-
.
- Ελληνικά
With feelings of deep emotion and national pride, from here, from the Holy Church of Saint Cassianos, we pay with due respect the minimum tribute to the volunteer fighters and police officers on duty who fell fighting in the fight to defend legality and the State, during the period 1963-64.
Today we honour and reflect on the supreme acts of dignity, spiritual greatness and heroic self-sacrifice of the champions of freedom that we commemorate. Today the admirable response of the last emperor of the Byzantine Empire, Constantine Palaiologos, to Muhammad II resounds again in our ears.
"But the city they give you, I am not like the others who dwell in it. The fighters we commemorate today were worthy descendants and successors of Palaiologos, because their decision to serve their country and democracy with faith and devotion, defending the principles, values and ideals of the nation, was conscious and self-willed."
The fighters we commemorate today were worthy descendants and successors of Palaiologos, because their decision to serve their country and democracy with faith and devotion, defending the principles, values and ideals of the nation, was conscious and self-willed.
And their service to their country is indeed valuable and great, considering the weight of responsibility and the stakes of living cowardly and surrendered or dying bold and free.
To know that your choice carries the risk of losing your own life, but to remain there on the front line to guard Thermopylae.
To remain there to defend to the end the sacred and sacred of the homeland and Hellenism.
To remain there, to resist slavery and enslavement, doing what for many seems unorthodox, absurd and outrageous, but completely self-evident and imperative for the few who participated in Greek education and were brought up embracing the universal human principles, values and ideals of the homeland, humanism, democracy and freedom.
The fallen volunteer fighters and police officers we honour today fought heroically and repelled Turkish barbarism in all its extent.
They placed their duty to their homeland above all else as an end in itself, as the highest priority and supreme duty, watering the tree of freedom of Cyprus with their holy blood.
Today we retrieve from our history the sad memories of the black period 1963-64. The families of our dead and missing, the black-faced parents, widows and orphans, make up the sad record of the death, pain and destruction of that tragic period.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The 1963-1964 period is a dark page in the modern history of Cyprus and a foreshadowing of the devastation that followed.
The smooth functioning of the newly established Cypriot state after independence, which was won through hardship, sacrifice and the sacrifice of the sacred blood of the EOKA fighters on the lauded fields of honour, lasted only three years.
The post-independence period was marked by a premeditated effort by Turkey to foment confrontation and conflict between the two communities. At the political level, the Turkish Cypriots, with Ankara's guidance, used the privileges granted to them under the Zurich-London Agreements to obstruct the legislative work of the Parliament, to challenge and nullify the powers of the President of the Republic and to disrupt the smooth functioning of the then fragile fledgling state of the Republic of Cyprus.
The consequences of the Turkish expansionist planning were the emergence of radical nationalist tendencies and feelings of intolerance among the Turkish Cypriot population, the creation of divisions and conflicts between the two communities, culminating in the secessionist actions of the Turkish Cypriots that led to the events of December 1963.
The unstable situation on the island was exacerbated by the formation of armed organizations and groups in both communities. This development, among other events that took place, led to a bloody conflict between the two communities.
In November 1963, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios, submitted to Vice President Fazil Kuchiuk a document containing 13 points for the revision of the Constitution in order to facilitate the work of the government and the smooth functioning of the State. The document and the changes were immediately rejected by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots without any prior discussion and consultation.
Turkey, however, had already dynamited and poisoned the atmosphere with organized provocations. With the submission of the 13 points, Turkey found an opportunity to open the curtain on the conflict. On the evening of 20-21 December 1963, Nicosia was shaken by the first bloody incidents with the start of intercommunal riots and clashes.
The incidents started rapidly from the capital and developed into generalized armed conflicts and spread to the entire Cypriot territory.
Turkey's dichotomous plans, as a result of our mistakes as well, were now coming to fruition.
The conflicts of 1963 and 1964 led to an extensive population division of the Cypriot people, and gradually evolved, as it turned out, into a well-orchestrated plan aimed at the dissolution of the newly established Republic of Cyprus and the de facto division of the island.
As a result of the sad bloody events, the capital of Cyprus was partitioned with the drawing of the "Green Line". In addition, large numbers of Turkish Cypriots were moved and concentrated in various geographical areas, where they formed compact pure enclaves, into which Greek Cypriots were forbidden to enter, as well as the exercise of control by the legitimate Government.
Typical examples are the large Turkish Cypriot enclave of Kioneli to the north of Nicosia, Lourutcina, Lefka, Muttallou in Paphos, and the Kokkin-Mansoura enclave, which was largely a military outpost of Turkey in Cyprus.
To this bridgehead in the Tilliria area in the first half of 1964, Turkey transferred a significant number of military forces and large quantities of weapons. Subsequently, these Turkish forces proceeded to advance positions in the surrounding area, culminating in the capture of the strategically important "Lorovounos" hill on 9 July.
Moreover, from the rest of the Turkish military actions it became obvious that Ankara was preparing to carry out, initially, a military invasion, followed by the expansion of the Kokkina enclave and its consolidation with that of Lefka and then with that of Nicosia-Kioneli.
The ultimate objective was to control a large geographical area, which would contribute to the achievement of the effort to gradually destabilise and abolish the Cypriot state and eventually partition the island.
In order to deal with the unstable situation and to thwart the expansion of the Kokkinia enclave, the Cypriot State decided to intervene immediately by military means in order to prevent the tragic outcome. On 7 August the State security forces, spearheaded by the newly formed National Guard, carried out a military operation, recapturing the highlands, starting with Lorovouno, forcing the Turks to retreat into the Kokkini enclave.
In this development, Ankara intervened with the use of its air force, ruthlessly bombing National Guard positions and civilians in residential areas from Xeros to Pyrgos, indiscriminately spreading death, devastation and destruction.
The price was a heavy one for the whole of Cyprus, which bore the black price for its dead heroic sons.
Ladies and gentlemen,
After the events of 1963-64, the Cyprus problem entered an extremely difficult and complex phase, since it was now based on very delicate balances. The developments of the '63-'64 and other armed conflicts that followed in the following years were irrefutable evidence of Turkey's expansionist intentions and a bad omen for the future, until the final brutal blow of the 1974 Turkish invasion.
Today, we commemorate the memory of all fallen police officers and volunteer fighters who, with unparalleled heroism and supreme self-denial, fought heroically and sacrificed themselves to protect the independence and integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.
The fallen police officers and the heroic volunteer fighters we commemorate today were called upon to defend legality and participate with bravery and self-denial in operations conducted, among others, in the northern suburbs of Nicosia, Agios Sozomenos, Paphos Gate, Famagusta, Kazivera, Limassol and Agios Theodoros in Larnaca.
They fought with vigour and fell heroically in battle, thus adding their names to the long list of memorable defenders of our homeland.
In measuring the magnitude of their service and sacrifice, we are called upon to consider our own debt to our martyred homeland.
Sensing the weight of historical responsibility towards our heroes and our history, and with their selfless sacrifice as a beacon, with faith, perseverance and determination we declare directly and unequivocally our will to continue the struggle for the liberation and reunification of our homeland.
The President of the Republic, Mr. Nicos Christodoulides, has undertaken a series of initiatives aimed at creating the appropriate conditions for a return to the negotiating table.
Despite the difficulties, challenges and obstacles created by the Turkish side, with unanimity, realism and rationality we must continue to make every possible effort 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 remain steadfastly committed to our goal.
We do not demand anything beyond the obvious.
We demand peace, security, political stability and the guarantee of basic human rights for all citizens of Cyprus.
We demand a better future, a homeland of prosperity and progress for present and future generations.
Bowing our heads reverently before the supreme sacrifice of the heroes we honour today, we declare that with pride and determination we will continue to do what our history demands.
Honour and glory to the fallen police officers and volunteer fighters of 1963-64.
Honour and glory to the heroes of Cyprus.
Eternal will be the memory that will accompany them.
Eternal will be the memory that will accompany them.
Honour and glory to the fallen police officers and volunteer fighters of 1963-64.
Honour and glory to the heroes of Cyprus.
Eternal will be the memory that will accompany them. May our prayers to Panagathos be answered for the discovery of the fate of all our missing.
(ASP/NZ)
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
