On Wednesday, 21 December 2022, the oath-taking ceremony of first year cadets, Class of 2026 “Lieutenant General Tasos Markos”, was held at the Hellenic Military Academy (Evelpidon) in Vari, Attica.

The ceremony was attended by the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos II, the Deputy Minister of National Defence, Mr. Nikolaos Chardalias, Members of Parliament, the Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros, the Chief of Hellenic Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Charalampos Lalousis, and the Deputy Chief of Cypriot National Guard General Staff, Lieutenant General Loucas Hadjimichael.

The ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Vari, Voula, and Vouliagmeni, Mr. Grigorios Konstantellos, the Metropolitan of Glyfada, Elliniko, Voula, Vouliagmeni & Vari, Mr. Antonios, the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Kyriakos A. Kenevezos, a representative of the Ambassador of Moldova, the Metropolitan of Mesogea and Lavreotiki, Mr. Nikolaos, the members of the Supreme Military Council, the former Deputy Minister of National Defence and Honorary Chief HAGS, General Alkiviadis Stefanis (ret.), Honorary Chiefs of Hellenic Army General Staff, General Konstantinos Ghinis (ret.), General Vasilios Tellidis (ret.), and General Georgios Kambas (ret.), the Hellenic Military Academy Commandant, Major General Stavros Papastathopoulos, representatives of the other Services of the Armed Forces and the Security Forces, Defence Attachés, as well a delegations of Officers and cadets from the “Vasil Levski” National Military University of Bulgaria, the UK Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and the Education and Training Command and School of Applied Military Studies of Italy.

A total of 159 first year cadets took the oath, of which 126 from Greece, 26 from Cyprus, 2 from Tunisia, 1 from Montenegro, 1 from Albania, 1 from Armenia, 1 from Moldova, and 1 from Senegal.

Lieutenant General Tasos Markos's Biography

Lieutenant General Tasos Markos was born in Paralimni, Cyprus, on 17 September 1936. He was a member of the Strike Teams of EOKA. He was admitted to the Hellenic Military Academy (Evelpidon) on 26 September 1956. As a second class cadet, he secretly left for Cyprus to rejoin the fight as a Section Leader in the area of Kythrea. On 22 April 1959, he returned to the Academy and graduated on 29 July 1959 as an Infantry Second Lieutenant. He served in the Hellenic Army until 1961, when he returned to Cyprus as a Captain of the newly formed Cypriot Army, responsible for the security and defence of the Presidential Palace. During the Turkish invasion, as a Major, he fought bravely as Commander of the 305th Infantry Battalion; he went missing in August 1974 and his fate remains unknown to this day. He was promoted for gallantry to Lieutenant General and awarded the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit for Gallant Action, while his bust is exhibited in the “CYPRUS” Hall of the Athens War Museum.

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