Speech by General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL St. Stefanos at the memorial service of the hero Antonis Andronikou

 

10 December 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

We come again this year as pilgrims to the memory of yet another hero of democracy and our homeland, Antonis Andronikou.

Antonis was a man just like everyone else. He grew up humbly, but joyfully and carefree back in those days. He loved and married his beloved Maria and had six children. He was loved by everyone and held in high esteem by all those who knew him. An engaging and hard-working person, he worked tirelessly to provide the bare necessities for his family. He was always in solidarity and helped friends and people when they were in need.

Antonis, had he continued his life normally, would have lived a life just like everyone else. He would have raised his children, worked hard to give them everything he could, prided them on finding their own way in life, hugged his Mary tightly in every problem or difficulty they faced, smiled and joined his family in joys and celebrations, and lived his life as he had dreamed it.

But none of this happened: the fascists had another fate for Antonis.

The thread of his life was cut prematurely and Antonis became a hero.

How does an ordinary person really become a hero?

He/she becomes a hero when, at the critical moment, he/she chooses to be on the right side of History – even though one knows the cost and the dangers involved.

It is when, precisely at the moment one decides to take sides that one does so consciously, knowing that at that moment you join the force defending ideals nobler and bigger than himself. Democracy, Freedom and the defence of our people’s dignity. This is the path Antonis Andronicus chose and he marched on this path with determination to the very end.

The coup of 1974 was not some reckless or spontaneous action by some fools, as some forces and circles suggest to this day in their attempt to cover up the responsibilities of the moral perpetrators of the crime committed and their executors. It was a premeditated crime that was hatched and prepared a long time ago at NATO headquarters.

Grivas and EOKA B years before were elaborating plans to overthrow Makarios and preparing the conditions for the destruction of Cyprus. Theft of weapons from military camps, acts of terror, beatings, abuse and assassinations of democratic people, the blowing up of police stations, lawlessness, fanaticism and violent actions were on the agenda of Grivas’ terror. Anyone who dared to stand up to them, anyone who dared to disagree with them, was targeted.

That’s what Antonis did – he dared.

He dared to defend democracy, the constitutional order and the democratically-elected President.

He dared to choose sides, by rallying and standing on the side of the overwhelming majority of the Cypriot people.

He dared to take the road of democratic anti-fascist resistance and struggle.

He paid for his choice with his very life.

EOKA B kidnapped him on December 10, 1973. Three days later he was found dead. They murdered him. His killers were never found. And how could they be traced, when the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus, the police, the courts and many other institutions were infiltrated by the Greek junta and its puppets EOKA B.

Antonis’ murder is yet another political murder that went unpunished. This impunity has bred the audacity/callousness with which certain forces and circles today are seeking to equate traitors with heroes, perpetrators with victims. It is our duty and obligation not to allow the historical truth to be buried under the dust of oblivion and forgetfulness, through the falsification of the historical truth.

Cyprus fell victim to the sinister plans of Anglo-American imperialism and its puppets, the Greek Junta of Athens. But neither NATO, nor the Greek Junta would have succeeded in implementing their plan had there had not been Cypriots willing to act as their obedient servants.

Cyprus was doubly betrayed. It was betrayed from the outside, but it was also betrayed from within. The flag of the pseudo-state bleeding the occupied Pentadaktylos mountain range is their own work, the result of the actions of Grivas and EOKA B who, with the coup d’état, paved the way for the Turkish Attila army to invade our Homeland.

Thousands of dead, wounded, missing persons, thousands of refugees waiting for the day of return, mothers clad in black who are still mourning their beloved ones, with Cyprus semi-occupied.

This is their work.

They have condemned Cyprus to the barbed wire of the occupation, to be colonised day after day and future generations to live under the permanent threat of partition. We owe it to those who have left, and to the generations to come, to succeed in securing the future of future generations.

This can only be achieved by ending the Turkish occupation and reunifying Cyprus. By achieving a solution that creates conditions of security and stability and reunites our land and people. A solution of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality as outlined in the Resolutions of the United Nations.

The emphasis on the need to reach a solution becomes even more urgent when we consider the current situation of the Cyprus problem, which is not only difficult, but unprecedentedly critical. Never before has there been such a long period of stagnation and deadlock surrounding the Cyprus problem. A deadlock which the Turkish side is exploiting to impose new partitionist fait accompli on the ground, while at the same time it has permitted the unacceptable position for a two state solution to continue.

In the face of these developments, there is no room for any complacency. Nor is it enough for the government to proclaim its good intentions and reiterate the Greek Cypriot’s readiness to resume the talks.

We need to take specific and convincing initiatives.

AKEL has submitted a specific proposal to the President of the Republic on how to break the deadlock. Our proposal includes specific steps.

The first step is the continued underlining of our consistency and commitment to the agreed basis for a solution and our readiness to continue negotiations from where they were interrupted in 2017 on the basis of the Guterres Framework, preserving all the convergences that have been agreed so far.

In addition, we need to proceed with the formulation of a positive agenda in relation to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community, putting the energy issue at the heart of it, without of course going beyond and violating our “red lines”.

Finally, there is a need for the Republic of Cyprus to promote and implement concrete measures to support the Turkish Cypriot community.

We do not claim that what we are proposing will necessarily lead to the resumption of the negotiations. But they will put pressure on Turkey and will oblige it to state its true intentions to the international community.

As long as the Cyprus problem remains unresolved, as long as Cyprus remains divided, our debt to those who sacrificed their lives to defend democratic legitimacy, democracy, the independence and territorial integrity of our homeland grows. We fully understand that in order to vindicate those who sacrificed their lives, we must not permit the crime ordered against Cyprus in 1974 to be completed and Cyprus to be divided forever. That is precisely why, despite the pessimism, we continue to fight for the solution that will liberate and reunite our Homeland.

This will be the best tribute to the memory of those who perished.

Antonis Andronikou may your memory live on forever!

You faced an unjust death, fighting for what is right and just.

You were murdered by fascism because you fought for democracy.

Your sacrifice will not be in vain!

Cyprus will be saved!

We will fight for it with all our strength!