"With God's help, with faith in our honest struggle, with the support of all Hellenism and with the help of the Cypriots, we undertake the struggle to throw off the English yoke, with the motto which our ancestors bequeathed to us as a sacred legacy, "EITHER THAN OR BEHIND YOU".", wrote the Leader of the Struggle George Grivas Digenis in his proclamation.
It is with great pride that we commemorate today the glorious anniversary of April 1, 1955, when the entire Cypriot people rose up and took the fate of their homeland into their own hands.
68 years ago, on April 1, the die was cast for the national liberation struggle by the British occupier. A glorious page in bloody letters was written in the modern history of our homeland with the sacrifices of our compatriots.
For more than 72 years, the Hellenism of Cyprus was under the boot of the conqueror and British colonialism. The efforts for the peaceful liberation of our island and the demands of the Cypriots to Britain lasted for years.
In the 1950s, the claim of the overwhelming majority of the Cypriot people, through the January 1950 referendum for the union of Cyprus with Greece, was pushed aside.
Every effort in the years that followed fell on deaf ears until the infamous statement by the then British Colonial Secretary of State Henry Hopkinson who stated that: "There are certain territories in the Commonwealth which, because of the peculiar circumstances in which they find themselves, can NEVER be expected to achieve full independence."
The uprising of the Cypriot people, who had for years been under the oppression, tyranny and contempt of the colonialists, was now about to be transformed into a heroic resistance to throw off the English yoke.
With the establishment of the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters, under the leadership of Chief George Grivas Digenis and the blessings of Archbishop Makarios, the popular demand for the self-determination of Cyprus takes shape.
The fighters of EOKA, knowing the big monster they had to face, since the balance of forces was clearly against them, with all the mental reserves they had, with high spirit and with their eyes fixed on the sacred goal of the Struggle, they gave the utmost of their strength, sacrificing everything for the supreme good of freedom.
People from all walks of life, children, students, priests, farmers, men and women from every corner of the island rallied and selflessly offered their services and whatever was asked of them to help in the effort of this great struggle.
"The struggle will be hard"
The years that followed were difficult. People were imprisoned and tortured, and dozens sacrificed their own lives on the altar of freedom. We never forget our heroic dead, whose names have been indelibly inscribed in the golden deltas of history.
"We do not fight for money, but for virtue", the fighter Kyriakos Matsis replied to the English governor Harting when, during his interrogation, he gave him a large sum of money in exchange for information about EOKA.
And this was the spirit among the fighters. Rather than betray your country, it is better to die for it.
Writes the great Cypriot poet Kostas Montis in one of his poems: "It is fortunate that blood does not take instructions from the mind, it is fortunate that it only has to do with the heart, that the heart drives it, because who knows what stinginess it would make us, what calculations in the most crucial moments when we should definitely paint the asphalt red, when we should definitely splash the walls red", praising in his own special way the magnificent sacrifices of the young children who watered the soil of our homeland with their blood.
The liberation from the mighty empire and the breath of the age-old desire for self-determination permeated every Greek soul and nothing could stand in the way of achieving the sacred purpose of EOKA.
The great protagonists of this brilliant march were our young people, who fought with self-sacrifice in the mountains, with the few supplies they possessed, but with the sweet "madness" in their hearts that the struggle would end when the homeland was finally freed from the English yoke.
Children full of heroism, and a desire for freedom so strong that it was able to bend the hardest granite of the English occupation, carving on it the historical destiny of our Cyprus.
"I will take an uphill, I will take paths to find the stairs that lead to freedom".
Evagoras Pallicarides, when asked by the English soldiers who arrested him if he wanted to defend himself to escape the death sentence, he replied "I know you will hang me, but what I did I did for Freedom."
With full conscience and responsibility these young men gave their lives.
We honour today, Gregory Afxentiou and Kyriakos Matsis, who refused to surrender and come out of their hiding places, becoming burnt offerings for the sake of their homeland.
We honour our nine hanged heroes, whose sacrifice sanctified the name of freedom.
We honour Pitta, Karyos, Samaras and Papakyriakou, the great heroes of Liopetri, who with their holocausts made the barn a temple of Freedom.
They built with their blood and sacrifices all over Cyprus, altars of Freedom and new temples of pilgrimage that we must not forget.
Today we honour the youngest hero of the struggle, 7-year-old Dimitrakis Dimitriades from Larnaca, who was killed by the British fire during the student demonstration.
So many other heroes, known and unknown, that we have a duty to praise.
With her own contribution, the heroic Xylotymbou woman joined and transformed the Holy Fire of the struggle by creating another EOKA group within the village. This is joined by Stavros Tsiuppa, Sotiris Alexandrou, Pantelis Karpazitis, Anastasis Christodoulou, Tofias Chrysou and Ioannis Karydis. Their contribution to the struggle and their cooperation with Gregory Afxentios was remarkable.
Compatriots,
The liberation struggle of 55-59 may not have achieved its ultimate goal, liberation from the British Empire and union with Greece, but it did achieve the self-determination of the nation and the creation of the Republic of Cyprus on 1 October 1960.
The events that followed are well known. For 49 years now, our Cyprus is still under occupation with Turkish troops just a breath away from our homes.
Greece and Cyprus today have to deal with intractable issues. This is why it is more necessary than ever for these two countries to continue on their common path.
Cooperation with Greece and the European Union in finding a just and viable solution to the Cyprus problem has always been essential. Today it is as necessary as ever. Almost half a century later, the time has come to reunite our homeland.
With our eyes fixed on the enslaved Kyrenia, Morphou, Apostolos Andreas, Karavas and Lapithos, with our thoughts on the families of the missing, the difficult lives of our stranded and the difficult road we have to travel to achieve another liberation, we must remain loyal and united.
Good matches!
Thank you!
(MB)
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