For brave men like Nikolas Hadjistavrou, "we must continue to fight for the determination of the fate of the last of our missing persons," said the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for the Missing and Imprisoned, Anna Aristotelous, yesterday.
Delivering the funeral oration at the Holy Church of Agios Panteleimon in Makedonitissa, Nicosia, Mrs. Aristotelous said that Nikolas Hadjistavrou, whose bones were identified with the DNA method, belongs to that generation of young people who, in adolescence, looked to the future with dreams and optimism. Born in 1948, at the age of 12 he saw the Republic of Cyprus being born and felt like all children his age that this was something that, if nothing else, would allow him to have a better life than that of his parents and ancestors .
He grew up, served in the National Guard, became an electrician, got a job at the Water Development Department and started his own family. With his wife Anna, they had a daughter and were expecting their second child. Their son, whom, unfortunately, Nikolas was not to see being born. Nikolas hurried and was assigned to the reserve in the 70th Engineer Battalion, where in the end he also fought a parallel battle that was written in history, the epilogue of which we are called to write today, he said.
Almost half a century after the tragedy of 1974, the cycle of uncertainty and drama experienced by his family is definitively closed. Nikolas Hadjistavrou returns to his family who did not have time to rejoice. "He returns immortal with the rest of his brave comrades of the 70th Engineer Battalion," he said.
Mrs. Aristotelous said that "we must preserve the memory of Nikolas and pass on to the new generation his self-sacrifice as an example of bravery." At the same time, he noted, "it is our duty to ensure the vindication of his self-sacrifice, continuing the struggle for liberation from the Turkish occupation, for liberation and reunification".
Source: KYPE