In October 2020, prompted by the Al Jazeera broadcast where the infamous phrase “This is Cyprus” was heard, I wrote a text titled “This is not Cyprus.” In light of Pavlos Kontides’s victory and the death of Spyros Melaxrinos, a wounded soldier from 1974, I bring it back.
Because we need to remember what Cyprus is, who we are, and where we come from. We must never believe that we are a nation of swindlers. The corrupt belong to a demographic group that may number 1,000 members, perhaps even 10,000. Even if they number 100,000, they are still the minority. The rest, the majority, are us. And we need to remember where we come from.
Tefkros Anthias is one of our compatriots, on whose grave it is inscribed: “Brothers, call me every time there is a struggle for something new and greater…” Another is Loukis Akritas, whose grandfather hunted locusts to support his family, and whose grandson, poor but well-recommended, went on to lead Greece’s educational reform.
Maria Roussou, Cyprus’s first female doctor, is one of our compatriots. She treated people without charge; a yoghurt or some other product was enough to ensure everyone had healthcare. Polyxeni Loizias, who at the beginning of the century believed that women should have equal rights and helped women to get educated. Persephone Papadopoulou, who at the same time published a newspaper advocating for women’s rights, is another.
Our grandfathers include Partasides, Adamantos, Galatopoulos, and Servas, who as mayors, enhanced their cities by building infrastructure for the citizens. They include artists like Diamantis, Kanthos, Pol Georgiou, Christoforos Savvas, Montis, Theodosis Pierides, Lipertis, Kakogiannis, Tokas, and so many others who praised the best parts of our land and broadened the horizons of our thought.
Our grandmothers include Loukia Nicolaidou, who, at a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote, defied “destiny” and studied Art. They include Eleni Aftonomou, a truly independent educator, Constantia Varda, the first female Member of Parliament, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly, and many other women who laid the groundwork for securing rights for women.
Cypriots are intellectuals like Nikos Kranidiotis, scientists like Kypros Nicolaides, people who sacrificed their lives like Afxentiou, Matsis, and Pallikarides.
Cypriots are those who toil every day without compromising their values. Cypriots are our children who want a better homeland.
Cypriots are us, who owe it to our country, from our respective positions, to bring light to our land once again. Just like Pavlos Kontides, Milan Trajkovic, and the other athletes who have strived, and who continue to strive, for the best.