnastics Club "EYAGORAS" Famagusta Gymnastic Association of Famagusta, having as a beacon its founding goals, in addition to sports, has over time focused its activities on the preservation of the Greek-Christian ideals, the national origin, but also the promotion of the cultural heritage and the rich spiritual wealth of the Famagusta people.
We had the opportunity to listen to a brief review of what the GAE, its President, members, athletes, coaches contributed to the respective games, as very vividly described by the President of the GAE.
It is no coincidence that its members, faithful to the principles, values and ancestral ideals of our race, were and are distinguished as a whole by pure patriotism.
A genuine and unfeigned love that led them, placing themselves at the service of their country, to be at the service of our national struggles.
By declaring themselves present at every call of their country, they demonstrated unparalleled mental fortitude and moral greatness, transforming into a nobler act of their lives the vindication and the prosperity of the entire people of Cyprus.
By declaring themselves present at every call of their country, they demonstrated unparalleled mental fortitude and moral greatness, translating into a nobler act of their lives the vindication and the prosperity of the entire people of Cyprus.
In this context, exalting in every struggle the spirit of Cypriot Hellenism, they were transformed throughout time, along with the other fighters, into indelible symbols of virtue, bravery and our national dignity.
This venerable monument, which is an initiative of the Famagusta City Council and the Board of Directors of the Gymnastics Association "EVAGORAS" Famagusta and which was created by the sculptor Filippos Yapanis, with the assistance of the Architect Angelos Savvidis, is the highest expression of respect and gratitude to all those who, with the sacrifice of their lives and their struggle, paved the way to freedom, the foundation and defence of the Republic of Cyprus. To all those who have fallen or are missing, whether Greek Cypriots or Greeks.
A struggle which all of you, the Municipality and the members of the Association continue, being a beacon for the preservation of the memory of occupied Famagusta and the return to our ancestral homes.
A goal that every President of the Republic of Cyprus since the occupation and since then has set as the goal of his political career.
You spoke, my dear Mayor, about the bitterness that distinguishes and possesses the friends of Famagusta. Those who have suffered the consequences of the invasion, those who are refugees, and it is the same bitterness that I want to express myself, because in a few days, leaving the Presidency, the only bitterness I will have to convey is the weakness as a result of Turkish intransigence, to achieve an acceptable solution, a solution that would be workable, viable, that would free us from anachronistic guarantees, interventionist rights, the presence of the occupying army, the transformation of Cyprus through the colonisation of the occupied homeland into a country dependent on Turkey.
I regret that despite the tireless efforts even before the solution to return Famagusta to its legitimate inhabitants, experiencing or in the implementation of resolutions 550 and 789, we unfortunately faced Turkish intransigence.
The worst of all is that Turkey's revisionist aims, with the acquiescence of the international community and many others who play a role in global political events, have not prevented the reversal of what is being recorded on the ground.
What I want to assure you of is that the day will not be long in coming when Turkey's unacceptable behavior will be called upon to pay the price, because if it is not called upon, either Europe or the countries of the region that accept Turkey's overt threats, whether they are called the Aegean islands of Greece or Syria or Iraq or Libya or Armenia, in Nagorno-Karabakh, will pay it again.
Europe accepts one challenge after another. You are following what is happening with the efforts of Finland and Sweden. Watch what is happening with human rights violations in Turkey itself. This cannot continue, and it cannot leave indifferent, as it has left some others in the past, for a war in Europe to be recorded today 70 years later.
I would like, in paying tribute, to say something. As we gaze at the occupied Famagusta, as we gaze at our occupied homeland, we must persevere and we must insist that justice be done, and you can be sure that it will not be long before the time will come when justice will prevail.
(PM/EP)
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