Nicosia, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides attended a Wednesday morning memorial service for those killed during the 1974 coup d’état at the Saints Constantinos and Eleni church in Nicosia. Archbishop Georgios and House President Annita Demetriou were also present.
Memorial address
Former Edek MP Kostis Efstathiou delivered the memorial speech, paying tribute to those who “remained forever young” and describing them as “the proud guardians of the borders of freedom and democracy”.
He said those killed during the coup were “the first of the twin calamities” preceding the Turkish invasion, which followed. He described the coup as an “unforgivable and criminal act” tantamount to treason.
Efstathiou said the coup “gave Turkey the pretext it was seeking to intervene in Cyprus” and was directed not only against the constitutional order, but also against democracy, legality and the Cypriot people.
“The worst thing is that it turned Greek against Greek, arming and ordering one to turn against his brother, his fellow villager, and his friend,” he said.
Call to honour victims
Efstathiou said those killed during the coup should be honoured through deeds rather than words, adding that monuments bearing their names are a constant reminder of the debt owed to historical memory.
Cyprus problem
Addressing the current Cyprus problem, Efstathiou said Turkey seeks the Turkification of Cyprus and that honouring those killed during the coup and invasion requires resistance to such plans.
“We must prioritise the fight for liberation and shore up our defence – democratically, nationally, politically, spiritually, culturally, and, of course, in terms of our armed defence,” he said.
He said there could be no sustainable solution that is unjust, illiberal and undemocratic, and that the Cypriot people should not give up their guaranteed rights.
“It is not the renunciation of the right to freedom which constitutes realism, but its assertion,” he said. “The goal should be a free and democratic Cyprus for all Cypriots, without dividing lines, in conditions of equality and egalitarianism.”