Plenary Session - 30 March 2023
Dear colleagues,
It was the morning of 1 April 1955, when the Cypriot people were beginning their armed struggle to throw off the British yoke and unite Cyprus with Greece. During the four years of struggle, the overwhelming forces of the English conquerors were confronted by the people of the breadline, young men and women, students who were initiated into the ranks of EOKA, taking a sacred oath to take up the struggle with the help of God and the support of the whole of Hellenism.
The Cypriot fighters fought an honest struggle with frontal battles, with bomb attacks against government targets, with sabotage and guerrilla warfare, watering with their blood the tree of freedom and writing one of the brightest pages of modern Cypriot history. Their philanthropy and selfless sacrifice led to the liberation of Cyprus from colonial shackles and the declaration, a year later, of our country's independence.
Our heroes, armed with unparalleled fighting spirit, courage and magnanimity and, drunk with the immortal wine of '21, took the uphill climb to find the steps that lead to freedom. Nine almost amused young men led with high spirits to the scaffold of the gallows singing the national anthem. "My joy is great, for my ordeal is soon to end. It is true that I have experienced many difficulties and sorrows on the uphill road of Calvary. But behold, now resurrection approaches. My soul longs to climb to the top and breathe the fresh air of freedom", the hero Jacob Patatsos had expressed, among other things, in a letter to his cousin, just a few days before his hanging.
The heroes and heroines of the national liberation struggle of 1955-1959 with their struggle and sacrifice inspired countless verses of Greek and foreign poets, but also spiritual people in general, bequeathing to us and future generations a valuable national legacy, to illuminate and guide our own path to freedom.
As the House of Representatives, we must continue with the same unrelenting passion to strive for the reunification of our country on the basis of a solution based on international law and European principles and values. This is our historical duty towards the heroes of all the struggles of our country.
I call upon you to observe a one-minute silence in memory of our heroes.
(Text as sent by the House of Representatives)
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