Christodoulides: No matter how hard some people try, we do not forget
President Nikos Christodoulides on Sunday said that “no matter how hard some people try and would like us to, we do not forget” Turkey’s invasion of the island in 1974.
Speaking at an event to commemorate the 66th anniversary of the Battle of Liopetri Barn and the four Eoka fighters who were killed by British forces during the battle, he said “we have not shied away from the obligation to liberate and reunify this place.
“We have no choice but to work with all our might to find a viable and workable solution to our national issue.”
He added, “we are fighting in every way and by every means, despite the adverse conditions, the constant challenges, and the Turkish side’s negative attitude, to once again open the pathway to a solution. We cannot allow ourselves to relax, to rest, to repent, or to give up the effort.”
On the matter of the Battle of Liopetri Barn, he said the four Eoka fighters who died, Fotis Pittas, Andreas Karios, Elias Papakyriakou, and Christos Samaras “are no longer ordinary names, nor the names of ordinary Eoka fighters.
“These four names have now passed into the realm of legend. Besides, the Battle of Liopetri Barn was recorded in the history of liberation struggles worldwide and is one of the most magnificent moments in the history of the fight of Cypriot Hellenism, and of Hellenism in general.”
He added, “from a very early age, they stood out for their patriotism and pure faith, they were characterised by their strong desire for freedom, self-determination, and union with mother Greece, and they were among the first to join Eoka’s ranks.”
“In their minds and hearts, the love for the country was dominant, they lived and breathed with the vision of freedom, self-determination, and union with mother Greece,” he said.
Moving back to modern times, he said his government “strongly feels the responsibility towards our history, to the fighters of this place’s most glorious and selfless struggle, towards today’s challenges and modern realities.
“Faithful to our promise and debt towards our homeland and its citizens, faithful to the example and legacy of the heroes and fighters during our liberation struggle, we cannot keep quiet and compromise with the Turkish occupation.”
“I have a strong conviction that we have an obligation to speak to our children and the new generation about Eoka, about the Liopetri Barn, about the struggles and sacrifices of all those who gave their lives for the Republic of Cyprus to exist today,” he said.
He added, “virtue and boldness require deep knowledge, knowledge first of all of yourself, that is, of your real history. Something like this in no way works negatively towards efforts to solve the Cyprus problem, since the viability of a possible solution passes largely through each person’s historical identity.”