‘We are all here today, after 44 years.

Today, the heroes are here, who fought for the liberation of our Homeland, of the common nation, of the one nation.

The relatives of our heroes are here and together with us, from high above, are the heroes who “have fallen” fighting for faith and homeland; for our homeland and nation.  

The relatives and the heroes of NORATLAS have come from Greece, for the first time, together with the relatives of those missing in action, to attend this event today.  Those in charge of the Ministry of National Defence are here, as well as the whole nation.

I am particularly touched to be here in this event, at the monument dedicated to the mothers of the missing heroes of the Turkish invasion in 1974.  This monument was made with the contribution of the two Governments, Greece and Cyprus, and is the least homage to the mothers of the missing. These mothers have connected their soul and life so intensely and crucially with that black-letter day when their heroic children fell for the ideals of our land.         

Mothers of heroes who were called up “to guard the Thermopylae”, of heroes whose sacrifice and huge contribution act upon our collective conscience as a voice of perennial memory and national duty, both for themselves, and for our glorious centuries-long history.    

 We bear in mind these mothers tear in the roadblocks, keeping the photograph of their child.  Some of them are not here with us today.  They “have left” with the sorrow, they “have left” before they learned the news.  

Mothers hoping that someone would tell them their son had been seen alive and that someday, very soon maybe, he would be back.  Mothers of sons they gave birth to and sacrificed for the Homeland.   

We bear in mind each mother of our missing in action to be proud and patient.

We honour, then, today the mothers who offered to the Homeland, the Nation and the Cypriot Hellenism what was the most precious for them, “their own children”, their souls and blood.  

We honour the mothers who added up to the freedom and independence of our Nation.

We honour the mothers who placed the ideals of our Nation above their suffering.

We honour the mothers who passed away, not having a clew about their children, but also those who are till nowadays going after justification in their struggle.  

We honour the mothers who nursed brave men with the motto “either with your shield or upon it” and sent their children to the pantheon of heroes.  

“Because the grave of glorious men” as Pericles quotes, “can be in any part on earth, whereas their existence is not manifested only through an inscription on a column at some part of the Homeland, but through the reminiscence of their heroism that remains also abroad, inscribed not on a work of art, but on the heart of each individual”.  

We know and acknowledge our duty to all those who sacrificed their lives to defend the freedom and territorial integrity of Cyprus.       

During my ministerial tenure, as you know, I have already set as a first priority the identification of the heroes of the Cypriot tragedy, the recovery of the bones of the missing, as well as the repatriation of those belonging to Greeks in order to be buried by their families with the respective honours.

Nothing could be done, though, without your personal contribution, Your Excellency, Mr. President of the Republic of Cyprus.

I have to say that, after many years, with your own assistance, but also with the assistance of Cyprus’ Ministers of Defence, as well as with that of the present Minister of Defence, Mr Fokaidis – and the persistence of the Armed Forces’ servicemen, we managed to take back the first corpses which were received to Greece by their relatives after 42, 43 even 44 years.

Upon your order, as well as upon the order of Greece’s Prime Minister, the archives will open, at last, and we will be informed about who is responsible in order to be punished, not burying, though, the nation, the heroes and our history under the burden of others’ responsibilities.   

The invasion to Cyprus was not “an exercise under permission», no one had the right to permit the invasion and the occupation. It was a National – Liberation Struggle, it was war and the heroes “fallen” during this war are heroes of our Nation and Homeland and we acknowledge them as such.

I am well aware of many of the fighters’ grief, therefore today, from here, we promise, before the graves of the heroes, but also before you, who have survived and your relatives, that the struggle of the Hellenic, as well as of the Cypriot Republic will go on, until the last missing person is found. We swear that our struggle will go on.  Be certain for this.  

I remember you from “Orpheas”, when I was a young student along with Theophilos Georgiadis.  After “Orpheas” we used to go to Ftochopoulos to hear the news about the missing persons and to decide on the course of action.  

Now, with the assistance of the Cypriot Republic, the Hellenic Republic and the International Organisations, and with new means available, such as the DNA, we have proceeded and we are going to proceed even further until we find out where our last hero is.  

We acknowledge our duty to justify their sacrifice, through our continued effort to achieve a fair and effective solution, reversing the fait accompli of the invasion and occupation.  

I would like, together with you, in the presence of the President of the Cypriot Republic, to convey a message to the parents of the officers who are detained in the Maximum Security Prison in Edirne.

We convey a message to the Greek officers, that is to keep their heads up, as they do, and to their parents to show patience.

Turkey is the same, it does not change, it continues to violate the International law, to kill and arrest, to keep hostages without charging any accusation.

Turkey should realize that the free world as a whole stands against it.  

For this reason, therefore, as instructed, in this year’s International Fair in Thessaloniki, that is a great event for Greece, especially now that the economic crisis period ends, there will be a big board in the Ministry of National Defence stand, having the phrase “I do not forget” and an inscription to the missing persons in Cyprus, the Cypriot struggle,but also to the heroes who fought for the freedom of the Nation.

Concluding, I would like to express the solidarity of the Greek Government and of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, as well as the gratitude of us all to the families of the missing, to those who fought, to Mr Imellos, but also to all those who struggled for the construction of this monument.

I would like to assure you, once more, that we will continue and intensify our efforts in order to give an end to the torment you suffer.

We unite our voice with that of the relatives of the missing and mainly with their mothers whom we honour today.  Our heroes and missing deserve this, as also their children and wives do, as the Hellenic Nation deserves it.  We who have taken command until we close our own eyes too, we owe this to them.  
May they never be forgotten”.