"For the great, for the free, for the brave, for the strong, - The words of the great, the free, the brave, the strong are enough, - For them the silence, for them the tears, for them the lighthouses, and the olive branches".
With emotion and national pride we celebrate today our two great national anniversaries, March 25, 1821 and April 1, 1955-59, which are written in our history with pages of glory and grandeur. At the same time, the Greek Orthodox world everywhere honours and glorifies today the Annunciation of Theotokos, which is one of the greatest matrimonial feasts of Christianity.
The proclamation of the Greek Revolution, on such a day, "For the holy faith of Christ and the freedom of the Fatherland", was considered a choice by no means accidental, as the concept of the Fatherland was absolutely identified with Christianity.
Undoubtedly, the 25th of March 1821 remains a highlight of the Greek nation, since it marked its return to independence.
That spring, the few and powerless Rajahs, no longer able to endure four centuries of slavery, with few resources at their disposal, took on the mighty Ottoman Empire. They raised the banner of the Revolution, shouted "Freedom or Death" and wrote with their blood the beginning of the modern history of Greece.
"And if we are few in the crowd of Braimi", General Makriyannis observed, "we console ourselves in one way, that our fate has always kept the Greeks few. That beginning and end, of old and up to now, all the cattle fight to eat us and cannot. They eat of us and there's yeast left. And when the few decide to die, few lose and many gain."
Every people, whether they like it or not, drags with it, inextricably bound, the heritage of its ancestors. The past of his land follows him incessantly and regulates his life.
With the fall of Basileus, on May 29, 1453, the black night of slavery covered the national horizon of Greece. For four hundred years, the rajah endured the unbearable yoke of tyranny. But hope and faith for liberation do not fade from his heart. They lurk, hidden in the breasts and become a song and a hymn, which he sings softly and with unbearable pain to the Virgin Mary:
"Hush, Lady Despina, and do not weep too much, again with years and times it will be ours again".
A decisive role in the preparation for the national uprising of the Greeks was played by the "Society of Friends", founded by Skoufas, Xanthos and Tsakalov. Three hitherto unknown Greeks, who had no particular prestige or financial means and who, after meeting in the summer of 1814 in Odessa, took the great decision to contribute, each in their own way, declaring their loyalty and devotion to their common ideals.
The Greeks never ceased to organize resistance against the conquerors.
The Greeks never ceased to organize resistance against the conquerors. The armed divisions of the Thieves and Armatoloi were the fighting army. The teachers of the genus, from St. Cosmas the Aetolo and King Ferraeus, to the simple village priest and the monk, who taught Greek letters in the Hidden School, stimulated the national spirit and urged the people to rebel and drive out the oppressor.
Kolokotronis, whose every word was an apothegm and every act a heroism, was sure that Greece would be free, since "God has signed its freedom and does not take back his signature". This certainty gave wings to the chieftains of the Peloponnese and their successes, in the early years, solidified the Revolution.
The capture of Tripolitsa in September 1821, the sacrifice of Diakos in April of the same year, the destruction of the Army of Dramalis at Dervenakia by the Old Man of Moria and the Hani of Gravia, were events that consolidated the faith and the will of the Greeks for freedom.
The despised rayads, named and unnamed, defeat their human nature and write history, such as the one written in Messolonghi. The power of the enemy is stone, but their will is rock.
The "threshing floor", as Dionysios Solomos calls it, remains forever a symbol of bravery, determination and unparalleled courage. The "Free Besieged" surpassed every human measure with their magnanimity, became superhuman and rose above the realm of the earthly and perishable.
In Souli, pride, courage and contempt for death transformed the Souliotes into a model of honesty and heroism. The dance of Zalongo will remain an eternal symbol of virtue.
The Arkadi and the Kougi will be lighthouses, illuminating and guiding those who know how to live and how to die.
Glory, the birth and birth of the Greek race, did not walk only on land. It also poured into the sea, and stirred its beautiful and blue waters, which became waves and swelled and swelled and swelled and gave birth to torpedoes and sea-wolves. Miaoulis, Kanaris, and Bouboulina, caused fear and untold destruction to the Turks.
And while the Greeks were single-minded, the miracle worked. But when discord appeared, the Revolution ran a grave risk of failure, so that the poet warned that "if they are hated among themselves, they should not be free."
The Greeks of Cyprus could not be absent from the struggle of the National Regeneration. Archbishop Cyprian, committed to fighting "for faith and fatherland", early embraced the revolutionary preaching of the Society of Friends and joined it. Realizing, however, that any attempt for armed action by Cypriots on the island would lead to failure due to peculiar circumstances and wanting to protect his flock from dangerous adventures, he undertook to assist the struggle by sending money and food.
Moreover, the voluntary participation of hundreds of Cypriots in the Greek Revolution, who fought and died on the battlefields, was touching.
But the blood tax paid by the Greeks of Cyprus was also heavy, since the Turkish conquerors hanged their Archbishop in the well-known events of July 9, 1821, and in the same year, the bishops of Pafos, Kition and Kyrenia and exterminated many other clergymen, primates and ordinary citizens.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The motives that drove the revolutionary Greeks to acts of heroism and self-sacrifice inspired and guided another spring, another bright milestone of our modern history, the epic of 55'-59. The great uprising of '21 can rightly be seen as an extension of the national liberation struggle of EOKA, which is another glorious and proud testimony of sacrificial love for freedom and dignity.
In both events, "this world, the small, the great", stood up, resolutely asserted its sacred and just rights and took on a powerful enemy, both in manpower and material resources.
At dawn on 1 April 1955, the explosions that vibrated the atmosphere were not an April Fool's lie. They were cries of freedom, declaring the irrevocable decision of the Greeks of Cyprus to claim the inalienable right to live in freedom.
The first proclamation of Chief Digenis, issued on that very day, stated: "With the help of God, with faith in our honest struggle, with the support of all Hellenism and with the help of the Cypriots, we undertake the struggle to throw off the English yoke."
Young and old, clergy and laity alike, responded enthusiastically to the call and declared themselves present. All of them were peaceful, simple people, who turned themselves into expert rebels, hid wanted fighters in their homes, formed liaisons and undertook dangerous missions.
They took the sacred oath and fought in the mountains, villages and cities, were imprisoned, confined in detention without trial, burnt to death, hanged, knowing that life is glorified only in conditions of freedom.
The English conquerors used violence and horrible torture to break the spirit of the fighters and the Cypriot people, but they did not succeed. They offered large monetary rewards and put bounties on fighters, but even these measures proved ineffective in suppressing the Struggle.
Kyriakos Matsis' reply to Governor Harting "we do not fight for money, but for virtue", when he offered him a large sum of money to give information about EOKA, expresses exactly how the freedom fighters saw the Struggle.
The heroic figures of the Greek Revolution and of our small island, with faith in universal human values, brought out the Great Essences, leaving us as a sacred legacy, acts of unparalleled courage and unabashed patriotism, which teach and illuminate our own lives.
"I will fight and die like a Greek, but they will not take me alive", said the legend of Machaera, Grigoris Afxentiou. He fought the English alone from his hideout for ten hours and, although he knew he would die, he did not surrender."
These two iconic figures of the Struggle, together with the defenders of the barn of Liopetri Pitta, Samara, Papakyriakou and Karyo, became a holocaust for the most precious human good, humiliating the enemy and turning the place of their sacrifice into a pilgrimage of freedom.
The heroes of the gallows, with their haughty attitude and their words, just before being led to their death, move and shock.
Andreas Demetriou underlines in his last words: "I regret that I will not see our Cyprus free! But I am not afraid of death, because life is unnecessary in slavery! Long live freedom!"
In his last farewell speech, Michael Karaolis writes, "I appeal to everyone to forgive me for all that I have done to them, as I forgive all those who have wronged me."
In his last farewell speech, Michael Karaolis writes, "I appeal to everyone to forgive me for all that I have done to them, as I forgive all those who have wronged me. Neither courage nor hopes forsake us, and my peace of mind is undiminished."
James Patatsos, who has been described as the saint of the Struggle, gives courage to his suffering mother, telling her: "My mother, I do not want you to be sorry to be deprived of me. Be proud and know that I will walk to the gallows coolly as a true Greek."
Andreas Zakos writes shortly before his hanging: "The hour of death is approaching, but calmness is nesting in our souls. At this moment we hear Beethoven's heroic symphony."
Charilaos Michael noted: "We sing and we chant, we praise God who deserves us to die for the sake of freedom," while Stelios Mavrommatis stressed: "What is there to fear, as long as our soul lives forever?"
Michael Koutsoftas, before being led to the scaffold, said: "From the moment I heard the hour of our execution I feel my soul filled with a true joy!", and Andreas Panagidis observed that "these dark cells, which were once cells of horror and terror, are now cells of joy and pride."
The teenager Evagoras Pallikaridis, at only 18 years old, was consciously writing a few moments before his sacrifice: "7.30 pm. The most beautiful day of my life. The most beautiful hour. Don't ask why."
All this mental splendour is an indicative example of the morality, orientation, faith and conscious choice for struggle and sacrifice of the EOKA lads, while their imprisoned graves became an altar of freedom and the holy of holies of the liberation struggle.
Friends,
The 1821 Revolution and the 1955 Struggle have common characteristics, including love for freedom, the struggle to throw off the foreign yoke, selflessness, the setting aside of personal interest for the sake of the common good, and readiness for any sacrifice.
The spirit, the ethos and the apotheosis of daring heroism call us to take a genuine interest in our fellow man, putting the interest of the whole above the individual.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is 48 years since the barbaric Turkish invasion, and we are still experiencing the tragic consequences of the occupation. For almost five decades, the principles of international law have been flagrantly violated in our homeland. In our Turkish-occupied lands, colonisation, the illegal exploitation of our properties and the insulting desecration of our religious and cultural heritage continue. The refugees of our long-suffering island live with the unquenchable desire to return to their land, to the places where they were born and raised.
The Cyprus problem has always been and remains a problem of invasion and occupation. The stagnation observed and the lack of political will on the part of Turkey to reach a solution make it even more imperative that there should not be a moment of complacency on our part.
The primary objective and top priority of the new government is the resumption of meaningful negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem, freeing our country from occupation troops, foreign guarantees and invasive rights, and restoring the unity of our homeland.
The primary objective and top priority of the new government is the resumption of meaningful negotiations aimed at resolving the Cyprus problem, freeing our country from occupation troops, foreign guarantees and invasive rights, and restoring the unity of our homeland.
The resolution of the Cyprus problem has been placed as a major issue on the President's agenda, with efforts currently focused on developing a European initiative, always within the framework of the United Nations and on the basis of a bizonal bicommunal federation.
The President is making a series of visits to Brussels and other European capitals with a view to a more active engagement of the European Union to create the conditions for breaking the deadlock and resuming negotiations.
Dear all,
We have an obligation to live up to both our past and our future. To hand over to future generations a reunified homeland, free of occupying troops, foreign guarantees and invasive rights that restores the unity of its territory and its people.
The national liberation struggle of '55-'59 and the revolution leave a timeless message of uninterrupted struggle against any force of oppression and deprivation of freedoms.
The national liberation struggle of '55-'59 and the revolution leave a timeless message of uninterrupted struggle against any force of oppression and deprivation of freedoms.
The national liberation struggle of '55-'59 and the revolution leave a timeless message of uninterrupted struggle against any force of oppression and deprivation of freedoms.
I would like to congratulate the Mayor and the Municipal Council of Latsia for organizing the event and parade for these two national anniversaries and, conveying the warm greetings of the Minister of Interior and the entire Government, to thank you for your kind invitation.
Happy Birthday.
(ΕΦ/ΜΧ)
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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