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"All our homeland! And this and that, and something we have in our hearts that shines innocent as a sunbeam and screams within us: Forward, children!"
The same moral imperative that the lyrics of the poem by the poet Ioannis Polemis, winner of the Prize of Letters, command us, the same fervent exhortation and unceasing desire for freedom and justice motivated the spirited men we commemorate today to fight with faith and self-denial for the defense of our long-suffering homeland.
Your Eminence,
Ladies and Gentlemen representatives of parliamentary parties,
Mayors,
Mr. representative of the Chief of the National Guard,
Mr. representative of the Cyprus Police,
Gentlemen representatives of unions and organizations
Distinguished families of the fallen and missing,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is with feelings of respect that we are here today to pay, as our national duty demands, the minimum due tribute to the heroic fallen of the 256th Infantry Battalion.
To keep their memory unquenched and unquenched, one by one and all together, and to renew our pledge that we will not turn away from the struggle for the liberation and reunification of our homeland.
With the power of thought we return today back in time, and with immense respect we bow before the heroic figures of the fighters of the Order.
In the betrayed summer of 1974, "as if ready for a long time" they poured themselves into the struggle to defend their native land.
In the struggle in defence of our untamed and unconquered people, despite their disappointment and despair at the turn of events at the time.
Of that people who experienced the fratricidal conflict and the lawless coup of 15 July, which opened wide the door for Attila to invade and spread death, horror and devastation.
Of that people who, from one moment to the next, found themselves displaced from their own land, seeking shelter and mourning their wronged children and grandchildren.
The fighters of the 256th have visibly declared their presence at the call of the homeland. Loyal to duty. Cheerful, brave and courageous, with total dedication to their mission. Defenders to the end of the supreme good of freedom. They were shaped by a love of freedom and justice and were determined to defend them to the end.
These values and ideals were at the core of their upbringing, education and life. These values and ideals guided their actions, steeled their will and guided their struggle. That is why they did not faint in the hour of crisis.
Without a moment's hesitation, without reckoning with their lives and what they were leaving behind, they rose to the occasion and faced mortal danger with courage and determination.
Besides, as our poet Andreas Kalvos submits to us in his Wednesday Ode: Eis Samon,
"Those who feel the copper hand
heavy of fear,
the yoke of bondage, let them have it;
it takes virtue and boldness for freedom [...]"
Ladies and gentlemen,
In 1974 the 256th Infantry Battalion was based at Camp "Markos Dragon" in the area between the villages of Diorios and Agia Irini.
The 1st Company of the Battalion was based in Xeros to man the outposts located in the hills west of the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Lefka and the 2nd Company in the "ruins" area of Pentagia, to man the outposts east of Lefka, Kalo Chorio Lefka, Peristeronari and Kaziveres.
From 20 July he participated in the operations to occupy the Turkish outposts at Lefka, Agolemi, and Elia. In the operations of the first phase of the war the Battalion mourned six of its men who were sacrificed.
During the armistice, the Battalion was ordered, as a reserve of the 11th Tactical Group, to move to the Morfu municipal garden and from there to Asomatos.
The 2nd Company, in the battles of 31 July and 1 August, conducted operations to reinforce friendly detachments in the south-eastern heights of the village of Agridaki, where two more of its fighters were killed.
From 2 August the Battalion, by order, entered the towns of Karavas and Lapithos and the village of Vasileia, with one company in each, in order that, in the survey of the positions on either side by a commission of United Nations officers, the areas in question might be under the control of National Guard forces.
At Lapitho, under the command of the 256th Infantry Battalion, a small section of the 286th Mechanized Infantry Battalion and a squad of four Marmor Harringtons of the 21st Reconnaissance Division were placed. In addition, on 5 August a company of the 70th Engineer Battalion was sent to the area to carry out mine-laying missions.
From first light on 6 August 1974, on the day of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, the Turkish invasion forces, which in the meantime had been reinforced in the previous days by tanks and other mechanized means, launched a fierce attack with their 28th Division against the National Guard forces with the aim of capturing the towns of Karava and Lapithos.
In the deadly battles that followed, events of unparalleled bravery and unmatched heroism were recorded. The warriors of the Battalion successfully repelled the enemy's early morning furious attacks to the east and south, pinning down the Turkish forces east of Karavas.
Few in number, but cool-headed, the fighters of the 256th erected an impenetrable wall to the enemy's furious attacks. They succeeded with their light and largely obsolete weaponry to inflict significant blows and pin him down.
It was nevertheless impossible as time went on not to bend to the superiority of the Turkish invader.
Without reinforcing themselves with other armed detachments, and while their ammunition was running out, under the hot midday sun, the men of the 256th received orders to converge on the line of Vavila - Vasileia, where they were to defend with the support of a company of the Greek Cyprus Force.
In the area of Airkotissa, in the rear of the friendly forces, a Turkish detachment which had in the meantime managed to penetrate and take up battle positions, from a concealed position set up a deadly ambush, causing devastating losses to the Battalion.
The mortar shells that fell in heaps and the pounding from the Turkish machine guns wreaked death and havoc, plunging the area into blood.
Attila's advancing artillery forces entered Karavas and Lapithos on the afternoon of 6 August. In their passage they trapped a large number of National Guard personnel. Some of them, after a shocking fight to the death, managed to escape helplessly and save themselves.
In the epic battles between Karavas and Lapithos, the National Guard suffered extensive losses of personnel. Eighty-six heroic lads, 46 of the 256th Infantry Battalion, 31 diggers of the 70th Engineer Battalion and six fighters of the 286th Mechanized Infantry Battalion fell in combat or are missing.
The remains of some of the missing were located, and after DNA identification they were buried with the proper honors befitting any worthy defender of our homeland.
The Battalion, while mourning the loss of many of its fighters, managed to regroup at its camp in Dioros, and on 14 August, in the second phase of the Turkish invasion, was ordered to move and defend the Panagra area. From there it moved to the area of Evrychou, where it remained until the end of hostilities.
In total, the 256th Infantry Battalion recorded casualties with 58 killed and missing. The names of the five officers, thirteen non-commissioned officers and forty privates are inscribed on the tombstone in the form of an ancient tattoo on the monument erected in their honour.
The paraphrase of the epigraph of the monument to the Battle of Thermopylae inscribed on it, "O xein,[/I]angellein Lakedaemonians[/I]that both in Karabas and in Lapithos we have been persuaded by these verses", reminds us of the magnitude of their bravery and the self-denial they displayed in the fields of honor and sacred duty.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In Cyprus, in the betrayed summer of 1974, there were those who consciously fought bravely to repel the fierce attack of the Turkish invader, to protect their homeland and their families.
There were those who perished in the war, those who bled physically and mentally. Those who, while foreseeing the outcome of events, did not bow their heads, fought and fell fighting.
They fell heroically in a battle that was unjust in advance.
Unjust to our long-suffering homeland and to themselves.
The fallen of the 256th Infantry Battalion were avenged.
The heroic fighters of Cyprus were avenged.
They were avenged, because their heroic stance was covered by the dust of treachery, criminal mistakes, oversights and negligence.
Today from the sacred site of their monument, laying wreaths of honour and gratitude, we renew our promise that their sacrifice will not fade away.
It will remain indelibly engraved in our memory to remind us of the dark pages of our history, and to strengthen our will and determination in our efforts for the liberation and reunification of our country.
Half a century after the Turkish invasion of 1974, the barbed wire of shame still divides our country.
In response to Turkey's revisionist policy, we set out our continued efforts to break the deadlock and resume talks and our clear political will to find a mutually acceptable solution on the basis of the agreed framework and UN Security Council resolutions.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Today, bowing to the greatness of soul shown by the 58 fallen and missing officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the 256th Infantry Battalion, we pledge to prove ourselves worthy of their sacrifice and to continue our struggle until final vindication.
The self-sacrifice and the spirit of militancy they demonstrated is an example for us that forges our will for liberation, the lifting of the occupation, the reunification of our homeland and the return to our native land.
Honor and glory to the fallen fighters of the 256th Infantry Battalion.
Their memory and our gratitude towards them will be undying and eternal.
May the Almighty answer our prayers for the determination of the fate of all our missing brothers and sisters.
Thank you.
(EAT/NZ)
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