The gospel and the oath were kept in a special place in the old Greek Parliament. The relics were handed over to the Minister of Education Costas Kadis, by Mr. Homer, in the crowded session hall of the Plenary Session of the Parliament, in the presence of the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis and the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostom, two former Speakers of the Greek Parliament of Greece. and fighters.
The historical, sacred relics were initially handed over to the Speaker of Parliament with a long-term loan at a ceremony held at the Palace of the old Greek Parliament on Stadiou Street, during the official visit of Mr. Homer to Athens in June 2015 by the Secretary General of Historical and National Company of Greece Ioannis Mazarakis, leaving it to the judgment of the Speaker of Parliament to propose the institution to which custody would be assigned.
"I could only choose, for this purpose, the EOKA Struggle Museum 1955-59, in Nicosia, which preserves intact the memory of that beautiful and pure struggle, passing it on to the new generations," said the Speaker of Parliament in a speech. of during the delivery ceremony.
According to the Speaker of Parliament, the first persistent discussions on armed resistance against the British occupation began in the Cypriot circles of Athens, led by the brothers - exiles of the British from Cyprus - lawyers Savva and Socrates Loizidis, from Diko. After the Archbishop of Cyprus, Ethnarch Makarios, approached first and agreed with the idea, the informal initiation of other members, Cypriots and Greeks, followed.
He added that the efforts were formalized on March 7, 1953, in Athens, with the swearing in of the leaders to undertake a struggle for the liberation of Cyprus.
The Speaker of Parliament further stated that the swearing in took place before Archbishop Makarios, in the apartment of the professor of the Theological School, Gerasimos Konidaris, on the third floor of the apartment building at 46b Asklipiou Street, in Exarchia.
He went on to say that in addition to Archbishop Makarios, the relevant minutes were signed by Georgios Stratos, former minister, professors of the University of Athens Gerasimos Konidaris, and Dimitrios Vezanis, brothers Savvas and Socrates Loistidis by Papistas (Straptos Georgios Grivas and Antonios Avgikos, Elias Alexopoulos, Dimitrios Stavropoulos and Elias Tsatsomiros.
"Of the twelve who signed the protocol, seven were present at the swearing-in, with the obvious archetype of the ritual being the Friendly Society and the revolution of 1821", he said to list the events as recorded by Konidaris, based on which, the decision for The swearing in took place at the end of February 1953, when the preparation for the fight had begun with the sending of weapons and organization to Cyprus.
"The swearing in took place in an intense atmosphere of emotion. "Archbishop Makarios put his hand on the part of the heart and read the oath, phrase by phrase, which was repeated by those present who had laid their hands on the Gospel, a New Testament, which was roughly taken from the library of Konidaris", continued the Mr. Homer.
The Speaker of the Parliament then read the oath which is the following: "I swear in the name of the Holy and Homosexual and Indivisible Trinity to guard sacrificing my own life, suffering and the most severe sufferings, secret all that I know and want to hear about the case of the Union of Cyprus. I will blindly obey the relevant requirements. In Athens on March 7, 1953. "
And here are the twelve signatures, he added.
Mr. Omirou also mentioned that Professor Gerasimos Konidaris handed over the gospel and the oath to the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece, from where on the initiative of Ioannis Mazarakis-Ainianos and with the mediation of the associate professor of the University of Cyprus, Petros Papados, same to transport them to the island.
"I transported them from Athens with awe, pride and respect and as a symbolic gift, in difficult times for Hellenism, of the unbreakable ties of Cyprus and Greece that were forged in the common desires and struggles for freedom and I hand them over to the Minister of Education and Culture Costas Kadi to be exhibited in a special showcase at the Museum of Struggle, next to the other historical items of the struggle of the Greeks of Cyprus for freedom and self-determination - union with Greece, of 1955-1959 ", he stated, to conclude by stating that his Hellenism Cyprus will welcome with great warmth and emotion these historical relics, symbols of faith and struggle, as a source of inspiration and mental uplift in the difficult and barren conditions we are going through today.
The Minister of Education said that the national liberation struggle of EOKA may not have led to the achievement of the basic goal of self-determination and union with Greece, but it did lead to the end of colonialism and the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus. He added that "today, six whole decades after those heroic years, a large part of our island is still under the weight of the Turkish occupation and a corresponding part of our people are refugees in their own homeland."
Further observing that the Cypriot Hellenism continues to experience blatant violation of its basic human rights and deprivation of fundamental freedoms, he said that it remains standing and continues the struggle for freedom and return to the homeland. He also noted that the goal of our side always remains to achieve a fair, functional and sustainable solution, with political and economic stability, with guaranteed freedoms and rights for all its legal residents.
"We want a Cyprus that utilizes its European identity and promotes progress in all areas of development, a Cyprus a factor of peace and stability in this sensitive corner of the globe," Kadis continued.
Concluding, he said that the Gospel and the Oath of Allegiance will be kept from today, with all due respect, at the EOKA Struggle Museum 1955-59 and will complement the invaluable collection of the sacred relics of that beautiful struggle. He warmly thanked the President of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece Dionysios Angelos Minotos for the initiative to grant these sacred relics with long-term borrowing in our country and Mr. Homerou who received them, pointing out at the same time the Museum1955 Agos59 most suitable storage space.
Source: KYPE
Photos: Giannis Nisiotis