Speech by the General Secretary of AKEL S.Stefanou at the memorial service for the fallen and the missing of the Turkish invasion organised by AKEL Party Organisation of Kiti

 

Sunday 23 July 2023, Kiti

We are here today as pilgrims of the memory and struggles of our heroes, fallen and missing persons.

Demetris Vrakas, who ran to defend his homeland, leaving behind his wife and three children. He lost his life fighting as a true patriot for his homeland whose freedom and territorial integrity was threatened by the invading Turkish army of Attila.

Costas Fotiou who resisted the coup, fighting for democracy. And a few days later, without hesitation, he rushed to fight the invaders, falling heroically fighting. His beloved wife and his only son, whom he left behind, searched for his whereabouts for over three decades until his remains were found in a mass grave.

Giorgos Ttooulos who died heroically in the battles of Lapithos. For years no one had heard from him until his remains were located and identified forty years after the invasion. He was buried in Aradippou.

Savvaki Savvas, who fought the invaders valiantly on the Pentadaktylos mountain range and fell there, shedding his blood in the struggle for the freedom of his homeland. His remains were found buried in a mass grave in occupied Bogazi and were interred just four years ago.

Petros Petrou who, along with his fellow soldiers, fought in the great battle of Ayios Georgios and was eventually enclaved in Kyrenia where he was captured by Turkish soldiers. His fate was unknown until 2007 when his remains were found and buried in the free areas.

We honor the memory of Andreas Matsangos who was murdered by the Turkish army leaving behind a wife and two children to search for him for years, until 2015 when his remains were found and identified in a mass grave.

We honor the memory of Efstathios and Ioanni Efstathiou, father and son who were murdered in cold blood by the Turkish army a few days after the outbreak of the second phase of the Turkish invasion.

We are here to reaffirm that we demand, assert and struggle for the determination of the fate of all our missing persons.

The fate of Kakoullou Costas, mother of five children, who was trapped in Aphania and Turkish soldiers, after shooting her, took her away from her daughter, allegedly to take her to the doctor, and since then her traces have been missing.

The fate of Panagiotis Sofroniou Christoforou, a construction worker and trade unionist of our class trade union federation of PEO, who, despite the persecution he suffered during the coup by EOKA B coupists who were hunting him, immediately ran to defend our country when the invasion occurred. Since then his wife and three children have not known what happened to their beloved Panagiotis.

The longing to know what happened to their loved one also weighs on the family of Ioanni Theodorou, who perished fighting bravely against the invader at Lapithos and Karavas.

The same applies to the family of Thomas Thomaides, about whom all that his family knows to this day is that he fought with his battalion in the area of Trachoni Kythrea where he was wounded.

Compatriots,

Fifty years after the double crime committed by NATO, the Greek Junta and EOKA B, which carved our land with barbed wire, filled it with mass graves, refugee settlements, pain and our people’s uprooting as refugees, we are still burying heroes.

We are still searching for their traces, still waiting for redemption and vindication.

It is precisely for this reason that almost fifty years later, we insist on speaking with the voice of truth about the betrayal and the crime committed, the consequences of which were and are being paid by the thousands of refugees, the entire Cypriot people, generations of Cypriots living in a de facto partitioned Cyprus. Because we know very well that they did not act “naively” or “foolishly” as some people have been suggesting to this day.

The coup that opened the door to the Turkish invasion was a conscious and premeditated crime, prepared long before in the NATO headquarters with the participation of Turkey and the military junta of Greece. The coup was carried out by the Greek Junta and EOKA B, acting as the executive organs of NATO imperialism.

If we insist to this day on reminding ourselves of this, it is because we believe that history should be taught, but also that it should teach. Because we believe that memorials and commemorations are meaningful when they serve as an occasion for reflection. Because it is our conviction that the blood shed for the freedom of our country must not be wasted and must be vindicated.

The only real honor to the memory of our heroes is the continuation of our struggle for a free and reunited Cyprus.

Real vindication of their sacrifice means no compromise with the occupation, with partition, with the remaining occupation troops in Cyprus. Half a century onwards, we have to see things clearly. Without any distorting lenses. Without any illusions. Without any deceptions.

What kind of homeland do we want to hand over to future generations?

Do we want a homeland that will be threatened every day by the long arm of Ankara?

A homeland divided, marked by barbed wire?

A people whose human rights and freedoms are being violated by Turkey?

Every day that passes by with Cyprus divided and semi-occupied, the survival of our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, in the land that gave birth to them is increasingly being threatened. Time is running out mercilessly. We are living through the longest stalemate ever in the history of the negotiation procedure on the Cyprus problem, while the Turkish side is now officially promoting the unacceptable twostate solution while reinforcing the partitionist fait accompli on the ground.

AKEL has long been putting forward its comprehensive positions on how we as the Greek Cypriot side and the Republic of Cyprus in general should proceed.

Our positions are based on three pillars:

First, continuing negotiations from the point where they were suspended in 2017 on the basis of the Guterres Framework, preserving the convergences reached after many efforts over many years.

Second, to formulate a positive agenda focusing on the energy situation in the region and Cypriot natural gas, without violating our “red lines”.

Thirdly, promoting a package of measures to support the Turkish Cypriot community on the part of the Republic of Cyprus.

We believe that by doing so we can convince the UN Secretary General to take a new initiative to resume the negotiations and to reach a comprehensive solution on the basis of the solution of Bizonal, Bicommunal Federation with political equality as outlined in the relevant Resolutions of the UN.

At this point we have reached, there is no time to lose.

We have an obligation to make use of every opportunity to create opportunities to build momentum for a solution to the Cyprus problem. Of course, this is not an easy task. But we must do so with seriousness, rationalism and realism based on principles. Far from big empty talk, rhetoric and communication tricks and games

Compatriots,

Every July, memory comes to worship the sacrifice of the heroes of our homeland.

Every July we relive the memories that have never vanished.

War, death, uprooting, suffering.

Thousands of our people with a suitcase in hand, hunted. Brave young men who embraced their mother and promised her they would return. But they didn’t. Entire families who were wiped out. Hands shaking, clutching a black and white photograph and going around Cyprus asking, searching, waiting for their beloved ones.

Our small homeland has lived and is living a great tragedy.

We have a heavy and sacred duty towards our dead heroes to put an end to this tragedy.

We have a heavy and sacred duty to our dead heroes to put an end to this disaster.

We have a duty to the missing and their relatives to continue our efforts to determine the fate of each and every one of our missing persons, regardless of the current state of the Cyprus problem. The issue of the missing persons is a profoundly humanitarian one and is not subject to any political or other expediency.

We have a heavy and sacred duty to our children and grandchildren to live in another Cyprus. For those who are gone. For those who will come. We are struggling to the end for a free, reunited Cyprus, home to all its children.

Glory and honor to our heroes!

Eternal memory of those who perished!