Cyprus-Forum.com

[Vuryek]

The following is a small extract from Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contra-Guerrilla Force
By Serdar Celik
February/March 1994

"The invasion of Cyprus was an action of the Special Warfare Department. In 1955 the Department set up a secret organisation called the Turk Mukavemet Hareketi (Turkish Resistance Movement). This organisation carried out systematic provocations in Cyprus in order to prepare the conditions for the 1974 coup. To prepare for the occupation of Cyprus, teams directed by Hiram Abbas and the Special Warfare Department established themselves in Beirut, from where they could organise activities in Cyprus. The Cyprus invasion was organised by the then chief of the Special Warfare Department Kemal Yemek. Cyprus was the first serious test for the Turkish contra-guerrillas. After 1980 Kurdistan took the place of Cyprus in this respect."

This is from a Kurd publication and I have not been successful in confirming this with other sources. Is anyone able to shed some light on this unit's operations in CY?

When you compare Makarios Drushotis's (sorry for spelling) books with Kemal Yamak's book you can reach serious ideas bout that connection. But if you interest about what is going on in North Iraq, I recommend John Philger's books. No cencorship

[Nikitas]

BC,

Why would a counter guerilla unit be needed in what turned out to be a fully conventional invasion, and not too well carried out at that?

What provocations would this unit be carrying out in Cyprus in the years 67 to 74? I cannot recall any such actions.

[bill cobbett]

BC,

Why would a counter guerilla unit be needed in what turned out to be a fully conventional invasion, and not too well carried out at that?

What provocations would this unit be carrying out in Cyprus in the years 67 to 74? I cannot recall any such actions.

Hi N.

Yes - it's an unsubstantiated one-off from a kurdish viewpoint which I stumbled on whilst trying to find reliable sources for any provocations pre-74 and for any confirmations or otherwise as to orders from above to explain the attrocities refered to in the newspaper articles above.

[Nikitas]

Failing any opening of official Turkish archives, and even then such matters would not be fully explained, the inference is that the terror was a handy way to coax the GC population to move south. It was ruthless but efficient. A softer approach would have left the GC population in place and would have made the population exchange impractical.

In this there was help, still unclear if it was planned or part of the overall chaos, from the GC side. I remember those totally assinine roundups of TC men in the football stadiums of Larnaca and Limassol and the facilitation of concentrations of people in the Akrotiri base. Rounding up people in stadiums, even though none were harmed, left the GCs open to the charge of hostage taking and at a more sinister level could be seen as preparatory to the population exchange that followed.

[zan]

Failing any opening of official Turkish archives, and even then such matters would not be fully explained, the inference is that the terror was a handy way to coax the GC population to move south. It was ruthless but efficient. A softer approach would have left the GC population in place and would have made the population exchange impractical.

In this there was help, still unclear if it was planned or part of the overall chaos, from the GC side. I remember those totally assinine roundups of TC men in the football stadiums of Larnaca and Limassol and the facilitation of concentrations of people in the Akrotiri base. Rounding up people in stadiums, even though none were harmed, left the GCs open to the charge of hostage taking and at a more sinister level could be seen as preparatory to the population exchange that followed.

It is argued that even if the first phase of the Turkish intervention was legal the extension of the area under Turkish control in the second phase from 14th August to 16th August 1974 was illegal. The German newspaper Die Zeit wrote on 30th August 1974 "the massacre of Turkish Cypriots in Paphos and Famagusta is the proof of how justified the Turkish were to undertake their (August) intervention".

More Massacres of Turkish Cypriots

In the village of Tokhni on 14th August 1974 all the Turkish Cypriot men between the ages of 13 and 74, except for eighteen who managed to escape, were taken away and shot. (Times, Guardian, 21st August)

In Zyyi on the same day all the Turkish-Cypriot men aged between 19 and 38 were taken away by Greek-Cypriots and were never seen again. On the same day Greek-Cypriots opened fire in the Turkish-Cypriot neighbourhood of Paphos killing men, women, and children indiscriminately. On 23rd July 1974 the Washington Post reported "In a Greek raid on a small Turkish village near Limassol 36 people out of a population of 200 were killed. The Greeks said that they had been given orders to kill the inhabitants of the Turkish villages before the Turkish forces arrived." (See also Times, Guardian, 23rd July).

"The Greeks began to shell the Turkish quarter on Saturday, refugees said. Kazan DerviÕs, a Turkish Cypriot girl aged 15, said she had been staying with her uncle. The (Greek Cypriot) National Guard came into the Turkish sector and shooting began. She saw her uncle and other relatives taken away as prisoners, and later heard her uncle had been shot." (Times 23.7.74)

"Before my uncle was taken away by the soldiers, he shouted to me to run away. I ran to the streets, and the soldiers were shooting all the time. I went into a house and I saw a woman being attacked by soldiers. They were raping her. Then they shot her in front of my eyes. I ran away again and Turkish Cypriot men and women looked after me. They were escaping as well. They broke holes in the sides of houses, so we could get away without going into the streets. There were lots of women and children screaming, and soldiers were firing at us all the time."

On 28th July the New York Times reported that 14 Turkish-Cypriot men had been shot in Alaminos. On 24th July 1974 "France Soir" reported "The Greeks burned Turkish mosques and set fire to Turkish homes in the villages around Famagusta. Defenceless Turkish villagers who have no weapons live in an atmosphere of terror and they evacuate their homes and go and live in tere a shame to humanity."

On 22nd July Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit called upon the UN to "stop the genocide of Turkish-Cypriots" and declared "Turkey has accepted a cease-fire, but will not allow Turkish-Cypriots to be massacred" (Times 23rd July). At the beginning of the Second Geneva Conference he said "A solution which is not based on geographical separation will not work. It is out of the question for us to entrust the safety of the Turkish Cypriots to the Greeks, who cannot even rule themselves. The areas around the Turkish forces are being mined, and the Turkish Cypriot villages are still under siege."

The UK House of Commons Select Committee on Cyprus reported in 1976 "the second phase of military operations was inevitable in the view of your committee as the position reached by Turkish forces at the time of the first ceasefire was untenable militarily"

Sir Anthony Kershaw MP explained the situation as follows in his speech on 23rd October 1990:

"In order to protect the Turkish Cypriots, Turkey intervened in exercise of her rights under article 4 of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. No one has ever suggested that was illegal but they have gone on to say that the continuing use of troops, not to restore the 1960 Constitution but to enforce partition was illegal.

But does this not ignore the reality of the situation? In law it is said that the Turks were invoking the Guarantee; but to say that they were obliged to work for no result except the restoration of the 1960 Constitution is absurd. That Constitution had ceased to exist. The reconciliation of the law with the actual political situation, or indeed with ordinary common sense, was becoming more difficult. The Turks came to protect the lives of the Turkish Cypriots and they had good reason to know that the restoration of the 1960 Constitution was not the way to do that. The only way to do that was with troops on the ground."

"Turkey intervened to protect the lives and property of the Turkish-Cypriots, and to its credit it has done just that. In the 12 years since, there have been no killings and no massacres" Lord Willis (Lab.) House of Lords 17th December 1986 (Hansard, col.223)

[bill cobbett]

...and may the late Lord Willis of the "Friends of Northern Cyprus" rest in peace.

[zan]

...and may the late Lord Willis of the "Friends of Northern Cyprus" rest in peace.

Believer first and then friend...Not everyone is either corrupted by your money or fooled by your trickery....

[bill cobbett]

...and may the late Lord Willis of the "Friends of Northern Cyprus" rest in peace.

Believer first and then friend...Not everyone is either corrupted by your money or fooled by your trickery....

Meaningless and demented drivel from the Clown..... again!

[zan]

...and may the late Lord Willis of the "Friends of Northern Cyprus" rest in peace.

Believer first and then friend...Not everyone is either corrupted by your money or fooled by your trickery....

Meaningless and demented drivel from the Clown..... again!

Why not stick a nahnahnahnahnah with that and complete your childish comments Miss Bobbit!!!

[bill cobbett]

...and may the late Lord Willis of the "Friends of Northern Cyprus" rest in peace.

Believer first and then friend...Not everyone is either corrupted by your money or fooled by your trickery....

Meaningless and demented drivel from the Clown..... again!

Why not stick a nahnahnahnahnah with that and complete your childish comments Miss Bobbit!!!

In any event, leaving aside Zon's contemptuous and childish insults, the subject under discussion was the Sun article and the Turkish Army's behaviour in 1974.