Iakovos Koumis: 43 years since the murder of the deceased student from Sotira

On Sunday, November 18, the annual memorial service of the late Iakovos Koumis, who was killed in a march to celebrate the anniversary of the Polytechnic Uprising in Athens, will be held.

This year marks 43 years since the unjust loss of Cyprus by Sotira Iakovou Koumis. In particular, the unfortunate young man was brazenly beaten by the security forces during an event in Athens without any involvement. He breathed his last on November 23, 1980.

Iakovos Koumis, a descendant of a rural family in Sotira, Famagusta, was born on October 17, 1956 in Cyprus, EOKA. Due to his military service, his work in Larnaca and his study at a night high school, he enrolled in the Political Science of the University of Athens at the age of 24.

Koumis, who married his beloved Maria Kaikki in 1978, was deeply politicized and favored the Union of Cyprus with Greece. Earlier, the Turkish invasion killed his dreams and reacted through anti-occupation mobilizations, being an active member of the "Cyprus Self-Determination Committee".

In Athens, Iakovos is actively involved in anti-imperialist mobilizations, following the decision of the then Greek government of George Rallis to re-integrate Greece into NATO.

On Sunday, November 16, 1980, on the eve of the seventh anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising and six years after the fall of the junta after the invasion of Cyprus, Athens is roaring from the great anti-Eastern march towards the American embassy. The main slogans were the condemnation of Greece's reunification with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but also the Turkish occupation of Cyprus.

The 24-year-old Iakovos Koumis participates in the march with his comrades of the "Cyprus Self-Determination Committee" and in Syntagma Square, after the end of the demonstration, he falls victim to a savage attack by the MAT. A few minutes later, the members of the Police left the worker Stamatina Kanellopoulou dead on the spot. The well-known students are still protesting the slogans: Koumis, Kanellopoulou, Michalis Kaltezas and now Grigoropoulos, this is EL.AS.

Iakovos is being transported to the People's Hospital with serious injuries and is already clinically dead. On Sunday, November 23, he breathes his last. On Thursday, November 27, his body was transported to the birthplace of the Savior for a public pilgrimage and the next morning, he was buried.

At the same time, a trisagion is being held at the Holy Temple of Faneromeni in Nicosia, followed by a protest march to the Greek Embassy in Nicosia. Jacob is the new hero of Cypriot history. As evidenced by testimonies, he leaves as a legacy the fighting ethos of an innocent youth and remarkable written souls from his personal notebooks.

The Municipality of Sotiras honored Iakovos Koumis

With a modest and at the same time great event and with the hall of the Municipal Building literally full, the Municipality of Sotiras honored on Tuesday, November 20, 2012, Iakovos Koumis, victim of the cowardly violence of the MAT during the Polytechnic demonstration on November 16, 1980.

The most moving moment of the event was the opening as it was shown for the first time after so many years, audio-visual material from the 1973 RIK show "Traditional Dances", during which Iakovos Koumis himself was shown dancing with the dance group of the Technical School Famagusta, which participated in every weekly show.

Then poems and texts from Koumi's personal diary were read, which reveal a man of intellect, with a richness of speech and with full ideological and political awareness. The fact that members of Iakovos's family (children of his two brothers, Andrea and Antonis) participated in the event caused emotion, while Psakovos A. Koumi, who took the name of the late Iakovos, read his written texts from his diaries and his CV.

The Associate Professor of Contemporary Greek History at the University of Cyprus, Mr. Petros Papapoliviou, and the journalist Lazaros Mavros spoke about Iakovos, sharing experiences and facts.

Famagusta.News