20 March 1994 marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Theofilos Georgiades, a common hero of Cyprus and Kurdistan. It was Sunday evening when Theophilos, a member of the Solidarity Committee in Kurdistan, was returning to his home in Thoukidiou Street in Aglantzia. He was holding an issue of the magazine “Voice of Kurdistan” in his hands when he was shot dead by five bullets fired by hired assassins of the Turkish secret services. He had managed to deliver an article on the Kurdish festival of ‘Nevroz’, which was published on the morning of 20 March 1994.
The assassins of Theophilus did not achieve their aim, namely to silence the voices calling for a common struggle of Kurds and Cypriots against Turkish occupation, fascism and imperialism. Theofilos Georgiades himself had left strong legacies for an alliance that would liberate Cyprus and Kurdistan. The Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan was shocked by the assassination of his friend Theophilus Georgiades, indicating in a telegram a few days after the assassination: ‘Theophilus fought with all means against colonialism and colonialists, considered the atrocity of the Turkish state against our people as an attack against his own people as well and fought it with all his might. He won great respect and sympathy, he entered the hearts of our people because of his invaluable support for our struggle. That is why we say that Theophilus is our able comrade. He is one of our martyrs and a bridge between peoples. He holds an important place in our history. We will do whatever it takes to honour his memory. I express my sincere condolences to the family of the martyr and to the Cypriot people. We will continue to fight against the Turkish regime.”
For all the above reasons and many others, Theophilos Georgiades is part of the defence of the Kurdish fighter Kenan Ayas. It is in the line of Theophilos’ ideas that the struggle of Kenan and all the Kurds of Cyprus, which they perceive as their second homeland, is based. It is on what Theophilos left as a legacy that the coexistence of Kurds and Cypriots, for which Kenan Ayas continues to fight, is based. He did not neglect to send a wreath to the 30th annual memorial service of Theophilos, showing his respect for the enormous struggle of our common hero. Showing that he will not stop resisting, even from the harsh conditions of the German prisons, for the freedom of Cyprus and Kurdistan. In the manner of Theophilos Georgiades.
Observatory for the trial of Kenan Agias
20 March 2024