South Nicosia paid a heavy blood tax in ’64 – ’74, said A. Aristotelous – Her message at the “Event of Remembrance and Honor of the Fallen and Missing Heroes of 1974 and those killed in 1964 and 1974 of Idalio, Alhambra, Lymbia, Nissou, Pera Chorio and Potamia”
The 59 stories of people we honor today, each one like a piece of a mosaic, creates the tragic image of the events of 1974 and 1963-1964, said the Head of Humanitarian Issues of the Missing and Imprisoned, Anna Aristotelous, at the “Event of Memory and Honor of the Fallen and Missing Heroes of 1974 and those killed in 1964 and 1974 Idaliou, Alhambra, Lymion, Nisou, Pera Chorio and Potamia” last night.
The area of South Nicosia – Idalio, as it is called after the TA reform, said Ms. Aristotelous at the event held in the Municipality's auditorium, paid a heavy blood tax, with 59 victims in total, who “started from the communities of the area, fought with the enemy and wrote their name in golden letters on one of the most tragic pages of Cypriot history”. He noted that such events remind us of the heavy legacy that our heroes and their families bequeath to new generations, keeping their memory indelible and immortal over the years. “It is our duty to ensure that their sacrifice continues to be honored. Our promise is that we will continue unceasingly and consistently, with all our strength, until the fate and fate of our last missing person is ascertained”.
Mrs. Aristotelous stated that 50 years of occupation is a long time and finally Turkey and the occupying regime should cooperate in such a way that the open wounds of the invasion, after a delay of several decades, at least heal. “Because as time passes, the wounds deepen for the entire Cypriot Hellenism, proving that the traces of history neither fade nor are erased. Every story that remains unresolved is an open wound, and we will not stop fighting for the truth and return, to justify the struggle and sacrifice of all these people, but also of the people who have been living in exile for half a century, carrying all the humanitarian wounds and extensions of this tragedy”.
Anna Aristotelous was mentioned in all 59 cases, some of which had their bones located, identified and buried, while some others were not. He made a special mention of the 305th Infantry Battalion, based in Dali, who fell fighting in the Mias Milia – Koutsoventi defense line, during the second phase of the Turkish invasion, on August 14, 1974.
Of the 31 reservists of the 305th Infantry Battalion, who lived in the communities that make up the new South Nicosia Municipality of Idali, 15 have been identified to date, while the fate of the remaining 16 is unknown, he noted.
Another group of heroes from the communities of South Nicosia, he said, are the 18-year-old soldiers serving their term in the 286th Infantry Battalion in Kokkinotrimithia, which was involved in battles with Turkish troops in the area of Agios Ermolaos. And during the unhooking they reached the area of Agia Marina Skylloura, where they fought a new battle with the Turkish troops.
Another small heroic group of young people from the area, in the midst of the tragic events of 1974, were serving the term in the 361st Infantry Battalion based in Synghari, he said.
Another select group of heroes honored yesterday, Ms. Aristotelous said, are those who sacrificed themselves for the country, a decade before the Turkish invasion of 1974. “The Dalits Michalis Solomontos, Georgios Eikosaris and Dimitris Hamatsos. Giorgos Xenophontos and Stavrakis Christodoulou, from Pera Chorio Nissou and Nissou. All of them gave their lives during the tour,” he said.
The reference to each of our heroically fighting fallen and missing is done to remind everyone of the debt and responsibility that belongs to them. us to keep their memory indelible, said Anna Aristotelous saying that “today's call is an act of responsibility” and congratulated the organizers of the event for it.
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