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- Ελληνικά
"Andreios the one who is empty of good death" suggests the leading Greek philosopher of antiquity Aristotle.
Andreios, that is, is the one who does not feel fear before the honored death. He recognizes the danger, but does not hesitate.
Words that in the Leventogene community of Pachna were put into practice.
Words that for decades have emerged through the sacrifice of its heroes, shaping the national spirit of its inhabitants.
The heroes we honour today are all children of Pachna, children of the peasantry, of the daily toil and the daily grind.
Ordinary people, who grew up holding the hexapods in its churches and chapels, who received the holy water of Saint Marina, who as children ran in the vineyards and played in the water mills and threshing floors of the community.
People who, when required, declared themselves thunderously present at the call of their homeland and fought to the end defending the land that gave birth to them.
In front of these people, who, while the fire was burning, measured their boot with Greek courage and the long Greek history, we bow our heads reverently today and lay down crowns of honour and eternal gratitude.
"For the great, for the free, for the brave, for the strong, the words of the great, the free, the brave, the strong are fitting", our poet Nikos Engonopoulos suggests.
People who made proud their families and the place that gave birth to them, raised them and sewed them with the seeds of the Orthodox faith.
People who confirmed the sacred triptych of words spoken by Pericles "The free, the free, the free, the lively".
People whose ethos, as Heraclitus suggests, ultimately determined their behaviour and actions.
And just as "heroes walk in the dark", as Seferis eloquently teaches us, so too they did not expect anything in return, they did not expect their own benefit.
Starting from the unknown, they marched into the unknown, following the dictates of conscience, debt and responsibility towards their fellow man and their country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Panikos Simeou was born in Pachna on September 8, 1936, in the family of Simeon Simeou and Mirianthi Athinakis, with siblings Elli, Andreas and Chrystalla.
After completing his studies at the primary school of the community, he became involved in viticulture.
From a very young age he was actively involved in the community, leading the founding of the New Guild of Pachna and the first football team of the village.
The 1955-59 match found him ready.
The match of 1955-59 found him ready. At the beginning of 1956 he took the oath and joined the EOKA.
He knew deep down that his choice was fraught with risks and that the mission he was undertaking was a potentially impossible feat.
But his determination and faith in the righteousness of the Struggle were unsurpassed.
His determination and belief in the righteousness of the Struggle were unsurpassed.
He took part in the attack on the Pachna police station, in the blowing up of the Episkopi water supply system and in EOKA attacks on Kivides and Kissousa.
Subsequently he joined the guerrilla group of his region. Because of his rich activities he was wanted by the British and in November 1958 he was arrested. He was interrogated and subjected to torture. At dawn on 25 November 1958, and at gunpoint, he was taken to Limassol, in the hope that he would show them a place where the Organisation had concealed weapons.
On 28 October Street, having escaped the attention of the English, he managed to get out of the vehicle. While he was driving away, he was shot dead by the British soldiers and the Turkish auxiliary police officers accompanying him.
His funeral, held that evening, turned into a freedom rally.
His relatives and friends sang the National Anthem and accompanied him, as a hero among heroes, on his path to eternity.
Nikos Sofokleous was born in 1938 in Pachna. He was only 17 years old when, unbeknownst to his large family, he joined EOKA, acting as a member of the Limassol executive. In September 1956, during an operation, he was shot by an English soldier and wounded in the head. After being taken to the Akrotiri hospital, where he was given medical treatment, he was kept under strict observation for about two months. After his recovery he was arrested and interrogated by the British, but without breaking down. A few months later, it was decided to sentence him to death by hanging.
In his cell in the Central Prison, on death row, he had the strong and unshakable conviction that his sacrifice for the freedom of Cyprus was the fulfilment of his sacred duty to his country.
The scaffold of the gallows, a short distance from his cell, did not frighten him.
Finally, by the Queen's decision, the sentence imposed on him was commuted to life imprisonment.
After this development, along with other convicts, he was transferred to prisons in Scotland where he remained until March 1959 and then, after the signing of the Zurich-London Agreements, he was released and exiled to Rhodes until the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus.
During the early years of the newly established Cypriot state, he served in the Cyprus Police Force.
During the first years of the newly established Cypriot state, he served in the Cyprus Police Force. During the intercommunal riots of 1963, he rushed back to take part in the struggle to defend legitimacy.
The thread of his life was ingloriously cut in 1971 in a car accident.
Today we also commemorate Sergeant Commander Eumenios Panayiotou.
Today we also commemorate Sergeant Eumenios Panagiotou. Eumenios was born in 1946, in Pachna. He attended the elementary school of the community and then the Lanitio high school. After completing his secondary education, he joined the National Guard and served his military service in the Commando Forces in the 32nd Squadron.
His morals, courage, determination and impeccable character were the special traits that distinguished him.
He participated in the operations of Kofinou on 15 November 1967 and was the only casualty during the battles fought in the area.
He participated in the operations of Kofinou on 15 November 1967 and was the only casualty during the battles fought in the area. After a fierce battle to capture Hill 124, northwest of Kofinou, he was fatally hit by a Turkish volley. Cheerful and haughty, Eumenios Panayiotou climbed the steps of immortality, and took his place among the fallen defenders of our homeland. In the place of his sacrifice, a monument was erected, dedicated to all the commandos who fell on the battlefields of Cyprus. In his honour, the National Guard Camp in Polemidia bears his name.
During the Turkish invasion, in the black summer of 1974, Kyriakos Stylianou Thoukis also responded in turn to the call of his homeland.
He rushed as a reservist and was present with the other spirited commandos of the 33rd Squadron. Along with those who, knowing full well that they would face the superior forces of the barbarian invader, with unparalleled daring and determination, found themselves fighting in the furnace of war caused by the Turkish invasion.
The National Guard Commando Squadrons were ordered to implement the "Plan LAVIDA". It provided for the occupation of the heights of the Pentadaktylus, which surrounded the Ayrta crossing, in order to destroy the Turkish outposts and prevent the beachhead of the landing forces from connecting with the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Kioneli.
The 33rd Squadron, in the afternoon of 20 July, advanced to the dispersal areas, which were the starting point of the night operation targeting the Petromouthkia, Pavlidis Tower, Gamila and Agios Hilarion heights.
At 11 o'clock at night the operation began. After three hours of stormy fighting, by the morning of the next day, the first two heights had been captured. The next objective was Agios Hilarion, which by the morning hours was in the possession of the brave commandos.
And while everyone expected them to be replaced by infantry units, as was foreseen in the plans, this never happened. The light of the next day found the Rangers defending themselves against the fierce attack of the Turkish invader, now reinforced with special forces units.
When the ammunition level began to drop dangerously and the Turks continued to reinforce with additional forces, the order was given to disengage and return to the dispersal areas.
Fierce fighting and a barrage of fire from the Turks followed.
Fierce fighting and a barrage of fire from the Turks ensued.
When the ammunition level began to drop dangerously and the Turks continued to reinforce with additional forces, the order was given to disengage and return to the dispersal areas.
Fierce fighting and a barrage of fire from the Turks followed. Since then the fate of Kyriakos Stylianos Thoukis was unknown. For almost four decades his family lived with anguish and pain the drama of his absence. Until, thirty-seven years later, within the framework of the exhumation programme of the Missing Persons' Committee, his remains were found in a mass grave in the area of Belapais and, after identification, were given to his relatives to be buried with due honours.
On 17 April 2011, Kyriakos Stylianou Thoukis returned to his hometown and was buried with hero's honours.
On 17 April 2011, Kyriakos Stylianou Thoukis returned to his hometown and was buried with hero's honours.
On 17 April 2011, Kyriakos Stylianou Thoukis returned to his hometown and was buried with hero's honours.
The fifth hero we honor today, Jordan Iordanou, was born in 1940.
Sensing his responsibility and obligation to his family, after the illness and untimely death of his father, he became a second father to his sisters.
Young Jordan, instead of enjoying their youth and carelessness, was forced to carry on his youthful shoulders the burden of the whole family.
As he did in 1963, during the intercommunal conflicts, so in 1974, he was quick to report as a reservist to the 203 Infantry Battalion and serve his country.
In the hell of the battle, which took place during the operation to eliminate a Turkish Cypriot pocket in Limassol, in a unique display of self-denial and self-sacrifice, as he went to help his wounded comrade-in-arms, he fell dead from a bullet that struck him in the head.
His act elevated him to the heavenly heights, placing him deservedly among the heroic defenders of our country.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The monument to the heroes of the community, to which we shall shortly lay wreaths of honour and gratitude, will forever remind us of the magnitude of their service.
From the cloudless heights where they stand, Panicos, Nikos, Eumenios, Kyriakos and Jordan, they look down upon us and expect us to be worthy of their sacrifice.
Let us not limit ourselves to a mere memorial, a mere reminder of their heroism.
To draw the messages and, fully aware of our own debt to history, to do everything possible to achieve our ultimate national goal.
We therefore renew today our pledge to our heroes and our country.
We will not withdraw from the struggle until the holy day of liberation and freedom from Turkish occupation.
We will not withdraw from the struggle until the holy day of liberation and freedom from Turkish occupation.
We will not withdraw from the struggle until the holy day of liberation and freedom from Turkish occupation.
We will not withdraw from the struggle until the holy day of liberation and freedom from Turkish occupation.
Until the day of the reunification of our homeland in conditions of security, freedom and peace for all legal inhabitants of the island.
It is towards this direction that the President of the Republic, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, is working systematically and tirelessly.
It is towards this direction that we must turn with unanimity and a sense of responsibility.
With solidarity, realism and rationality, we must respond to the current challenges in order to achieve the removal of the prolonged deadlock and through the process of talks to reach the longed-for solution to the Cyprus problem.
We will not compromise with the distorted state of affairs that exists.
It is not the future we want for our country.
It is not the future we want for our country. The future for our children.
The overthrow of the unacceptable status quo and the liberation of our homeland is our unfulfilled debt to the heroes we commemorate today and to all those who perished in the struggle for freedom.
Honor and glory to the heroes of the Pahna community. Honor and glory to the heroes of Cyprus.
Eternal will be the glory that accompanies them.
(AF/KK/MS)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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