Την επομένη, 19 Αυγούστου 1974, δύο ΦΕΡΕΤΡΑ σκεπασμένα με την αμερικανική σημαία, συνοδεύτηκαν με αυστηρή φρούρηση μέχρι το αεροπλάνο που θα τα μετέφερε στις ΗΠΑ. Στο αεροπλάνο ο ειδικός εκτελεστικός της CIA Τζέημς Φόστερ άνοιξε το φάκελλο που συνόδευε τα ΦΕΡΕΤΡΑ.
Διάβασε αδιάφορα τα ονόματα των δύο ΝΕΚΡΩΝ: Ρότζερ Ντέιβις, Πρεσβευτής των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών, διαπιστευμένος στην αμερικανική πρεσβεία της ΛΕΥΚΩΣΙΑΣ.
ΤΟ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟ ΠΤΩΜΑ ήταν ΓΥΝΑΙΚΑ, υπάλληλος στα κρυπτογραφικά της πρεσβείας. Ονομάζονταν Αντουανέττα Μπαϋράρα «ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΤΑΓΩΓΗΣ, παντρεμένη στην Αμερική»………..
Ο πρεσβευτής Ρότζερ Ντέιβις είχε αναμειχθεί ενεργά στο ΠΡΑΞΙΚΟΠΗΜΑ της 21ης Απριλίου 1967 στην Αθήνα. Ήταν διπλωμάτης των στρατιωτικών λύσεων.
Στο ΠΡΑΞΙΚΟΠΗΜΑ κατά του ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΥ είχε πρωτοστατήσει στην επιβολή του νέου καθεστώτος και στην επιτυχία του κινήματος.
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US embassy honours Ambassador Davies and A. Varnava killed 40 years ago
The Embassy Residence as of today is named “Roger Davies Residence” and the personnel lounge “Antoinette Varnava Lounge”.
In a statement read out during the event, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the best tribute to Ambassador Davies and Antoinette Varnava would be to help Cypriots to find a permanent solution. He called on all sides to make steps towards the peace and the reunification of the island under a bizonal, bicommunal federation.
In a brief speech during the event Tuesday, Ambassador Koening said that Roger Davies` life and sacrifice gives special meaning to his efforts here. “However, as I have said many times, just as Cypriots from all walks of life have suffered because of this conflict, Cypriots from all walks of life need to lend their voices and their efforts to the task of creating a new Cyprus”, he pointed out.
Perhaps, he added, the greatest tragedy is that Cyprus and the United States lost Davies` calm voice and diplomatic skill in the quest for peace.
“I hope that one day soon the memories of both Ambassador Davies and Antoinette – as well as other visionary statesmen like Glafcos Clerides – will be honored by an end to the conflict and there will be a new era of prosperity and peace in a united Cyprus”, he underlined.
Ambassador Davies had arrived on the island a few weeks before August 19, 1974, with his daughter and son and he was grieving the recent loss of his wife to cancer. Antoinette Varnava, a Maronite and still just 30, had already worked at the embassy for a decade and was part of the close-knit embassy team.
According to Ambassador Koening, when the events of 1974 took place, embassy families were evacuated, including the Ambassador’s children. He said that the small embassy staff drew down and became smaller, hunkered down and trying to do their job sheltered by a small contingent of brave Marines.
“Yet the staff believed that they were safe behind the embassy’s walls despite the dangers and deprivations of a country in conflict”, Koening said.
According to the events as they were narrated by the Ambassador in his speech, on August 19, Acting President, Glafcos Clerides, was holding his first press conference and the embassy “had little forewarning of a nearby demonstration that would end up at its gates, along with a hail of rocks and bullets“.
“The Ambassador, in a hallway that was thought to be safe, was struck by a single bullet in the heart and died almost instantly, though the shocked embassy staff did not realize it at the time. Antoinette, rushing to the Ambassador’s aid, was also struck down”, he said.
Ambassador Koening said that Glafcos Clerides rushed from his press conference when news of the shooting broke and used his personal car to get Ambassador Davies to a clinic.
“The other embassy employees present that day recall being struck by how grief-stricken President Clerides looked when he saw the Ambassador lying on the floor. Though the two men had only known each other a short while, it was clear that the President had quickly gained great respect for Davies”, he noted.
Ambassador Koening said that “by renaming the residence and the employee lounge at the embassy, we begin to honour Ambassador Davies and Antoinette Varnava as they should be honored.”
The memorial service was attended by Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides, Education Minister Costas Kadis, former President Yiorgos Vasiliou, Greek Cypriot negotiators Andreas Mavroyiannis, UNSG Special Representative Lisa Buttenheim, Commissioner for overseas and religious groups’ affairs Kate Clerides, Ambassadors, leaders of the religious groups in Cyprus, former advisor to the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ozdil Nami and the family of the late Antoinette Varnavas.
The death of Roger Davies and Varnava occurred days after the second Turkish offensive against Cyprus, and at a time when feelings were running high against the US in relation to a military coup, staged on July 15, 1974 and engineered by the junta then ruling Greece, and Turkey`s invasion that followed.
As a result of the Turkish invasion, launched on July 20 1974, Cyprus was divided and remains so to date. UN backed negotiations are currently underway with the aim to reunite the island under a federal roof.
Source: CNA
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