In the historical course of peoples towards their national destiny, there are periods of glory and greatness, which become beacons of national glory.
The 25th of March 1821 and the 1st of April 1955, the anniversary of which we commemorate today, are two historical events that marked the modern Greek history.
The ideals they express, the acts of heroism they encompass and the public spirit they radiate have made both 25 March 1821 and 1 April 1955 milestones in the course of the Greek nation.
There is a close relationship between these two historical events. The Cypriot Liberation Struggle of 1955-59 can only be seen as an extension of that great uprising, the Greek Revolution of 1821, as it was the source of inspiration.
The preaching of King King "better one hour of free life than forty years of slavery and prison" finally found its expression in the spring of 1821. But it was also to find its expression in April 1955, when the decision of the Greeks of Cyprus to throw off the English yoke was nothing but a lie.
That first Spring of March 25 was unique! The impoverished rayads, the simple and humble people, who had suffered for years, mingled with the thieves and the armadillos, who were the "yeast of freedom", according to Makriyannis, and all together, landlubbers and islanders, razophores like Papaflesas and Diakos and laymen unafraid like Kolokotronis and Karaiskakis, Kanaris and Miaoulis, and so many other named and unnamed, are again writing glorious pages.
One hundred and thirty-four years later, history is repeating itself in Cyprus. There were many similarities between these two struggles.
What was also common was their purpose and character.
Similarly, the motives that drove the fighters to acts of heroism and self-sacrifice: The love of freedom and the preservation of the dignity of the Greek, but also the realization that the freedom of peoples is not offered but conquered by the will and struggles of the people themselves.
Cyprus and Greece were inextricably bound in the chariot of the struggle for freedom.
The Greek Revolution has its impact on Cyprus, which due to its short distance from Turkey cannot contribute as much as it would like to this national uprising.
The historical conditions prevailing in 1820 had changed considerably by 1955. Cyprus was now ruled by a European people who had fought in the two world wars for the freedom of peoples and democratic ideals. The international climate after the Second World War favoured the liberation of the colonies.
English politicians identified the interests of their country with the perpetuation of colonialism. An example of this mentality was the infamous "Never" with which Hopkinson responded on behalf of the British Government to the calls of the Ethnarchy to apply the principle of self-determination of peoples in the case of Cyprus.
The British policy forced the leadership of the Cypriot Hellenism to replace the policy of waiting with that of a dynamic struggle and to rely exclusively on its own forces, repeating history.
As in the Greek Revolution of 1821, so in the liberation struggle of EOKA in 1955, David and Goliath are confronted.
This incredible power is encapsulated by the popular fighter Makriyannis, discussing with Derigny, the French admiral shortly before the Battle of the Mills, warning that the enemy is numerous and with obvious superiority:
"...The positions and we are impossible. But mighty is the God who protects us, and we will show our fortune in these impossible positions. And if we are few in the crowd of Braim, we console ourselves in a way, that our fate has the Greeks always few."
This is the fate we followed in Cyprus.
That night on the night of March 31 to April 1, 55, the first explosions that were heard were nothing but a blatant protest of a people against the injustice done to them and the shame and contempt in which they had been held for centuries by their various oppressors.
For four whole years Cypriot Hellenism, "drunk with the immortal wine of 21", lived in an atmosphere of heroism, self-sacrifice and spiritual exaltation.
Scenes of valour and manliness, scenes reminiscent of Alamana, the Hani of Gravia and Maniaki, reappeared in Machairas, Dikomo and Liopetri, while the gallows and the Prisoner's Memorials were consecrated by the sacrifice of heroic braves and became an altar of freedom, the holy of holies of the liberation struggle.
The Cross Eagle of Machaera, Grigoris Afxentiou becomes a fiery lava in the mountains of Machaera, and a bright star for generations to come.
The love for Freedom has no equal. This will be expressed through his poetry by the heroic student from Tsada in Paphos, the poet of freedom, Evagoras Pallikaridis, as "he will take an uphill, he will take paths to find the steps that lead to Freedom", the student who wished to be the last to be led to the gallows, a wish that inevitably came true.
The historical events that followed the epic of 55-59 are well known. The interests of the powerful, although they could not in the least diminish the moral value of the Cypriot liberation struggle, succeeded in preventing the achievement of the basic goal, which was self-determination and union with Greece, and led to the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. The spirit of struggle, the ethos and virtue of the fighters remain alive in history, inspiring and guiding.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The national anniversaries we celebrate today are not only opportunities to remember and pay tribute to our heroic dead. They are also means of education, they are the free and open schools of history for all the people. The teachers in these schools are the heroes themselves.
We remember and honour them today as is fitting. Those who resurrected the servile race and with their sacrifices wrote the epic of 21, but also the generation that gave us the heroes of the gallows, those who fought on the marble threshing floors "never moved by debt" and all the others who left the security of a quiet life, confronted death and wrote one of the most glorious pages of our modern history.
Today our country is still under the burden of the Turkish occupation. The Government is seeking to create the conditions for the resumption of negotiations in order to achieve a just and viable solution to our national problem, ensuring the historical continuity of our people in the land of their ancestors.
Despite the fact that Turkey is constantly and under various pretexts averting the prospect of dialogue, we, as the President of the Republic has repeatedly declared, are ready at any time to engage with all our goodwill in the negotiating process as defined by the UN Secretary-General.
The Government is making targeted efforts so that the substantial involvement of the EU, the acceptance by all sides that the solution must be based on European Principles and Values, as well as the upgraded geopolitical importance of our country, will be factors that will contribute positively to our efforts to reach a proper solution. We want to highlight the important role that Cyprus can play and the fact that it can be a factor of stability and development in the sensitive and conflict-ridden wider region.
Through these efforts, as well as our efforts to modernize our state and exit from the economic adventures of recent years, we seek to ensure the future of our children and future generations in conditions of peace, security, prosperity and progress.
