‘Tragic’ failure to mark 1974 funerals

Resistance fighters to the 1974 coup said on Monday they were disappointed by the failure of the authorities to cover the burial of brothers Charalambos and Tassos Christofi Shiamma, who were killed by Eoka B.

“Unfortunately, it is by these actions that the falsification of the historical truth is systematically cultivated, and oblivion is entrenched in our people, with tragic consequences,” said the Pancyprian Association of Democratic Resistance Fighters, a group formed to oppose Eoka B forces during the July 15, 1974 coup.

The brothers, whose bones were among those of four people identified in a mass grave in Limassol a month ago, were buried in their home village of Fikardou on November 12, an event not covered widely by the media.

The four men, Charalambos and Anastasis (Tassos) Christofi Shiamma, Pantelis Charalambous and Christakis Kombos, were killed on July 16, 1974.

The group added that the well-known slogan of ‘I don’t forget’ is not just words for them, and should not be used based on political leaning or opportunistically.

“We do not forget the protagonists of the Cyprus tragedy. Grivas and Eoka B, the junta of Athens, the dark role of Nato and the American/British,” the group said.

They also said people that are continuing the “catastrophic progression” of the country should be ashamed.

“Shame on those, who continue on the same destructive path, as those who in 1974 turned their weapons against our compatriots, against our homeland. Shame on those who even today vote for funds to build museums in honour of the destroyer Grivas,” the group said.

Most recently, the group condemned a museum set to be built in Chlorakas, Paphos which they call a ‘Grivas Museum’.