On Sunday, 20th March 1994, just a few hours before he was murdered outside his home in Aglantzia, Theophilos Georgiades wrote and submitted for publication his final piece.
Three handwritten manuscripts, bearing his familiar writing style, clear and legible handwriting, in black ink as always.
The article addressed the persecutions launched by the Turkish state against six members of the Democratic Party.
“The Persecutions of Kurdish MPs and the Day of Nowruz” was the title he gave to his article, which he had prepared for the newspaper “Haravgi”.
It was scheduled for publication on Monday, 21st March 1994, and Theophilos wrote on 20th March, in his final paragraph: “Today, 21st March, the Kurdish people celebrate Nowruz (New Day), symbolizing spring, the transition from winter, with the melting of snow, to life with the coming of spring. Today Nowruz symbolizes the resurrection of the Kurdish people.”
From the moment he first came into contact with the Kurdish movement in the summer of 1987, Theophilos never ceased to advocate for these people.
He never approached the relationship in terms of exploitation or use for our own problem, but persisted until his final hour in a common struggle against Turkish occupation, fascism, imperialism.
He insisted that “the freedom of Cyprus passes through the mountains of Kurdistan” and that since we did not undertake a national liberation struggle, we must help the Kurds who fight for us with all the means at our disposal.
This was also the purpose of the Cypriot Committee for Solidarity in Kurdistan, founded in 1988 by Theophilos Georgiades, Lakis Piggouras, and their comrades, initially aiming to inform public opinion about the Kurdish issue.
Since then, this prominent figure of contemporary Cypriot-Kurdish history has been linked with friendships, cooperation, solidarity with Kurdish fighters, and of course, with the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Theophilos, executed by paid assassins of the Turkish secret services because he was a thorn in the imposition of the Turkish agenda both in Cyprus and Kurdistan, never ceased to write, speak, and proclaim the need for a common and decisive liberation struggle for both his homelands.
He insisted that Cyprus and Greece should help the Kurdish revolution to establish a relationship of solidarity at the institutional level.
He emphasized in his final interview, granted to the newspaper “Agon” on 9th February 1994:
“Our assistance must be multifaceted. Starting from the political aspect, the Kurdish issue should be placed on the international stage by friendly countries like Cyprus; the terrorism of the Turkish state should be denounced, violations of human rights, and international pressure should be exerted by the international community on Kurdistan; practical, economic assistance should be provided to a people fighting, from all parties, organizations, and the people in general. Because they secure our safety.”
The writings of Theophilos remain and are read as timely concerns of a fighter who cared both for Cyprus and Kurdistan.
Unfortunately, instead of even minimally absorbing the ideas of this great activist, Cypriot leaderships are evolving into apologists for the Turkish state and are treating the Kurds with protocols of the Turkish secret services – the case of the extradition of Kenan Ayaz to Germany is a glaring example.
Theophilos Georgiades was not honoured as he should have been, even if governments, parties, and organizations sent representatives to his memorial.
Necessary aid was not given to the Kurds, although they fought for us, and they will continue to fight until they celebrate Nowruz under conditions of freedom.
And they will not rest until Theophilos’s vision for the freedom of Cyprus and Kurdistan is fulfilled. What about us?
