President unveils bust for 1974 fallen soldiers
President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday unveiled busts for Christos Fotis, Tasos Markos and Andreas Arrestis, whom he called heroes during a memorial ceremony at the Tomb of Makedonitissa.
The three died in the line of fire as they fought against the 1974 Turkish invasion.
Christodoulides arrived at the site at 7:30am where the three were given full military honours and a minute’s silence was observed in their memory.
Fotis, Markos and Arrestis were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, following a Cabinet decision on May 27, 2022.
Reading out the biography of each of the three, Christodoulides recounted how Fotis was born in Famagusta in 1931 and eventually went on to the Greek military academy Evelpidon.
He joined the Greek army in 1953 and fought operations in Paphos in 1964. On July 20, 1974 he commanded a battalion in Morphou against the Turkish troops. He died taking a bullet to the head, as Turkish soldiers surrendered.
Markou was born in Paralamni in 1936 and joined Eoka in 1955. He finished Evelpidon and returned to Cyprus in 1961.
He was involved in operations in Nicosia during the intercommunal troubles on 1963-1964 and in July 1974 took charge of organising the line of defence in Mia Milia-Kythrea.
In the second leg of the invasion on August 14, his unit came under heavy fire from Turkish armed forces. He refused to leave the area and together with two men of the unit moved north from Kythrea.
Markou later ordered the two men accompanying him to return to their unit. Despite the urging of his colleagues, he himself remained in the area. The last communication with him was made by radio in the afternoon of 15 July. Since then, he has remained missing.
Arestis was born in Kelokedara village in Paphos in 1939. He was actively involved with Eoka and was arrested by the British when he was 17 and imprisoned for two years.
In 1961 he joined the Cypriot army with the rank of lieutenant. During the intercommunal troubles, he took part in the Nicosia and Tilliria operations.
In July 1974 he was promoted to the rank of captain and was sub-commander of the 70th Engineer Battalion. On the 19th he was sent to the Limnitis area instead of operating in the Kyrenia area.
Arrestis carried out the order and fell fighting to recapture the village of Limnitis on July 22, 1974.