-
.
- Ελληνικά
It is a great honour for me to stand at the podium of this event here in my city, Paphos, here at the Lyceum from which I graduated in 1991.
Tonight, modestly but rightfully proud, the Cultural Association "Evagoras Pallikaridis" makes another contribution to the unfunded fund in memory of the 18-year-old student from Tsada who, 67 years after his sacrifice, speaks to our hearts, gives meaning to our existence in this land and dictates our debt to the homeland in a valid and authentic way. Contemporary and timeless, Evagoras Pallikaridis is a role model and guide for our youth and I believe that the best way to pay tribute to Evagoras is to highlight and promote his ability to inspire young Greeks everywhere.
Along with my sincere thanks for the honorary invitation, I congratulate my fellow organizers, both for the literary memorial and for all that they organize and undertake in honor of Evagoras. Your contribution, dear friends, is precious, just as the form, struggle, sacrifice and robust spiritual legacy of the youngest hanged hero of the 1955-1959 epic is a precious treasure. A hero whose fame transcended the narrow confines of our homeland and is a global benchmark.
And I would like to announce tonight that from this year onwards the Government will annually bear all the costs associated with the "Eugoras", so that we can ensure the minimum we can do as a State, both towards you and towards the memory of Eugoras, to ensure that these events, the "Eugoras", will continue to take place for many years to come.
Historically, our Cyprus, with a history of 10,000 years of human presence, bears the indelible stamp of its Greekness. From the descent of the first Greeks to the present day, and for as long as history and the world exist, the identity of Cyprus is and will be Greek - Greek in language, Greek in traditions, Greek in arts, Greek in letters and philosophy, Greek in culture. No historian, no fact can deny it or question it. The first and great desire of the enslaved Cypriots, every revolution, uprising, demonstration and every battle had one goal, Freedom, Self-determination and Union with Greece.
Particularly with the end of Ottoman rule and the arrival of the British colonialists in Cyprus in 1878, the Cypriots did not cease to strive in every way to achieve their dream. From October 1931 until the Referendum of 15 January 1950, the British, despite their repeated efforts, could neither reassure nor calm the Greek soul of the Cypriots. The soul that lived and breathed by a single name, "Greece". Until, all the desire and anger was transformed into an anti-colonial - liberation revolt, comparable without any exaggeration to the heroic struggles of the Greeks, with the epic of 1821 as a symbol and guide. It was April 1, 1955 when EOKA undertook an armed, now armed, struggle to shake off the British yoke, exercise the right of self-determination and union with Greece. The proclamation and the invitation to the struggle met with an immediate response among the Cypriots, who, one after another, mainly young men and women, joined the ranks of the Organization and took action in what we all agree is the purest struggle of this land.
Evagoras Pallikaridis, born in 1938 in Tsada of our Province, was brought up with the seeds of Hellenism and Christianity, in the struggles for Freedom and Union with Greece. The vision and love for Greece captivated him from a very early age and he exhausted all his desire through his gifted writing and through daring actions. From the age of 12 he was distinguished for his gift of writing, with poems primarily about Greece and Freedom. By the age of 14 he was recognized as a novice poet and his poems quickly spread and inspired friends, classmates, and teachers.
Eugoras, as a teenager, was handsome, handsome, fit, cultured, and as many testify, much more mature and aware of his age. Evagoras Pallicarides, "Vagoris," was true to his lineage, to his name and surname, he was true to his own writings. What he put down on paper was his experience, it was his purpose in life. From a very early age he was ready and consciously preparing himself for his great "uphill climb". He said it, wrote it, showed it, did it.
In June 1953, on the eve of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth of England, he lowered the English flag from the Jacobite Gymnasium and signalled the general demonstrations. Paphos is the only area of Cyprus where the Queen's Coronation was not celebrated. Evagoras took part in almost all the demonstrations. On several occasions he was arrested and released. As when he participated in the release of those arrested in the case of the ship "Agios Georgios" in Chloraka. As when he managed to free a classmate from the hands of brutal English soldiers, whom he wounded. In the summer of 1955, a few months after the beginning of the EOKA struggle, Evagoras will claim, even if in an adventurous way, the "only journey of my life". He took part in a trip of a lifetime for the then young students of the Cypriot high schools, the educational excursion to Greece. An excursion about which I was blessed to hear so much from my father, a classmate of Evagoras, along with the late Akis Pieris, who we will say goodbye to tomorrow, who also participated in that beautiful trip to Greece.
Evagoras lasted only a few months after April 1, 1955. In December he moved to the mountains and became a partisan, leaving behind that monumental note to his classmates. He informed them that he was leaving in search of some free air, that he would take the uphill road to find the daughter of the panoria, Lefteria, and mingle with her.
There in the mountains he did not stop, as many of his superiors and fellow fighters testify, exercising his body and soul, writing poems and participating in ambushes and attacks. Despite his young age, he emerged as a steadfast and unyielding freedom fighter, was targeted by the British and put a bounty of £5,000 on his head.
A few days before Christmas 1956, the hour and day arrived when he would fall into the hands of the enemies of Freedom. It was 18 December, near Lyssa. Carrying a dismantled Bren-type machine gun, with no intention of escaping, he stood up for the truth of his name and actions against the English soldiers, confessed his "great crime" and accepted arrest. As he later confessed and explained, he did not try to escape, so as not to appear a coward, and refused to his fellow soldiers to change his name or take a pseudonym so that the British would know who they were dealing with and what cause he was fighting for.
His condemnation was not long in coming. He was summarily sentenced to death on 26 February 1957. Captivating, however, was once again Eugoras' response to the judge when asked if he had anything to say to make light of his position. He took the floor himself, nodding to his lawyers and parents to make no objection or plea. Allow me to quote it verbatim, as I have always been moved by his specific words and writings.
"I know that you will impose the death penalty on me. But what I have to say is this. Nothing else."
No one can understand to this day how such words came out of the mouth of a 19-year-old young man! Words that recall, forgive me for the audacity of the comparison, the responses of the Ethnic Martyr Cyprian to Muselim Agha on 9 July 1821.
With the announcement of the decision to execute by hanging Evagoras Pallicarides, an unprecedented worldwide mobilization for its revocation took place. The British Government and the Queen stubbornly refused. The English executioner ordered the execution to take place at midnight, between 13 and 14 March 1957, and not in the morning hours as was customary.
Evagoras had already confessed to the priest of the Central Prison Papantonis, who wrote in his memoirs about Evagoras' calm, steadfast faith in Christ, determination, desire for freedom and the strength of his soul. This was preceded by a meeting between Eugoras and his family, to whom he gave encouragement and reassured them with jokes and pleasantries. He had expressed to his sister his last wish and desire, that when he went to God he would beg him to be the last to be hanged. He had time to write his last letter, which is a jewel for Cypriot and Greek history. Perhaps this will be my last letter. But it still doesn't matter. I am not sorry for anything. Let me lose everything. One dies once. I'll walk happily to my final resting place. What today, what tomorrow? Everyone dies one day. It's a good thing to die for Greece. Time 7:30. The most beautiful day of my life. The most beautiful hour. Don't ask why."
Evagoras Pallikaridis marched to the gallows singing the National Anthem proudly and proudly, encouraging his fellow prisoners. Nine seconds elapsed between the moment of the opening of the trapdoor and Evagoras' exhalation. So long was the flight of Eugoras' soul from the body to eternity, for the meeting with the Lord. The wish of the young visionary, dreamer, freedom fighter Evagoras Pallikaridis from Tsada, Paphos, came true and he was indeed the last to be hanged.
His body was buried next to Gregory Afxentiou and his cousin Stelios Mavrommatis. In the Prisoner's Memorial, in the Garden of the Immortals. There, together with the other retired fighters, they drink and get drunk with the wine of immortality.
Evagoras Pallikaridis has gone down in history as the young visionary of Freedom. He left us a huge legacy of more than 500 poems and as many other prose texts. He is a benchmark in modern literature and his poems stand worthy next to the writings of great and award-winning poets. Apart from his great love, Greece, his writings relate to all aspects of life and should not be missing from the library of any Cypriot, especially a young one. Just as his poems set to music by great and renowned composers should not be missing from their musical choices.
Without exaggeration, the life and actions of Evagoras Pallikaridis are a great life lesson for each of us and a true synaxis of a modern hero and martyr of Freedom. Both Paphos and the whole of Cyprus feel proud that their innards gave birth to such a young man. We all rightfully feel proud of the fact that our generation and our race includes such a great and unique hero. Towards Evagoras, towards all those who fought for the existence today of what is most important to us, the Republic of Cyprus, we are accountable and have a heavy responsibility to respond not with words but with deeds to the commands of our homeland and to be worthy of their legacy and heritage. Sixty-seven years after the glorious sacrifice of Evagoras Pallikaridis, we must stand before him with awe and great shyness. The vision and the light of his figure control and judge us, all of us, every day.
We as a State are trying, despite the difficulties and challenges, expending all our efforts to achieve the longed-for liberation and reunification of our country and its people.
The vision of the fighters of EOKA, the vision of Evagoras Pallikaridis, went through great and many trials, adversities, dead ends, compromises and traumas. We are here, we are here, we are present, we are proving it in practice, in the call of duty. We cannot and have no intention or right to give up, despite all the problems and adversity. We must, if we really want to honour Eugoras, honour the heroes of this land, follow the dictates of our heroes and fight steadfastly and unyieldingly.
And in this context, we consider the appointment and assumption of the duties of the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for the Cyprus problem as a milestone of a new dynamic in our national issue.
And in this context, we consider the appointment and assumption of the duties of the Personal Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General for the Cyprus problem as a milestone of a new dynamic in our national issue. Our contacts, consultations and pressure, the recognition of our clear political will, led to a new effort and stimulated international interest. At the same time, as the Republic of Cyprus, always within our capabilities, always modestly and humbly, we are working to highlight its added value through initiatives we are taking, for example on the occasion of the recent unrest in our region. Our effort, which, yes, is recognised by the international community - the role of our country, the Republic of Cyprus, in a region of particular geostrategic importance is recognised - is geared towards providing humanitarian aid to all those who need it. Something that, at the same time, inevitably, upgrades the role and importance of Cyprus in the events in the region and, by extension, strengthens our efforts to end the occupation and reunite our homeland.
Evagoras Pallikaridis does not need the lofty rhetorical praise either as a fighter or as a writer. With his magnificent sacrifice he bequeathed to the young Greeks an unfailing lesson in virtue and a supreme, towering model. Sixty-seven years after his sacrifice, Evagoras Pallikaridis is contemporary and relevant. Our semi-inherited, but member state of the European Union, is fighting a difficult battle that it cannot lose. Modern history teaches us that we have the power to rise to the occasion.
With assertive consistency, realism, determination and above all with unity and solidarity, we have an obligation to fight for the vindication of our country, which certainly deserves a better tomorrow. A reunited country, free from Turkish occupation and outdated guarantees, a member of the European Union, a free and democratic homeland where all its legitimate inhabitants will have equal opportunities to act and prosper, is consistent with the visions and aspirations of those who offered their lives on the altar of Cypriot Freedom, consistent with the life and work of Evagoras Pallikaridis.
(RM/MS/AF)
Contents of this article including associated images are owned by PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
