President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday attended an event celebrating the 100th birthday of EOKA fighter Kyriakos Matsis at the presidential palace.

Describing the EOKA struggle as the “purest struggle of Cypriot Hellenism”, Christodoulides assured the event was “the least we can do” to honour the sacrifices made by fighters like Matsis, who fought for the country from 1955 to 1959.

“The fact that we exist here today is due to the struggle of EOKA,” Christodoulides said, “the least we can do is to honour all those who sacrificed so that we can exist today.”

The president went on to highlight the importance of such commemorations for younger generations and for further reunification efforts, noting that the struggle of Matsis and other EOKA fighters “is what determines our own efforts to this day”.

Christodoulides said he strongly disagreed with claims according to which talking about EOKA may work against efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, emphasising that the viability for any solution relied on the “correct knowledge of history”.