Tonight we celebrate with emotion and national pride our two great national anniversaries, the 25th of March 1821 and the 1st of April 1955. We honour the heroic figures of the 21st and the 55th, who with their struggle and sacrifice for the freedom of their homeland, wrote pages of glory and greatness and left us models of virtue and dignity.
More than 200 years later, the whole of Hellenism from all corners of the world once again addresses with gratitude, emotion and respect the two glorious "Hail": the "Hail, O Hail Mary!" to the Most Holy Virgin Mary, whose Annunciation heralded the salvation of man, and the "Hail, O Hail Liberty" for the redemption of the enslaved Rajahs from the Turkish yoke.
The Greek Revolution was magnificent, both within and without its borders, on the one hand because it marked the overthrow of Ottoman rule and on the other hand because it inspired and awakened the peoples of Europe, who were dominated by the authoritarian doctrine of the Holy Alliance.
With almost non-existent means and without outside help, the Greeks proclaimed to all mankind that they were determined to live free or die, defying logic and numbers and proclaiming with the splendour of a holy madness that freedom is not the birth of calculation but of unshakable faith.
400 years of slavery, cruel oppression, violence and persecution preceded. The massacres, Islamisation, the massacre of children, the unbearable taxes, the cruelties and humiliations suffered by the enslaved Greeks from the fall of Constantinople onwards, led to the collective decision for a national uprising.
The national liberation sermons of the "Great Teachers of the Nation" created national consciousness, while the support and blessings of the Church, which was the true ark of Hellenism, kept intact the identity, orientation and moral forces that led to the uprising of 1821.
That spring, the few and powerless Rajahs took on the mighty Ottoman Empire. They raised the banner of the Revolution, shouted "Freedom or Death" and wrote with hardship, hunger, sacrifice and rivers of blood the beginning of the history of modern Greece.
"And if we are few in the crowd of Braim," observes General Makriyannis, "we console ourselves in one way, that our fate has always kept the Greeks few. That beginning and end, of old and up to now, all the Thermians fight to eat us and cannot. They eat of us and there's yeast left. And when the few decide to die, few lose and many gain."
[/P]It was in this spirit that the fighters of the '21 moved. Kolokotronis, whose every word was an apothegm and every act a heroism, was sure that Greece would be free, since "God has signed its freedom and does not take back his signature."
This certainty gave wings to the chieftains of the Peloponnese and their successes in the first years - Tripoli, Valtetzi, Dervenakia - solidified the Revolution. Papaflessas, who has Maniaki to recount his bravery, admired by Ibrahim himself, Miaoulis and Kanaris with their bursts, which wreaked havoc on the enemy fleet, and Karaiskakis with his wise pledge "I am dying, but you must be single-minded and keep the homeland".
In the same spirit stand out female figures, such as Manto Mavrogenous, Bouboulina, Javelaina, who gave their heroic presence to the great calling and glorified the country that gave them birth.
Despised rayads, named and unnamed, conquer their human nature and write history, such as that written in Messolonghi. The power of the enemy is stone, but their will is rock, as our national poet, Dionysios Solomos, says of the Free Besieged of Mesolonghi.
And as long as the Greeks were single-minded, the miracle worked. But when discord appeared, the Revolution ran a grave risk of failure, so that the poet warned that "if they are hated among themselves, they should not be free".
It is a timeless message, which Greeks ought not to forget, since discord, according to the poet, "spoils the laurels" of success.
The Greeks of Cyprus could not be absent from the struggle of the National Regeneration. Archbishop Cyprian, committed to fighting "for faith and country", early on embraced the revolutionary preaching of the Society of Friends and joined it. Realizing, however, that any attempt for armed action by the Cypriots on the island would lead to failure due to peculiar conditions and wanting to protect his flock from dangerous adventures, he undertook to assist the struggle by sending money and food. Moreover, hundreds of Cypriots voluntarily participated in the Greek Revolution, fighting and some of them dying on the battlefields. In fact, the Cypriots, members of the Cypriot Holy Company who took part in the Greek Revolution had their own banner, which bore the touching inscription.
But the blood tax paid by the Greeks of Cyprus was also heavy, since the Turkish conquerors hanged their Archbishop in the well-known events of July 9, 1821, and in the well-known events of July 9, 1821, executed the Bishops of Pafos, Kition and Kyrenia and exterminated many other clergymen, primates and ordinary citizens.
Tonight, we commemorate another bright milestone in modern Greek history, the epic of 1955-59. A symbol of admirable heroism and moral greatness, which will always be a clear source of national resurrection.
The same principles and values of ancient ancestors who stood to guard Thermopylae, proclaiming to the enemy "Molon Lave" inspired the Greek Revolution and our own liberation struggle, which can be seen as an extension of the great uprising of the 21st century.
The same principles and values of ancient ancestors who stood to guard Thermopylae, proclaiming to the enemy "Molon Lave" inspired the Greek Revolution and our own liberation struggle, which can be seen as an extension of the great uprising of the 21st century.
Common were the motives that drove the fighters to acts of heroism and self-sacrifice, the love for freedom and the preservation of the dignity of the Greek. Common is the realization that Freedom is not offered by foreigners, but is conquered by the will and struggles of the people.
When Cypriot Hellenism understood that it had no choice but to stand up and claim its rights, it threw itself decisively into the armed struggle to throw off the English yoke. The brave Cypriot soul dared to take on a mighty empire. Her dream and secret desire was freedom, self-determination and union with Greece.
To the call of the fatherland, with the blessings of the political leader of the Struggle, Archbishop Makarios and the proclamations of Stratilates Digenes, young and old, girls in their school uniforms and women who knew only their homes or worked the land with their husbands, ran with enthusiasm and declared themselves present.
They took the EOKA oath and fought in the mountains, in the villages and in the towns, were imprisoned, confined in detention houses without trial, were burnt to death, hanged, singing the hymn to freedom.
The English conquerors used violence and horrible torture to break the spirit of the fighters and the Cypriot people, but they did not succeed. They offered large monetary rewards and put bounties on fighters, but even these measures proved ineffective in suppressing the Struggle.
Kyriakos Matsis' reply to Governor Harting "we do not fight for money, but for virtue", when he offered him an inestimable amount of money to provide information about EOKA, expresses exactly how the freedom fighters saw the Struggle.
Studying the action, behaviour and ethics of our heroes, we conclude that they managed to transcend human nature with all its weaknesses, to rise above common standards and voluntarily reach the sacrifice of their lives. We remember them all and we honour them.
We honour Gregory Afxentius, who alone fought the English from his hideout for ten hours and, although he knew he would die, he did not surrender. He became a burnt offering and taught the fighters not only how to fight, but also how to die.
We honour Kyriakos Matsis, who, when betrayed in his hideout and asked by the conquerors to surrender, refused, stating that if he came out, he would come out shooting.
We honour the four heroes of Liopetri, whose burnt offering turned a humble barn into a pilgrimage of freedom.
We do not forget the countless known and unknown freedom fighters, clergy and laity, students and schoolgirls, teachers, women, farmers and generally all the ordinary people, who supported the Struggle for four years, knowing that life is glorified only in conditions of freedom.
We honour the nine heroes, Panagidis, Koutsofta, Mavrommatis, Karoli, Zakos, Demetriou, Michael, Patatsos, Pallikaridis, who were led to the gallows, singing the hymn to freedom and sanctified it with their sacrifice, while their imprisoned tombs became an altar of freedom and the holy of holies of the liberation struggle.
Among the heroic martyrs of Anchoni, two emblematic figures of your fellow countrymen, who served their country with all the strength of their souls and who cultivated an exemplary and close friendship between them, which is proven in all aspects of their lives and especially in at least two cases where Michael Koutsoftas despised death in order to save his friend and fellow fighter Andreas Panagidis.
Two adamantine characters, modest, peaceful and hard-working children, who surprised and humiliated the English conquerors with their courage and their unexpected levity.
Their longing for freedom left its sacred traces loud and clear in the writings and last words of those on death row, who faced the hangman's noose of the conqueror with unearthly calm and serenity. Andreas Panagidis writes to his brother: "We await the day of execution as the Holy Hour of Freedom. We sweeten the pain and the tears. These dark cells, which were once cells of horror and terror, are now cells of shining joy and pride."
While in another letter, addressed to his brother-in-law, he stresses the inexorable decision of the judges: "Although we are in a difficult situation, once again our miraculous Christ gives us hope and courage. For me, sadness has no place. But I pity my poor parents and my little children. We do not ask for charity. We asked for justice, but sadly, we did not. Let us accept this fatal blow with our heads held high."
Similarly, his biblical friend and co-conspirator Michael Koutsoftas writes: "Courage and composure be assured that we shall never lack them. They can only take our corpse. Our soul belongs to God and our name to you. God alone is responsible for our salvation." And in his last farewell he says: "... I am not sorry because I will be executed in the name of Freedom... There is no reason to be sorry now that I am dying for the sake of a high ideal." And addressing his mother he resolutely declares, "Mother, if you are a Greek, don't cry for me, your son is not for crying..."
The Greeks of every land, proud of their heroic children, remember and honour them with unlimited respect and gratitude. Paleometocho, as a heroic community, brings out its own figures, who undoubtedly constitute models and worthy examples to be emulated.
The monument with the busts of the two heroes in a prominent position in the village square and the naming of the Paleometochos High School, which bears the seal of their immortality, suggest to all of us and especially to young children an indestructible moral code of values, faith, high mental attitude and fighting spirit, which should characterize the course of each of us in life.
Greeks,
The Revolution of 1821 and the Struggle of 1955 have common characteristics, among which are the love for freedom, the struggle to shake off the foreign yoke, selflessness, the setting aside of any personal interest for the sake of the common good, the readiness for any sacrifice. Above all, however, they had great faith in God, whose presence they felt in every trial. In Christ and the Virgin Mary they placed their hopes to draw strength and courage and to continue undaunted. The spirit, ethos and virtue of the fighters remain alive in history, inspiring and guiding. We feel weighed down by the sacrifices of our heroes and our people. It is our duty to continue the struggle for the freedom and prosperity of our country.
The Government has never ceased to seek the resumption of negotiations and dialogue in order to achieve a just and viable solution to our national problem.
The substantial involvement of the EU and the acceptance by all sides that the solution must be based on European Principles and Values, as well as the enhanced geopolitical importance of our country, are factors that can contribute positively to our efforts to reach a proper solution. In addition, the government is forging strategic alliances in various sectors, highlighting the enhanced role that Cyprus can play and the fact that it can be a factor of stability and development in the key region of the Eastern Mediterranean.
Through these targeted actions, as well as our efforts to modernize our state, we seek to ensure the future of our children and future generations in conditions of peace, security, prosperity and progress.
Through these targeted actions, as well as our efforts to modernize our state, we seek to ensure the future of our children and future generations in conditions of peace, security, prosperity and progress. We are determined neither to accept nor to subscribe to the unacceptable positions of the Turkish Cypriot side which defiantly and through various methods claim the two-state solution.
Today, when the clouds of war are spreading across Europe, we unequivocally condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the principles of international law.
Today, when the clouds of war are spreading across Europe, we unequivocally condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity and the principles of international law. The dark images of suffering, loss and destruction that we are witnessing every day, with a new refugee crisis underway in the heart of Europe, with the economic insecurity of war adding to the adverse effects of the pandemic on all of humanity, the message of solidarity and peaceful coexistence is more urgent than ever.
Listening to the messages of the anniversaries we commemorate, we too have a duty to put the interests of our country above personal gains and to move forward with a single-minded approach in order to achieve the goal of a free and reunited homeland. Only in this way will we be worthy of our heroes.
Glory and honor to those who fought, tortured and sacrificed for freedom.
Glory and honor to those who fought, tortured and sacrificed for freedom.
Glory and honor to those who fought, tortured and sacrificed for freedom.
Glory and honor to those who fought, tortured and sacrificed for freedom.
Glory and honor to those who fought, tortured and sacrificed for freedom.
Eternal be the memory of all those who sacrificed themselves in the immortal national struggles of 1821 and 1955-59.
Long live March 25, 1821.
Long live April 1, 1955-59.
Long live April 1, 1955-59.
(PM/NG/IC)
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