Most Honorable Delegation of the Mother Church of Constantinople:
Your Eminences Archbishop Nikitas and Metropolitan Cleopas,
Honorable Christina Balasopoulou, Consul General of Greece in Los Angeles
Honorable Andreas Kyprianidis, Honorary Consul General of Cyprus in Los Angeles
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This evening’s tribute to the wondrous Island Nation of Cyprus will refresh us all with a loving embrace of this paradise of promise and progress. I want to thank all of the performers and producers of the program in advance for their labor of love, and especially Isidoros and Maria Garifalakis for their lead sponsorship of this marvelous event.
The presence of the Honorary Consul General, the Honorable Andreas Kyprianidis, brings further dignity and honor to the evening, and I thank him and the Republic of Cyprus, for his participation.
Even as we celebrate in music and song with this poignant concert, we cannot help but turn our hearts and minds to the coming commemoration.
We are fifty years from the invasion, and the illegal seizure and occupation of one third of this sovereign Island Nation by the Turkish troops. We cannot let the world forget, and we will not let the world forget.
Cyprus is a touchstone of Hellenic history and a cornerstone of world civilization. These truths can never be erased. And the fundamental unity and integrity of Cyprus can never be expunged by the inattention and, I dare say, the amnesia of a world that should care about the facts, and about the truth.
Therefore, I would ask all of us to take the inspiration gifted to us this evening, and share it with anyone and everyone we encounter. Cyprus is a cause of justice and of peace. We have a story to tell and we should say it loudly, and say it proudly!
We will not allow the world to forget our righteous case.
We will not allow another decade to pass without a peaceful, just, and fair solution to be accepted.
We will not allow the ten thousand year history of Cyprus to be ignored, much less to be forgotten.
This is our story, our narrative, and no one will take it from us.
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Honorable Consul General Andreas Kyprianidis, please accept from all of us this token of our appreciation, and our commitment to stand with
Cyprus until justice and peace are achieved in this sacred Island of myth and mystery, where the Hellenic Soul lives and thrives, and where our Holy Orthodox Faith was brought by the very Apostles of the Lord.
Thank you! And may God always bless and protect our beloved Cyprus!
Photo: GOARCH/Brittainy Newman