Speech by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of AKEL S.Stefanou at the unveiling of the bust of the Heroes Andreas Ioannou and Andros Iordanou

 

 

Sunday 18 February 2024, Kapsalos, Limassol

I warmly congratulate the “AMEK” Local Club and the mass organisations of the Left of Kapsalo for their initiative to organize today’s event.

Events such as todays are far and away necessary.

A betrayal and a crime has been committed in our country. And yet the dominant narrative seeks to distort and falsify the truth.

Traitors are baptized heroes, whereas the real heroes are marginalised.

Their stories are left buried in the mass graves, as footnotes of History with the government ruling forces confined to issuing vague statements, and not by accident either.

For if they were talking about treason, they would have to talk about traitors that commit treason.

For if they were talking about the crimes committed, they would also have to talk about the criminals too.

That’s precisely why we understand how important it is, yes, to honour the real heroes as they deserve.

To call them by name, to tell their story.

The resistance to fascism and the battle against the Turkish invasion was the cause of these hundreds of genuine people’s fighters who, at the critical moment, did not hesitate, did not hide and did not cower, but stood up to be counted, even though they were sent more or less unarmed into a battle that was betrayed.

Among them were the two Heroes whose busts we unveil today.

Andreas Ioannou and Andros Iordanou.

Two brave lads raised within the ranks of the mass Organizations of the Left in Kapsalo, both children from poor families who brought them up on their meagre means and imbued them with love for our People and Homeland, with faith in the noble ideals of Democracy, Freedom and Social Justice.

These are the ideals that inspire the Left, which is why the cadres and members of the Cypriot Left have always been at the forefront of our country’s national, political and social struggles.

Andreas Ioannou, who from the age of 16 was digging pits with his father to help his large family, was a young man with an appetite for life, with dreams, an active person. He was active in the EDON Youth organisation of Kapsalos and at the same time he was playing in the AMEK local club football team. He enlisted in the Greek junta-controlled National Guard to do his military service and serve his country. On 20 July 1974, he was due to receive his discharge papers.

But he reckoned without the Greek junta and EOKA B who had undertaken the task of executing NATO’s anti-Cypriot plans to destroy the independent Republic of Cyprus. With the outbreak of the treasonous coup d’état on 15 July 1974, Andreas found himself actively involved in the anti-fascist resistance, fighting heroically, alongside the armed group of resistance fighters headed by Tasos Savva, against the coupists in the battle at the Limassol Central Police station. He fought with all his strength without flinching, not even when he came face to face with the fascists.

A few days later he rushed to the front line of battle to defend his country against Turkey’s invading army of Attila. He fought heroically with his fellow soldiers in the 389th Infantry Battalion in the area of Mia Milia-Kithrea. The Greek junta officers, those who portrayed themselves as “super-patriots” and were declaring that they would “throw the enemy into the sea”, abandoned their soldiers at the crucial moment.

Thus Andrea’s battalion was disbanded and those soldiers who managed to survive were detached to the 305 Infantry Battalion to defend the front line outposts in the area of the Mia Milia dam. On 14 August the outpost where Andreas was defending was captured by Turkish troops. Andreas fought until his very last breath. Andreas was included in the long list of missing persons for years.

His parents Nikos and Maria searched for him for years and passed away with the bitter sorrow of never knowing what happened to their son, whose remains were found forty-two years later in a mass grave near Mia Milia.

Andros Iordanou, a young man with his whole life ahead of him, worked and struggled to set up his life. But the betrayal and the war cut his life in two, violently, unexpectedly, prematurely, unjustly. Before joining the Special Reserve Force [Note; an armed body set up by President Makarios to fight EOKA B made up of loyal to democracy and President persons], Andros lived in Limassol with his parents. He had graduated from High School and was preparing to take a job at the Cooperative Grocery Store as a manager. He was an active member of EDON Youth and was particularly active in cultural affairs. He was the soul of the amateur theatre group that had been formed in the AMEK club and he even wrote plays himself.

Andros was a young, sensitive, cultured man and with a belief in principles, values and ideals. That’s precisely why at the critical moment it was inconceivable for him to be indifferent. It was inconceivable for him to betray everything he believed in. So he found himself confronting fascism and fighting EOKA B under the command of Major Pantazis, participating in the anti-fascist resistance of the Special Reserve Force.

According to all testimonies Andros, despite the surprise the coupists attempted in the battles of the Limassol Police Headquarters, stood in the front line of battle and fought valiantly until the very end. But the bullets of the Greek Junta’s stooges and Grivas’ EOKA B wounded him fatally.

Andros Iordanou is considered, according to the testimonies given, to be the first person killed in the coup.

Andreas and Andros, in the prime of their youth, sacrificed their lives for Democracy and the Homeland- just like hundreds of other heroes of our country who stood up to Fascism. Hundreds of young people who had been smeared “left-wing traitors” by the Greek junta plotters and Grivas’ men, at the crucial moment bravely did not hesitate and resisted.

They were like all those people who had been thrown in prison cells, subjected to unspeakable torture, but when the Turkish invading army of Attila came as the back door was opened to them by the “super-patriots” these coupists ran to hide in the Troodos mountains and sent our brave lads off to Kyrenia and the Pentadaktylos mountain range to fight the invading army.

And they ran to the front line. Consciously. From jail and the detention cell that the coupists had thrown them into, they ran to defend our Cyprus. The anonymous, the simple, the humble lads, those who were raised in the daily struggle to make ends meet, those who were raised by the poor in the Local Clubs of the Left and in the Left’s social and political struggles.

To them, yes, they deserve to be honored and monuments erected to pay tribute to their sacrifice.

The State owes a lot to all these heroes. But it is doing little.

Where is the State to honour the real heroes as it should for their sacrifice?

Only words, eulogies and memorial speeches and statements in the media.

Where is the State to implement what it from time to time promises to the families of our heroes?

Where is the State, the President of the Republic, the relevant Minister and Commissioner to implement the pledges made in the case of the four anti-fascist resistance heroes of Ayios Tychonas, for example, who were so brutally murdered by the coupists on 15 July 1974?

How many months do we have to wait for a response to the letters we have sent asking when the state will fulfil its promises and pledges?

How many years must their families wait for the State to carry out its debt to them?

If they expect us to wait for the passage of time to forget, then they should forget it.

We do not forget our heroes.

We do not forget their sacrifice.

We do not forget the betrayal and the crime that was committed.

We shall continue to speak truthfully, frankly and directly, defending the historical truth.

We owe it to those brave lads who ran to defend our country and future.

But the greatest debt we owe to their sacrifice is not to permit Cyprus be divided. We must not allow the crime ordered against our homeland in 1974 to be completed.

AKEL will never compromise with the status quo, it will never throw up its hands in despair accepting partition. Cyprus can and must be reunited. We must and can reunite our land and create conditions of peace and security for the future generations.

We must make every effort to reach an agreed solution.

A solution that will put an end to the occupation and reunite our country and people.

A solution that makes Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots the real masters of their common land, their common state, which they can co-manage.

Seven years have gone by without any negotiations. Everyone can see the deadly dangers of a stalemate and deadlock on the Cyprus problem with Turkey exploiting the situation to promote a two state solution and imposing new occupation fait accompli on the ground.

For that reason, time is running out. The Greek Cypriot side must do its utmost to resume the talks. It is not enough for the President to repeat that “we are ready for negotiations, but Turkey is negative”. Turkey is indeed taking a negative stand. But as long as we do not take initiatives to demonstrate our will, Turkey will in due course fulfil its goal. That’s the key – we should be taking substantive initiatives that throw down the gauntlet to Turkey and forcing the occupying power in the process of having to prove its intentions and will.

AKEL has put forward a specific proposal on how this can be done. Unfortunately, so far the President of the Republic and the government have been silent, not reacting, not responding and not saying anything.

The government ruling forces are content with engaging in communication games and approaches. But we are approaching the end of the road and the Greek Cypriot side will have to reveal its positions.

This year marks fifty years since the twin crime of the coup and invasion that de facto divided our homeland in two. The wounds remain open and the sacrifice of our heroes hasn’t been vindicated. Time is running out and is against us. There is no more time to lose. We must act now, before it is too late. AKEL is always ready to cooperate and contribute to any effort in the right direction. The President is well aware of this. It’s up to him to respond.

By honouring our heroes we fulfil our moral and political duty – not to permit their sacrifice be forgotten. And above all, to vindicate them with our unremitting struggle for the salvation of our homeland, for peace, friendship, progress and the prosperity of our people.

Andreas Ioannou. Andros Iordanou.

Honora and Glory!

Immortals!