Excerpts from the speech by Yiorgos Loucaides, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL, at the event of Remembrance and Honor for the 4 Heroes of Ayi Yianni popular neighborhood
13th July 2017, Monument to the Four Heroes of the Democratic Resistance, ALKI Square, Larnaka
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 13th July 2017, Nicosia
This year 43 years will have passed since the American-engineered, fascist coup d’état of the Greek Junta and EOKA B of Grivas and the subsequent barbaric Turkish invasion. Inevitably these days, our memory goes back in time and remembers first and foremost all those who resisted fascism and sacrificed their lives defending democracy and freedom; all those who fought and fell in the field of honor and dignity, for our own freedom, democracy and for the rights of the people of Cyprus. Their sacrifice assumes even greater dimensions as their courageous steps in the hall of heroes were defined by the debt to their honor and conscience.
Included among them are countless of militants from the People’s Movement of the Left. As AKEL, we can and do justifiably feel proud, because real heroes were nurtured and raised within the ranks of the Left; people who did not want their lives to stand out from the many, but who fought with them for a better tomorrow; people who stood out however by their sacrifice. They stand out because at the critical moment they remained faithful to the ideals and values of democracy and freedom and because they fought against the betrayal and treachery that the enemies of Cyprus ordered.
Today we honour and pay a humble due tribute to Yiorgos Hadjistefani, Achilleas Kourtellis, Yiorgos Charalambous and Andreas Theodosiou. Four heroic figures who resisted, together with other democratic citizens, the tanks and the foreign-inspired coupists of the Greek Junta and EOKA B, who sacrificed their lives defending Democracy, elected President Archbishop Makarios, democratic legality and the constitutional order.
Yiorgos Hadjistefani was 46 years old, a construction worker and member of AKEL. He was married to Andriana Georgiou Hadjistefani and had three daughters: Anna, Nitsa and Dora. He was a quiet family man. He felt the problems faced by the common people as his own. He worked hard for a living wage and was trying to meet his family’s needs.
On that black morning of 15th July 1974, hearing the news about the coup, he left with his van from his beloved family’s home to take to the streets to inform the people that “Makarios is alive” , calling on the people to resist the coup. He never returned to his home…
With him in his van was Andreas Theodosiou 14 years old who was the youngest of the three children of Theodosi and Petros Theodosiou. He became a member of EDON, the youth organization of AKEL, when at school. That day he felt it was his duty to go along with the others. His mother unsuccessfully tried to persuade him not to go. His father was one of the first to board the cars onto the streets, but he had no idea that his young son would be following him. The machine gun fire put an end to the life of 14-year-old Andreas, the youngest victim of the coup d’état. The complaint of his parents bitter, given that they themselves had to dig their own child’s grave, since the fascists three times threw them out of the cemetery.
Achilleas Kourtellis was 24 years old, the youngest son of a large family of seven. He just got married and worked as a roaming street seller to make ends meet. A young man who distinguished himself for his hard work and ethos, nurtured and raised in the principles and values of EDON, of which he was a member. Achilleas considered it his duty that morning to participate with everybody else in the struggle to defend Democracy. The coupist’s weapons turned against him.
Yiorgos Charalambous was 17 years old, the fifth of six children of Charalambos and Adrianas Charalambous. Yiorgos, from a young age, joined the ranks of EDON and from an early age went to work, working as a carpenter. He, like his brothers, had deep in his conscience the concern for the common people. That’s what their parents had taught them. Despite the poverty and hardships, his faith and devotion to AKEL and EDON was a way of life for the whole family.
On that black July day, Yiorgos was at his work. On hearing the news about the coup, he left for his house and then found himself in the square. Along with others he got into one of the cars to convey the message of resistance. He was murdered at the age of just 17.
On the 15th July 1974, there was no way the four heroes would have chosen to be on the wrong side when confronted with the dilemma democracy or fascism, or to yield in the face of the dangers to their lives from the criminal action of the coup. They took to the streets of Larnaca to join their own voice with those of other democratic citizens. Without hesitation, but with strong mental vigor. Their resistance was not some spontaneous momentary act, but a conscious decision stemming from the principles and values they were taught within the ranks of AKEL, EDON, PEO and the wider People’s Movement of the Left.
We lay these wreaths yet another year paying tribute to the sacrifice of our people’s heroes. Real heroes who did not care for their lives.
We undertake the sacred obligation to vindicate the sacrifices we are honoring today. Let’s make sure these sacrifices weren’t made in vain.
We cannot and must not allow their sacrifice to wither away with the last tear of the mourning mother, nor to be forgotten with the passage of time.
(….)
Dear friends and family,
The many years of unsuccessful efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, Turkey’s military superiority, its powerful NATO patrons and allies, Turkish intransigence, the frustration with the mistakes and prevalence of expediencies or extreme approaches in the Greek Cypriot side, in no way should lead us to abandon the struggle for the reunification of our island.
On the contrary, no matter the difficulties and obstacles in our way, it is our minimal duty towards our heroes who sacrificed their lives for the defense of democracy, independence and freedom of Cyprus, never to compromise with the occupation and partition.
Looking towards the generations to come, aware of the heavy responsibility towards our homeland and people, it is imperative that we do not lower, but keep up high the flag of the reunification and liberation of our island.
The debt to those who have fallen, but also the heavy responsibility towards future generations, demands that we continue the struggle to heal the wounds in the body of Cyprus and to at long last lead our island and people to a secure and prosperous future.
May the memory of Yiorgos Hadjistefani, Achilleas Kourtellis, Yiorgos Charalambous and Andreas Theodosiou be eternal!
Honour and glory to our heroes!