On the morning of Sunday, October 17, 2021, at the Metropolitan Church of Agios Georgios in Paralimni, the annual memorial service for the people of Paralimni ended in peace during the national liberation struggle of EOKA 55-59 as well as the ten-year memorial service of the Metropolitan.
The Divine Liturgy and the memorial service were presided over by the local Metropolitan Vassilios. The commemorative speech was delivered by the Speaker of the Parliament Annita Dimitriou.
This is the Memorial Speech of the Speaker of the House of Representatives Annita Dimitriou at the national memorial of EOKA fighters 1955-1959
"Paying tribute to the great defining moments of history, to the struggles and their protagonists, anonymous and anonymous, is undoubtedly an urgent debt of the state, especially today when our country is still experiencing moments of national ordeal and facing risks of survival.
With feelings of national pride, we honor today here in the community of Paralimni the fighters of EOKA 1955-1959, who with absolute faith in the idea of freedom participated in the great struggle against the British Empire.
April 1, 1955, as a historic moment of questioning foreign tyranny, was the great and decisive leap of the Hellenism of Cyprus to claim its self-determination and national independence.
Without the national liberation revolution against the British colonialists, Cypriot Hellenism would not exist today as a national entity.
I warmly thank the EOKA Paralimni Fighters Association 1955-1959 for the invitation and the honor to deliver the memorial speech for those who were wanted, political prisoners, sentenced to prison in the United Kingdom, for those who risked their lives or hosted guests at home. contributed to the struggle of EOKA as members of the Political Committee of the Cyprus Struggle (PEKA) and the Alkimos Youth EOKA (ANE).
The initiation of the people of Paralimni into EOKA began before the start of the national liberation struggle in April 1955, immediately after the arrest of the sailing ship "Agios Georgios" in January of the same year in Chloraka. Famagusta was headed by Grigoris Afxentiou, who from the Anorthosis building, together with the fighter Antonis Papadopoulos, organized the match and the action teams of the area.
Founding members of the EOKA team in Paralimni were Kokos Evangelou, Demosthenes Katsouris and Loizos Loizidis, who organized two groups of young people training them in the use of weapons and ammunition as well as in the construction and use of "Molotov" bombs.
With the establishment of the departments of PEKA and ANE, the substrate was created for the safe conduct of the fight, which included teams of percussion, concealment, guarding and maintenance of weapons and ammunition, announcements by megaphone, printing, transporting and distributing orders and leaflets. .
In the above groups, the contribution of the women of Paralimni was decisive and very honorable, who may not have taken up arms and participated in the ambushes against the British, but they boldly stated that they were present at the call for the salvation of the homeland. The starting point for the women's section of EOKA was the Orthodox Christian Youth Association (OHEN), which helped prepare women for their membership in the organization. The Paralimnitisses undertook with boldness and exemplary self-denial every mission assigned to them. They distributed leaflets, became the eyes and ears of EOKA in the village, informing the Organization about the movements of the British, built shelters in their homes, took care of or kept equipment, but also the fighters and organized theatrical performances with patriotic content.
It is really impossible due to time to list the rich action and all the achievements of the fighters of Paralimni. I am collecting some representative samples:
In September 1955, EOKA Paralimni undertook to attack the local police station, preventing any reinforcements from British troops. The business was a complete success. The fighters managed to take all the weapons and ammunition and transport them to a safe place. This achievement of EOKA was so great that it forced the British newspapers and the BBC to report on the bravery of the fighters who took part in the operation.
In November 1955, members of the Paralimni group blew up the water pumps that supplied water to British camps in Famagusta. They attack with grenades against the Paralimni Police Station and set an ambush against an English patrol.
On October 7, 1956, a British soldier was killed and two others were wounded in an ambush in Laxia.
On March 12, 1958, by order of the leader Digenis, members of the Paralimni and Sotiras teams successfully organize and carry out the escape of four fighters from the Pylas detention center, among them the heroes Andreas Karyos and Fotis Pittas, who in September of the same year fell Liopetriou.
Tassos Markou, one of the most emblematic figures of modern Cypriot history, is a flag bearer in the struggle against the conquerors. With his action in the national liberation struggle of EOKA, in the Turkish invasion of 1963 and in the barbaric Turkish invasion in the tragic July of 1974, he became a timeless model of heroism, virtue and humanity. In December 1958, Kythreas took over the duties of sector commander, while shortly before the end of the struggle, he was appointed by the Digenis commander of the fourth guerrilla group.
Paralimni fighters also successfully served EOKA as deputy chiefs in the areas of Kokkinochoria, Lysis and Karpasia.
Despite the fact that Paralimni was the stronghold of the so-called "terror triangle" by the British, thanks to the quality organizational structure of the fighters, EOKA Paralimni did not mourn the victims. The operations against the British were organized with the compass of the security of the attackers, while the whole community, far from intra-community conflicts and betrayals, stood united and devoted to the sacred purpose of the struggle.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The gratitude of all of us to the lads of EOKA, to the women, to the young people and to the fighters of Paralimni who selflessly contributed to the titanic struggle against the British colonialists is infinite. And the legacy they left us is heavy. The memorial service that we hold today, as every year, on the initiative of the Paralimni Fighters Union 1955-1959, as a minimum tribute to the memory of those who have now ended in peace, reminds us of our debt. Do not underestimate, do not look inferior to them in the promotion and dissemination of pure visions and ideals of the struggle.
With the shaking of the British yoke, the fighters of Paralimni, as well as the other known and unknown fighters throughout the island, laid, with their action and sacrifice, under adverse conditions the foundations for the birth of the Republic of Cyprus.
Today, sixty-six years after that majestic rise of glory and honor and two hundred years after the Greek revolution of 1821, semi-occupied Cyprus still suffers the consequences of the barbaric Turkish invasion with more than 40 Turkish troops directly threatening national survival. and the historical continuity of Cypriot Hellenism. Intimidated outside any framework of legitimacy or European authority, the occupying power now methodically and openly implements its plans with the aim of dividing and creating a Turkish protectorate in Cyprus.
Under its leadership, the Turkish Cypriot side insists on a two-state solution and continues to undermine any prospect of a resumption of a meaningful dialogue, in the context of the United Nations resolutions, in the framework of the negotiating acquis as agreed all these years.
At the same time, Ankara not only continues to provoke and illegally but also expands its illegal actions by constantly carrying out new tactics in Famagusta and creating new ones in the enclosed area, with the obvious goal of its complete settlement.
The challenges continue in the Cypriot EEZ, while it now proceeds to the conquest of the Cape of Apostolos Andreas, turning into a military zone, a huge area despite the occupied Rizokarpaso.
Nevertheless, there is no place and no time for complacency. We must, far from pointless and damaging internal conflicts, continue to work together for a just and lasting solution, based on United Nations resolutions, European principles and values. Because apart from any political or ideological differences, we all agree that the division and perpetuation of the occupation cannot be the fate of this place and this people.
We owe it to the generations to come, but also to the heroic generation of the epic of 55-59. Only in this way will we look worthy, of the fighters of Paralimni, whom we honor today, but also of those who have fought or fallen fighting for the freedom of the homeland.
"We do not eat a lot of carrots."
May their memory be eternal and remember that we have a vision for our place and we will work for it with all our strength for the Cyprus of tomorrow, the Cyprus of security, peace and prosperity.
And remember that big visions never fit in divided homelands.
May the example of their offer be eternal. ”