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It is with deep emotion that we hold today the annual memorial service for the Kythreans who lost their lives during the Turkish invasion of 1974 and put their debt to their homeland above all else, as an end in itself and a top priority. At the same time, we pray for the determination of the fate of all our missing persons and the return of all refugees to the lands that nurtured them.
It is a fact that the wider Kythrea region is one of the areas that has been hardest hit by the Turkish invasion, one of the most devastated and blackened, with the most dead and missing in proportion to the population.
Allow me, before and above all, to address the relatives of these people and thank them for the trust and honour of giving me a platform to speak on such an important day for them.
We commemorate the bravery, the daring, the self-sacrifice of those who defended the freedom of our homeland. We keep them in our thoughts and strive unceasingly to do justice to their struggle and sacrifice.
Memory brings us back to that summer of misfortune and suffering. Forty-nine years later, with thousands of refugees in their own country, we are still counting wounds, holding funerals for the missing and experiencing the consequences of the occupation. Our churches remain mute and inoperative, our land is overrun by settlers, the graves of our ancestors have been desecrated, our cultural heritage is in danger of total destruction and the sacrifices of our brave men and women remain unjustified. That is why it is the top obligation of all of us to keep alive the memory of their sacrifice and to pay tribute to those who fought or fell heroically in obedience to the command of the homeland at this critical time. We do not forget that the heroic children of our homeland fought and gave what was most precious to them, their lives, defending our land, our sacred and holy places, continuing a centuries-old tradition.
We bow to their sacrifice and express our appreciation and respect to the families and especially to the parents, who raised children with principles and ideals.
Forty-nine years later, the Cypriot people do not forget. The desire to return remains unquenchable despite the passage of time and proud Cypriots keep the memory of the city and its people unquenched. But we do not give up, we do not compromise with the occupation, nor do we accept the fait accompli. Our unchanging goal remains the resolution of the Cyprus problem, which will lead to the reunification of our island. The President of the Republic of Cyprus is working on the prospect of resuming the talks, working to achieve developments that will turn the European citizens of Cyprus into first-class citizens who will not be deprived of basic human rights and basic freedoms in their own country.
Our vision is for Cyprus to become a place of peace, prosperity, stability and security, offering protection and equal prospects for prosperity to all its legitimate inhabitants, making it a reliable partner for Europe in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Our homeland has never lacked trials, pain and bitterness. For countless years and centuries we have paid a heavy price for our history and geographical location. But it is equally true that in this land we have never stopped fighting for our historical continuity. We have never ceased to believe that we can, with prudence, perseverance and patience, recreate conditions for the reunification of our homeland and the peaceful coexistence of all its legitimate inhabitants.
Dear fellow citizens,
We continue our sincere and intensive efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, to ensure a better future for our children, to live in normal conditions of peace and security, to lay better foundations for prosperity.
We continue our sincere and intensive efforts for the resolution of the Cyprus problem, to ensure a better future for our children, to live in normal conditions of peace and security, to lay better foundations for prosperity. So that we can co-exist and co-create with all the legitimate inhabitants of this land. We owe it to our land. We owe it to future generations, but above all, we owe it to all those who lost their lives in those days and to those whose fate is still unknown.
In this difficult but redemptive course we will be accompanied from the Pantheon of Heroes by all the Cypriots and all the other heroes of the Cypriot tragedy of 74 who gave their lives for their homeland waiting for freedom, for which they fought and fell heroically. We bow to all of them today as a minimum tribute for their contribution to the homeland.
Their memory is eternal.
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