Despite the problems, challenges, and difficulties, we will do everything humanly possible to liberate our homeland and reunite our country, said the President of the Republic, Nicos Christodoulides, on Sunday in his commemorative address at the national memorial service for EOKA hero ’55–’59, Dimitris Charalambous, which took place on Sunday at the Holy Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Limnati.
President Christodoulides also said that “the EOKA struggle led to the most valuable achievement we have attained as a people—it led to the Republic of Cyprus. Our internationally recognized state, a member of the European Union, which just a few months ago proudly presided over the Council of the European Union.”
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Our homeland, said President Christodoulides, has been enduring the consequences of the 1974 Turkish invasion for 52 years now.
“Fifty-two years of ongoing occupation and violations of fundamental human rights. An illegal state of affairs that cannot be the future of our homeland. That is why, from the very first day we assumed governance of the country, we have not wavered in our primary goal, our highest priority: the resumption of talks from the point where they were suspended, with the aim of achieving a sustainable and workable solution,” he added.
President Christodoulides noted that “heroes like Dimitris are not easily found in the pages of our country’s history, and as I often say, it is the great responsibility and duty of all of us— the State, society, and each and every one of us, to keep historical memory alive. “After all,” he added, “knowledge—accurate knowledge of history, as well as of the struggles and sacrifices of our heroes—was essential to the self-evident right to self-determination and freedom.”
And, President Christodoulides continued, no matter how urgent this may sound, these stories must be highlighted and passed down from generation to generation.
“Because, especially in the times in which we live, it is a fundamental prerequisite for ensuring the continuity of our presence in our homeland, the preservation and continuity of our historical and collective memory as Cypriot Hellenism. And our ancestors knew this very well. They may not have called it historical memory; they may not have known how to explain or analyze it. But they lived it as part of their daily lives, as a necessity for survival, as resistance to every threat,” he noted.
They preserved, President Christodoulides emphasized, our identity, religion, language, and traditions intact and managed to endure for centuries under threats, enslavement, and oppression.
“They kept their spirit purely Greek and Christian. That was also the spirit of Dimitrios Charalambous: Greek and Christian. Filled with a longing for freedom, filled with Hellenism, filled with love for his homeland, which, quite naturally, he could not bear to see enslaved. “He could not bear the false promises; he could not bear to see his homeland endure and wait centuries for its freedom,” he added.
He also said that Dimitris Charalambous was a true hard worker, a patriot, a diligent and honest family man, and a union organizer.
“He was a Greek Cypriot who worked hard and stood up for his rights. Together with his distinguished and patriotic wife, Artemis, they had two children and built a beautiful family, which they, of course, raised according to Greek Christian ideals. “He was among the first to join the ranks of EOKA, in the purest, most genuine struggle of this land, and he acted with unparalleled zeal in the area around his village,” he added.
He noted that he joined the struggle, fully aware of the risk, and that his wife also participated, caring for and hiding fighters; their home served as a hideout, and they manufactured explosive devices.
“The whole family was devoted to the struggle. Dimitris, as the leader of the organization throughout the region, was very active. He evaded arrest, took part in ambushes, served as a driver and supplier for guerrilla groups, and did everything he could to resist and send a clear message that the Greeks of Cyprus are fighting for their freedom,” he added.
The President of the Republic said that on October 13, 1957, he was ordered to drive the sector commander from Limnati to the village of Lania, adding that during an ambush by British soldiers, Dimitrios Charalambous breathed his last from British gunfire, while his sector commander managed to escape.
“He gave his homeland and his comrades-in-arms the most precious gift of all—his very life— while his soul soared to the heavens and took its rightful place there, among so many other glorious figures of the EOKA epic. “The story of his sacrifice, however, does not end here,” he noted.
He pointed out that a testament to the patriotism and national pride of Dimitris’s family was the manner in which his wife, Artemis, conducted herself at her husband’s funeral.
“The proud and patriotic Artemis attended the funeral wearing the clothes that Dimitris himself had told her to wear to a relative’s wedding, shortly before he left for his final mission. Artemis, dignified and proud of her country, did not cry or mourn, honoring her heroic husband in a unique and moving way,” he added.
As President Christodoulides said, the story surrounding Dimitris’s sacrifice is deeply moving.
“A man defied the dangers, set aside his own needs, and, driven solely by the freedom of his homeland, threw himself into the battle against British rule. He was one of us, a man struggling to make ends meet, an honest Greek Cypriot citizen, a resident of Limnati who, together with his family, joined the most glorious and noble struggle of our homeland,” he emphasized.
“Today we are all here to commemorate a true patriot, a freedom fighter, the hero from Limnati, Dimitris Charalambous. His example will always remain relevant in every circumstance of our lives and our history. Consistency, integrity, diligence, loyalty, patriotism, a spirit of sacrifice, and boundless love for the homeland. “The message he sends us today—and if we truly wish to honor his memory—is none other than that of the unyielding struggle for the liberation and reunification of our divided homeland,” the President of the Republic emphasized.
He added that, as a nation and as a society, “each and every one of us individually has neither the luxury nor any excuse to do less than our utmost.”
“And that is what we are doing, and that is what we will continue to do until the very end. For our homeland, for its people, for the future of our children, for peace, for prosperity, for liberation. May his memory live on forever,” he concluded.
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Source: CNA
