Speech by the General Secretary of the C.C. of AKEL S.Stefanou at the event in honor of Elias Kyriakides

 

Thursday 11 April 2024, ‘Panos Solomonides’ Limassol Municipal Cultural Centre

– “At midnight I was told that the General Staff of the National Guard wanted to speak to me: ‘Listen Kyriakides…Slavenitis here…. Surrender’, he told me.”

– “Listen to what I’m telling you – we serve the Republic of Cyprus, Makarios is alive!”

Two hours later, the leading Greek junta officer Sklavenitis came back.

– “I’ll come to Cyprus and I’ll wipe you out. I will start from the monastery and I will raze Limassol to the ground, there will be nothing left.”

– “We will continue the Resistance.”

Elias Kyriakides.

In a few words, he said it all.

In just a few words Elias reveals the path of his life. A life of resistance to everything that undermines democracy, Elias. A lifetime of resistance to everything that degrades and humiliates people and their culture, Elias.

Elias’ forthright and straightforward answers were the kind of answers that show which side of history one decides to stand on, at the crucial moment, when the going gets tough and much is at stake.

Elias chose sides. The side of democracy, of constitutional order, of the dignity of Cyprus and its people. And he honored his choice from the beginning to the very end, even though he put his life on the line.

Elias Kyriakides’ struggles started from the ranks of EOKA.

It was then that Elias, with the courage of his 15 years, dared to break the bright sign with the motto “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN” on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation and found himself in prison. When he was released he joined the Organization and took on the next mission, to carry a sten gun in a violin case. He was arrested on the way. He was savagely beaten but gave no information and found himself back in prison.

Early on, when Elias was just a teenager, he showed he had guts and a big heart. He showed that regardless of circumstances, difficulties and dangers, he remains unyieldingly committed to the goal. And we can confidently claim that Elias wrote his own history alongside all the fighters who, with selflessness and without asking for anything in return, fought for the freedom of our country, for democracy and justice.

Tonight, therefore, we honor a true fighter of our Homeland, of Democracy, of the anti-fascist Resistance.

Elias Kyriakides did not just live the events of the betrayal of 1974 and all that preceded it. He was one of the protagonists. Together with his fellow fighters, the people of the Left, democratic, progressive people, he fought face to face with the fascists. Both during the murderous activity of Grivas’ EOKA B and during the treasonous coup.

His history is primary testimony to the magnitude of the crime and treachery committed that condemned Cyprus to suffer the Turkish invasion. His actions are a living example of resistance, valour, heroism and patriotism.

The NATO plans against Cyprus were elaborated long before July 1974. Concrete historical evidence proves that the decision to partition Cyprus in order to ensure the unity of NATO’s south-eastern flank was taken at the 1971 Lisbon Conference of NATO Foreign Ministers. The non-aligned policy pursued by Makarios was an obstacle to ending the Cyprus problem as the Anglo-Americans and NATO would have wished. For that reason, the overthrow of Makarios was for them the permanent and effective solution so that they could impose their evil plans.

The coup was also being prepared in Cyprus long before 1974. Its leaders were for quite a long time preparing the ground on a political, ideological, organisational and military level. Anti-communism was at its peak, the theft of arms and political crimes were frequent phenomena and a section of the press had become the mouthpiece of the Greek Junta, Grivas and EOKA B, calling on the “tyrant” – as they called the popular leader Makarios, to leave the Presidency. They were opposed by AKEL and other democratic forces.

First and foremost, however, they had confronting them the overwhelming majority of the Cypriot people who continued to rally their forces around Makarios.

On the one hand, we had a shameless minority of EOKA-B coupists who acted as tools and instruments of the Greek Junta in Cyprus and opposing them on the other hand, thousands of people who resolutely defended with determination the Republic and Cyprus.

On the one hand were those who were firing their Kalashnikovs in the air on the morning of the 15 July 1974 coup, celebrating that “Makarios is dead”.

On the other hand, there were hundreds of resistance fighters who painted the cells with the blood from their torture, the Cypriot soil with the blood of their hearts, so that fascism would not pass.

On the one hand, were those who pretended to be brave lads, terrorizing, arresting, killing people, but at dawn on 20 July 1974 [the day of the Turkish invasion] they ran to the Troodos mountains far from the battle front to hide.

On the other hand, the fighters of democracy, leftists, democrats, anti-fascist resistance fighters, who smashed the bars of their dungeons with their hands to get out and run to defend Cyprus.

And when, belatedly, the coupists called up the troops, they went around neighbourhoods in the towns and villages to load not their own people to go and fight, but all the others onto the trucks and sent them to defend the shores of Kyrenia, betrayed, inadequately armed, unorganized and without the necessary support.

“The invasion would have failed if there had been some resistance,” said decades later Muzaffer Severs, a Turkish lieutenant-general during the Turkish invasion. If we contrast this statement with the Greek junta General Bonanos’ testimony that he did not notify the National Guard General Staff of the invasion because he “had prioritized other things to do”, then we can realize the magnitude of the betrayal that was committed.

There are endless testimonies and stories of resistance fighters documenting the betrayal and crimes committed. And yet the ruling establishment narrative silences them, hoping that by doing so, forgetfulness and oblivion will whitewash their responsibility for the betrayal.

But there can be treason committed without the existence and actions of traitors, no crime committed without criminals.

AKEL, in the years following the coup and the invasion, demanded catharsis [the purge and punishment of coupists], demanded the removal of the extreme right-wing coupists from the state apparatus. This, unfortunately, did not happen. There was a mock purge and the 62 civil servants who were removed from public service were returned to their posts when DISY came to power two decades after 1974. Those dismissed received their salaries, allowances and lump sums retroactively. We are talking about lot of money. Instead of being punished for their actions, the government/state even rewarded them.

It is this impunity that bred the shameless audacity of the coupists, after they had found a political home and cover, some of them even obtaining state offices/posts.

But we give the badge of honor of the people’s appreciation, the medal in recognition of their contribution, patriotic attitude and actions to those who truly deserve it.

To talk about history through the experiences and struggles of individuals, through their testimonies.

To honor those who have truly contributed to our Homeland.

And among all of them, the figure of Elias Kyriakides stands out. Elias deserves every honor bestowed on him for the struggles he waged. For the legacy he leaves behind, which we could sum up in the words of the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet. “It is not a question of being a prisoner. It’s about not surrendering, that’s the essence…”

And if the pressing issue back then was not to surrender to fascism, today it is not to surrender to the ongoing occupation, to the status quo. And not to give up waiting for the fatality, namely the permanent partition of our Homeland.

If we do not assert the vindication of Cyprus, no one else will do it for us. The solution will not emerge on its own. We must act first by taking effective initiatives. If we wait for others to take initiatives for us, two things can happen. Either we will be left with a deadlock and the de facto partition will be consolidated, or a third party will act and put forward proposals that we may very well not like.

Recently, Mr. Christodoulides said that he had received ideas from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He even continued to make statements about these ideas, noting that he would not make anything public. He correctly does not want to make this discussion public. But he did not feel the need to brief the National Council of them. This can only mean two things: firstly, that he automatically and assumes full responsibility for subsequent developments. And, secondly, that he does not see the need for any collective responsibility.

The current situation is extremely critical. Turkey and the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot community are promoting a two-state solution, which cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

We are living through the longest stalemate ever recorded on the Cyprus problem and this situation is being exploited by Turkey to reinforce the de facto partition on the ground.

AKEL has submitted a comprehensive proposal to the President of the Republic on how we can and must move forward as the Greek Cypriot side and the Republic of Cyprus in general. Unfortunately, Mr. Christodoulides did not even bother to discuss this proposal with us.

Dear friends,

On the occasion of tonight’s event, I listened again to Elias’ public interventions in which he occasionally gave his personal testimony about the events that took place. Of all that he said, I recall the closing remark to one of them. In a shaky voice, full of emotion Elias said: “Never Again Fascism”. Elias’ voice, resolute, categorical and sharp. The cry of the victors and the sobs of the defeated who defended the bloodstained Republic of Cyprus, kept it alive, but failed to save the country from the subsequent destruction.

But there is also the debt, the duty of all of us towards those who sacrificed their lives, towards those who waged the battle, those who resisted and to all those who fought.

A debt that is multiplying today, when we see the far right rearing its head again, returning to the political scene, this time with all the official appearance through elections, wearing suits, with all the pomp and in posts.

Let us not permit it. Let us all be the force that will send the remnants of Golden Dawn, those praising Grivas, the apologists for the Greek Junta and EOKA B back to where they belong: in the past.

Dear Elias,

Dear Friends of the Association of Resistance Fighters,

We will continue to be the voice that will continue to remind everyone of what happened in our History.

We are, and will remain, the voice that will continue to fight for the future based on true historical experience. That is why we will continue to defend the historical truth. And you, fellow resistance fighters, are the living reliable witness to this historical truth.

Honor and Glory to those who resisted!

Honor and Glory to those who sacrificed their lives!