Today is a day of remembrance that should never be erased, said the President of the Republic Nikos Anastasiadis after the memorial service for those who died during the coup in defense of legality and democracy, at the Church of Saints Constantine and Helen and the trishagio that followed.
"Today is a day of remembrance that should never be erased because the betrayal of the junta and its collaborators here brought an untold disaster to Cyprus. "Therefore, everyone should be taught from what preceded, what followed, how much some Greek-speakers were carrying out orders of foreign forces for the benefit of a specific country", said the President of the Republic.
The commemorative speech was said by the former Speaker of Parliament Giannakis Omirou, who stated that "it is a heavy responsibility and the unbearable debt to address the speech today, July 15, 2021. Much more at the memorial of heroes and martyrs of the resistance 47 years later".
As he put it, forty-seven years later "the necessary national popular unity is not being built by erasing national crimes such as the treacherous coup, but by preserving authentic and true historical memory to instructively illuminate the present and the future."
Referring to the fallen, Mr. Homer said that "we give a report and a message in this annual report that we will never reconcile with the distortion of the meaning of their wonderful sacrifice. And we assure them that with the knowledge of the historical truth and with the awareness of the debt we will fight for the removal of the consequences of the betrayal. A betrayal organized by foreign conspiracy centers in collaboration with internal bridges and of which our people were a tragic victim. "
He owed us, in relation to their own sacrifice, to continue the resistance today, to continue the struggle, for a solution that will not legitimize the occupation data but will abolish it, which will not be based on circumvention, but on securing the rights and basic ensuring the unity of the state, the people, the space, the institutions and the economy, based on the principle of democracy. A principle, as he said, that is completely compatible and nowhere does it oppose the functioning of the Federation.
"Solution without barbed wire, dividing walls, foreign armies, settlers and tribal divisions. Because we do not compromise with half a homeland. We want and will fight for a free homeland for all. "All the legal residents of Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots," he added.
At the same time, he stated that "our duty today towards our history and culture is to prevent with every effort and every sacrifice the consolidation of the perpetrators of the invasion and the obsession with a solution that will be functional and sustainable and will stand the test of time. The solution of the Cyprus problem is the top priority and our greatest debt to the people and the homeland ".
Cyprus, he added, cannot and should not remain the only divided country in Europe. Europe cannot tolerate the presence of an occupying army on its doorstep in an EU member state. Nor can the EU, with repeated wishes that Turkey grossly despises, express its solidarity with a member state.
Finally, Mr. Omirou referred to "our duty to reject Turkey's fraudulent demands for a two-state solution and a confederation and to face decisively and effectively the plans for the settlement of Famagusta, the further militarization of occupied Cyprus and the invasion of the EEZ." ..
After the memorial service, a trisagion was performed at the monument of the fallen and victims of the coup in the cemetery of Constantine and Helen, where wreaths were laid by the President of the Republic, Archbishop Chrysostomos II, the Speaker of Parliament Annita Dimitriou, the Leader of the National the Chief of Police, current and former officials, leaders and representatives of parties, unions and organizations, as well as relatives of the victims and victims of the coup
In memory of those who lost their lives in the coup, a minute's silence was observed, while the ceremony closed with the rebuttal of the National Anthem.