We are here today at the Holy Church of Saint Barbara in Kaimakli to commemorate and honor the fallen of the community of Omorphitas and to pray for the fate of the missing residents of Omorphitas.
It is an honour for me to be back in coastal Kaimakli, just a few meters from the barbed wire that continues to keep Nicosia divided.
We are just a breath away from the bloodstained soil of Omorphita, the community that exudes pain and tears, sorrow and anguish, for the drama experienced in those tragic days of '63.
Fallen and murdered, refugees and missing persons, usurpation of property, destruction of cultural heritage, colonization, desecration of churches and cemeteries, are just one unit of the denominator of the ongoing human tragedy of the community of Omorphitas, but also of all the Hellenism of our Cyprus.
I would like to warmly thank my friend President Dimitris Taliadoros and the members of the Association "Omorphita", the fellow fighters and the relatives of the heroes for this extremely honourable invitation.
And it is commendable but mainly necessary in this difficult period for our country to undertake similar initiatives to keep alive and unquenched the memory of the people who offered their lives to this place, but also to draw lessons from history, looking at the difficult future with a clear view.
To the heroic fighters of Omorphita, the diggers of the freedom of the homeland, who in the bicommunal riots of 1963-64 consciously became a sacrifice for the homeland, we pay tribute today in this sacred place.
When the Turks tried by force of arms to abolish the then newly established Republic of Cyprus and in the brutal Turkish invasion of 1974, it is these patriots, together with many others, who stood up and said their own molon lave.
We still honour and praise the enormous national contribution of the repeatedly tormented and tortured community of Omorphita, in which in 1958 the word "refugee" and "missing person" was heard for the first time on this fateful island, but also lived through the street battles of 1963-64.
Omorphita is unfortunately mentioned in capital letters in the course of the tragic moments of Cypriot history and during the liberation struggle of EOKA 1955-1959.
Its large interrogation centre, where the torturers of the colonial government took out all their cruelty, inhumanity and hatred against the Greeks of Cyprus on those who fell into their hands, cannot be forgotten by the disturbing memories of the struggle.
And while the beginning of the struggle finds Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living in harmony in the mixed suburb of Nicosia, three years later, in 1958, a rapid deterioration of intercommunal relations was recorded.
The action of the Turkish extremists of the Turkish organization T.M.T., In the summer of the same year, the first murders of Omorphites were recorded:
Loukas Arrestis and Pantelis Christou, while Stelios Andreou disappeared on his way to the Turkish café of the Community.
In the summer of the same year, the first murders of Omorphites were recorded:
Loukas Arrestis and Pantelis Christou, while Stelios Andreou disappeared on his way to the Turkish café of the Community. Greek Cypriots are forced, under the feeling of insecurity, to leave their homes as refugees in order to save themselves from the Turkish attacks and atrocities.
Unfortunately, the calm that came to Omorphita after the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, was not to last for long. The suburb was the epicentre of the fighting that took place on Christmas Day 1963, at the same time as the start of the Turkish mutiny. Empowered by the reinforcements provided by the men of the TURP.I.K., the insurgents attacked in waves the few Greek residents and fighters of the platoon of Lieutenant Georgios Olympiou.
Omorphita paid with blood for the effort to remain free from the Turkish terrorists and the men of the Turkish detachment of the TURP.I.K.
On the festive days of Christianity, the days when the bells bring the message of the birth of the God-Man, Cyprus and Omorphita record deaths:
- Charalambos Spyrou who fell fighting,
- 11 year old Georgoula Venizelou and 17 year old George Psara who were murdered by Turkish fire,
- Andreas Michael who was wounded and burned to death helplessly
- and Andreas Petrou who was kidnapped by Turkish insurgents in February 1964 and whose fate has been unknown ever since.
The grief and sorrow, however, continued and culminated in the black July of 1974 when Turkish expansionism forced the inhabitants of Omorphita to flee for the third time.
Attila occupied the largest part of the community which continues to be part of the occupied part of our island to this day. The refugee situation became entrenched and unfortunately continues to this day.
The sponsorship of Omorphita in defence of Cypriot freedom in the bitter summer of 1974 records many heroic dead:
- Sotiris Achilleos who was killed by the Turkish Air Force at Konteno on 20 July 1974
- Zenonas Zenonos, the 16-year-old student who fell fighting on 22 July 1974 at the front line outposts in the Omorphitas area of Neapolis
- Georgios Skoufaris who was mortally wounded on 2 August 1974 by a Turkish mortar
- The Charilaos Mikheos and Michalakis Michael who fell fighting during the battles of Agios Georgios Kyrenia and White Moutti
- Gregory Nikolaou whose traces were lost in Mia Milia and whose bones were identified by DNA.
Victims of the Turkish invader were also :
Vaso Sokratous, Savvas Charalambous and Giannakos Machias, as well as Kyriakos Varnavas and Michalakis Kythraiotis, who died in the coup of 15 July 1974 during an exchange of fire.
A great open wound, however, is the long list of our missing persons :
Evangelos Epaminondas, Kostakis Iakovidis, Eudoros Ioannidis, Marios Nikolaou, Panagiotis Panagiotou and Charalambos Georgios.
Today we reverently bow our heads before the greatness of the offer and sacrifice of all those who honoured Omorphita, Cyprus and all Hellenism.
48 years after the crime committed against our homeland, 200,000 refugees still exist in the only EU member state in their own homeland. This picture and this record are the daily dramatic reminder of the national tragedy and point us to the great debt for the liberation and reunification of our homeland.
This picture and this record are the daily dramatic reminder of the national tragedy and point us to the great debt for the liberation and reunification of our homeland. But they are also a dream for our great European family, whose values and principles in Cyprus are being trampled upon and humiliated by our conquerors.
Today's memorial service, ladies and gentlemen, reminds us of our own unfulfilled debt to the heroic fallen, but also to all those who sacrificed themselves for the freedom of our homeland. At the same time, it also makes us co-responsible to continue, united and united in the struggle for the freedom, reunification and prosperity of our country.
Commemorations such as today's dictate us to fight steadfastly and unyieldingly to safeguard the future of Cypriot Hellenism in the land of our ancestors. Our irrevocable and irreversible goal is the effort to find a just, viable and workable solution to our national problem, as defined in the relevant UN resolutions, in accordance with the principles and values of the EU.
Despite the continuous efforts of the President of the Republic Mr. Anastasiades, for the resumption of the negotiation process, despite taking initiatives to remove the impasse in which the Cyprus problem has reached, Turkey continues with its revisionism to undermine the prospect of the resumption of the talks, adhering to its unacceptable and unreasonable demands. In complete collusion with the current representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community here, it is systematically promoting the recognition of illegal fait accompli and the imposition of a two-state solution.
And while for 48 years we have been experiencing the provocative attempt of the neo-sultans of Ankara to colonize the occupied part of our homeland, in recent months we have been witnessing yet another methodical and heinous crime: the quasi "colonization" of the Republic of Cyprus-controlled territories, through the daily, systematic and guided advancement of thousands of illegal immigrants through the Green Line.
This new illegal invasion of populations in the free areas is yet another illegal action by Turkey, aimed at the demographic alteration and alienation of our country. The Turks, through the instrumentalization of migration, seek to cause economic, social and political problems as well as security and destabilization problems.
Unfortunately, the developments and what we experienced at yesterday's EU Internal Affairs Council in Brussels, where the reluctance of some Member States to promote the Regulation on the instrumentalisation of migration for a vote in the European Parliament, is also disappointing. A development that leaves once again the perpetrator of the problem in Cyprus, Turkey, out of the picture and away from any sanctions. I said it in the Council the day before yesterday and I repeat it today that this development has damaged European solidarity. And I hope that with our perseverance and the support of the Member States that stand by us, there will soon be a review of positions and a reversal of this negative development.
Our land is occupied, but our memories are not. In the haze created in our Cyprus by the Turkish occupation and the arrogant intransigence of Ankara, the need for national responsibility and a spirit of conciliation is more important than ever. It is time to wake up and realize, both those in government and in opposition, that the homeland is one and the enemy is not complacent. Let us put aside political disputes, electoral considerations and the same party interests and look at the problems that threaten us under the lens of unity and unanimity. We must all work together, regardless of political ideology, for the party that unites us all. Our Cyprus.
The militancy, the belief in our rights, the rallying, the setting aside of passions and pettiness and the demand of all Cypriot Hellenism to put the national interest above all else, are conditions that must prevail if we want to see better days for our country.
Paying tribute to those who fought for the freedom of Cyprus and laid the foundations of the Republic of Cyprus with their very lives is an unpayable and urgent debt for all of us.
The memory of the heroically fallen fighters of the national liberation struggle of EOKA and the sacrifice of the inhabitants and missing persons of Omorphita maintain indissoluble ties with the land of their birth.
The memory of the heroically fallen fighters of the national liberation struggle of EOKA and the sacrifice of the inhabitants and missing persons of Omorphita maintain indissoluble ties with the land of their birth.
Let the sacrifice of all the fallen and murdered heroes of the homeland be a commandment of vigilance, a compass of unity and common rallying for the continuation of the struggle until the final vindication.
We unite our wishes and pray for the determination of the fate of all our missing persons and pray for the return of all our refugees to the soils that nurtured them.
Eternal be the memory of all those remembered.
(EFYs/MX)
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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