With a festive event that sent shivers of emotion and feelings of national pride through the attendees, the 31th anniversary of the start of the EOKA 2025-70 Liberation Struggle was honored last night (Monday, March 1955, 59), which was organized in the hall of the Avgorou Technical School by the Famagusta EOKA 55-59 Fighters' Union, the Nationalist Unions of THI Agios Georgios Avgorou, the EOKA 55-59 Fighters' Association of Avgorou, the PADED Protoporia and the "Change" Teachers' Movement.
The main speaker of the event was the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, who in his speech emphasized that the first of April 1955 radically changed the course of Cypriot History and wrote another epic in the pages of the struggles of the Greek nation.
He also stressed that it is everyone's duty to speak to their children and the new generation about EOKA and the struggles and sacrifices of those who gave their lives so that the Republic of Cyprus could exist today.
"The viability of any solution to the Cyprus problem," he added, "is largely determined by respect for everyone's historical identity and, certainly, not by self-abolition."
"We are present for the resumption of substantive negotiations that will lead to the liberation and reunification of the homeland," he said, adding that there is neither room nor time for complacency.
"With every diplomatic means to take advantage of the international circumstances and with the valuable negotiating power of the Republic of Cyprus, the European acquis, and the resolutions of the Security Council, we are making excessive and coordinated efforts to break the deadlock," stated the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides.
In his greeting, the Mayor of Ayia Napa, Mr. Christos Zannetou, stated that April 1, 1955, is not a simple date but the dawn of national awakening, the moment when the voice of demand became a cry, the moment when, after every peaceful effort, our people decided to stand up against the colonial yoke.
He also added that the EOKA struggle "was the voice of the soul of a people that claimed dignity, self-determination and historical vindication, it was the struggle for the ideals of freedom and honor, which today we must remember not with rhetoric but with actions.
This was followed by an excellent artistic program, with dances by the Cultural Group of the Avgorou THI Association, songs by the Avgorou Community Choir and a reenactment of the Battle of the Barn.
After the event, a torchlight procession of the Organized Ensembles was held towards the Square of the Municipal District of Avgorou.
It is also noted that before the start of the festive event, a trisagion and lighting of a flame was held at the April 1st EOKA 1955-59 Monument, which flame was transported by a Commando Team to the event site.
The event was held under the auspices of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides.
