Tassos Markou: "Only over our corpses will the enemy pass" (VIDEO)

"Only the enemy will pass over our corpses. Tassos Markou is not going to back down. He will stay here ".

This was the response of the hero Tassos Markos to the chiefs of staff of GEEF when he was called to retreat from Mia Milia, thus reflecting the size of the man and his youth.

The diary read August 14, 1974. At 4:35 a.m., a buzzing airplane was heard flying low over a fence, firing into an adjacent area. Heavy gunfire ensued.

Tassos's friend and colleague, then captain Andreas Stylianidis, described 2016 on SigmaLive in a report by Petra Argyrou in the darkest colors of the day. "The word hell is too short to describe the situation that prevailed. You could only see five to 10 meters in front of you from the dust, the explosions and the air. That was the main effort of the Turks. And in the main effort, the opponent that he has and has not sent them to you. We did not even have an anti-tank. We had a PAO 106. Nothing else. Tassos did not even have anti-tank weapons in his hands, which the commanders usually have to help us. They did not give him anything. It was only with our body and some sniper rifles that we had ".

Tassos Markou, with the few means at his disposal, was literally fighting to keep the area. The only way to stop the Turkish hordes was from the height of the outpost 12. In vain, however. Around 10 in the morning the outpost had already been occupied by the Turks.

The moments are dramatic. The countdown had begun… The Turkish war machine splits the front, which many were seen to abandon in awe of Turkish supremacy.

An hour later, hundreds of Turkish soldiers had besieged the area.

Tassos Markou expels all the men he had left and he confronts history. According to the testimonies of his competitors, Tasos stayed. He became one with his oath. Ή when or on… From that day, on the 14th of August 1974, on the eve of the Virgin Mary, his fate is ignored.

Tasos brothers for the hero Markos:

Who was Tassos Markou?

Tassos Markou was born on September 18, 1936 in Paralimni. He was the eldest son of Melis Markos and Maria Xiourou, who was to honor his name and origin.

He grew up in Varosi, where his large family had moved for a better life. Poor child. At the desks in the morning, at the day job in the afternoon. Separate. Decent, with a proverbial openness and dear. Praxitelis's Hermes was characterized by the girls and not unjustly, as his photographs show.

However, Tasos, apart from being a good student, was also a good athlete. First in the pan-Cypriot competitions in javelin and archery. He won the Sunday award, a big deal for the season.

"He did not count money and grades," say his classmates and friends. But he had a clear goal. The School of Guards. He succeeded. So did his son Paris, years later, following in his father's footsteps.

May 1955. "I swear in the name of the Holy Trinity I will fight with all my might for the liberation of Cyprus (…)". Tassos, then 19 years old, a graduate of the Greek High School of Famagusta, enters the liberation struggle of EOKA and as the author of his biography, Panos Myrtiotis aptly points out, becomes one with his oath. An oath, which he honored to the end.

Tassos Markou is betrayed for injuring two English officers and the Organization is forced to flee him to Greece. There, after endless hours of work and reading, he finally manages to enter the School of Guards. In Athens he wins over the student community with his emblematic personality and honesty. He is closely following the developments in Cyprus and is leading the massive rallies on the occasion of Makarios' exile in the Seychelles. In the autumn of 1958, however, shocked by the sacrifice of Kyriakos Matsis (November '58) and the "4" of the Barn (September '58), he "popped" out of the School and returned to Cyprus.

By order of Chief Digenis, he takes over the Administration of the Kythreas Sector under the pseudonym "Gouras". From the very first days, it inspires confidence and gains the respect of the fighters. His action is described with awe by his competitors.

"I did not come to fight to get paid"

With the end of the match and shortly after the signing of the Zurich-London agreements, Tassos is looking for ways to return to his School. The financial impasses, however, weighed on him. He is offered to ask for a scholarship from the Archbishop, but he refuses, saying “I did not come to Cyprus to fight and get paid. I came to honor my homeland! ”

Arrogant, proud…

With loans and avoiding to ask for help from the state, he returns to Athens, where he is accepted back to the School of Guards. In August '59 he took the oath of office as a Greek officer.

The answer to Digenis

In the meantime, the Leader of EOKA asks its leaders to send a written report on their activities. Tasos of modesty and high sense of duty politely refuses, replying to Digenis: “What I did, Chief, was an obligation to my homeland. So I have nothing to say about myself. "

In 1961, after serving on the Greek-Bulgarian border, he returned to Cyprus and joined the then newly formed Cypriot army as a captain.

A love is born

In January 1962, Tassos met the beautiful Mary Delipher, who stole his heart. Her kindness, her nobility and the subtlety of her character win him over immediately. A year later he leads her to the steps of the Church and their wedding is one of the greatest secular events in Nicosia. The best man is Polykarpos Giorkatzis.

Mary Delifer Markou proves to be a worthy companion in the varied life of Tasos. In the turbulent period of '63 he gives them their first child, Andri, while a few years later Paris is born.

1963 - A leader is born

Before the ink of the signing of the Zurich-London Agreements dried up, a group of Turkish Cypriot fanatics were implementing secret armaments plans, waiting for the right opportunity to proceed with the dismemberment ("taxim"). Greek-Cypriot-Turkish Cypriot relations began to escalate, culminating in the capture of the Turkish ship "Deniz", which was carrying weapons and ammunition.

During the Turkish invasion in December 1963, Tassos Markou became a leading figure in the defense of Nicosia. He takes over as head of the Order of the capital and is called upon to transform the defense plan "Akritas" into action. Through dramatic moments he emerges as a charismatic leader and a brave warrior.

The Tasos of democracy

The violent takeover of power in Greece by the colonels finds Tassos Markou the opposite. Tassos, a man full of Greece, considers it unthinkable to cooperate and serve the occupiers of the dictatorship.

His attitude bothers the GEEF, which had been turned into a stronghold of the junta. However, although the shadow of the junta follows him everywhere, he does not hesitate to express his hatred. The junta officers try to deconstruct him and expel him from the National Guard. Tassos, however, of justice and democracy resists and clashes head-on with the dictatorship.

In 1972, together with other Cypriot officers, he prevented an early coup against Makarios, with the leak of a conspiratorial document.

At the beginning of 1973, the situation with EOKA B 'got out of control and Makarios decided to set up a special police group (Reserve), with the condition of order to dismantle the illegality. He chooses Tassos Markou as head, but he rejects the proposal, believing that his presence in the National Guard was more necessary under the circumstances.

From the 20th of July until the 14th of August, the day of his unknown course, Tassos Markou writes history. Alone, helpless, betrayed, like all of Cyprus.

Source: SigmaLive / Republished part of older SigmaLive publications from the great research of Petra Argyros.