Cyprus-Forum.com

[Agios Amvrosios]

Hey admin I know this mught be cuttin' & pastin' but its hard to give a link to this particular account of the 1974 invasion

any ways its from the BBC and its from a Turkish Cypriot who was 16 at the time.

Hakan Mehmet was a member of the Turkish resistance organisation, the TMT
I was 16 at the time and we were all obliged to receive military training to fight the Greeks.

At first we were happy the Turks invaded. I remember unspeakable things being done to innocent Greek Cypriot villagers, but at the time our euphoria was such that rape and murder were hailed as patriotic acts.


We should be mature enough to accept what we as Turks did wrong


Hakan Mehmet, UK


I remember one incident when 17 men from Ephtakomi village were dragged from their houses and executed. I was ashamed and left Cyprus soon after. The worse thing was my villagers from Galatia village were responsible.

Since that time I have tried to come to terms with what many of our leaders term a "peace operation". For peace we should be mature enough to accept what we as Turks did wrong - the atrocities committed in our name - and recognise 1974 for what it was, a brutal invasion and violation of Greek Cypriot human right and Turkish Cypriot cultural survival.

[demetriou_74]

An interview with Mustafa Organ, a Turkish soldier serving in the 48th Ankara/Tsoumbouk artilery brigade at the time of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, was published on 28th January 1998 in the Frankfurt-based newspaper "Osgur Politica"

Organ refered to the barbaric massacre of about 100 Greek Cypriot civilians who had fled to the small village of Merich (Mora), near Nicosia.

"Those killed at the exit of the village were women, children and pensioners who were running for their lives" he said. "The little streets and the exit areas were full of civilian pensioners and small children who were trying to get away. These people were killed in the most vicious way and some of the bodies were cut to pieces. The bodies were lying in the scorching heat for a week. Later officers told us we had to hide the bodies. I drove a bulldozer. Others dug a large and wide ditch and burried them. Soldier Sefket Avcioglu from Maras was also a witness to the event".

Organ refered also to prisoners being killed and robbed and Greek and Turkish Cypriot women and girls being raped by the Turkish officers and soldiers. "I cannot forget a tall dark officer from Adana who raped a 13 year old Greek Cypriot girl, and the rape of two Turkish Cypriot girls near the Nicosia industrial zone" he said.

[Khan]

What is the point in posting these? Yes GC were killed, but GC massacred villagers in Murat Ağa, Sandallar, Tokhni, Atlılar for no reason. My uncle lost entire parts of his relations in Tokhni. You are just driving this forum round in circles.

[demetriou_74]

can you give us more info on this please

[Khan]

In Tokhni any able bodied male between 13-74 was round up and shot, in Murat Ağa, Sandallar and Atlılar mass graves were exhumed in 74 containing men, women and children. We are talking about this murder of hundreds of people here. My point is why come and post what Turks did when GC's and Greeks did exactly the same, if not worse. What is the point, you'll go round in circles forever.

[Kifeas]

In Tokhni any able bodied male between 13-74 was round up and shot, in Murat Ağa, Sandallar and Atlılar mass graves were exhumed in 74 containing men, women and children. We are talking about this murder of hundreds of people here. My point is why come and post what Turks did when GC's and Greeks did exactly the same, if not worse. What is the point, you'll go round in circles forever.

Khan,
We are all aware about the massacres that occurred against TCs on the 23rd of July and 14-15 of august 1974. You must be aware by two other facts.

1. All these massacres were carried out by just a few Eoka B members who instead of going to Kyrenia and fight the Turkish Army like the rest of the GCs, they had chosen to express their anger and anxiety for their misguided coup operation on innocent TC civilians. I have to remind you that there are very strong indications that these people were also on the payroll of the CIA via the Greek Junta. I also have to remind you that these people engaged in the killings of other GCs, before and during the 1974 coup against Makarios and that they are regarded by the rest of GCs as the worst kind of traitors and criminals that we ever had in this country.

2. The 1974 coup was carried out on the 15th of July. From this day, until the 23rd of July when Kyrenia had fallen in the hands of the Turkish Army, not one single TC was harmed anywhere in Cyprus, although from the 20th of July and within the first 24 hours, all the TC enclaves around Cyprus - with the exception of the Nicosia /Agyrta enclave, had fallen in the hands of the GCs and all the TC civilians and TC soldiers surrendered. You should also note that from the 20th of July when Turkey began it’s operation and until the 23rd of July when the “cease-fire” was agreed, there where numerous GC killings by air and naval bombings and numerous massacres and rapes of captured GC civilians in the area of the 5th mile (20 and 21 July) and Ayios Georgios /karaoglanoglou village and Kyrenia (22 and 23 of July.)

What I trying to say is that it is obvious that there was no organised plan or intent to massacre the TCs in 1974, not even by the leadership of the junta and the Eoka B, alternatively, they had plenty of time to do so from the 20 until the 23 of July, when more than 60,000 TCs around Cyprus were in the hands of the GC army. The fact that the first TC massacres occurred on the 23rd of July, after much more such massacres and deaths of GCs occurred during the first 3 days of the invasion, can only be explained by the drive for revenge that those few Eoka B criminals felt they could take upon innocent TCs, upon hearing what had happened and what was happening in Kyrenia against the GCs.

The same can be said about the killings of TCs in the Famagusta region which occurred on the 14 and 15 of August, after Turkey lunched the second phase of it’s operation.

I am not writing all the above in order to justify anybody or to give an alibi to these crimes, but only to explain what the circumstances and the general environment was during those days, for better understanding.

[brother]

I would like to add that we need tc/gc and turk confessions of the truth to put our many demons to bed once and for all, what is being described above are an atrocious events that occured and we the cypriots should now understand and appreciate that no one suffered more or less we all suffered and the only amends we can make is to unify our island and live togethar in harmony and peace so all the lives that were lost were not in vain.

[Kifeas]

I would like to add that we need tc/gc and turk confessions of the truth to put our many demons to bed once and for all, what is being described above are an atrocious events that occured and we the cypriots should now understand and appreciate that no one suffered more or less we all suffered and the only amends we can make is to unify our island and live togethar in harmony and peace so all the lives that were lost were not in vain.

Amin!
Insalah!

[Murtaza]

Kifeas,I dont see Greeks as stupids.
Just think what can they do, when there is Turkish army in island.
If they make mistake like that(mass killing turks), there would not much helen left at cyprus.

but If what I read is true. What made by Turkish army(by some soldiers) is disgusting.
Whatever greeks made is not important. whoever made this acts are just criminals.

[erolz]

What I trying to say is that it is obvious that there was no organised plan or intent to massacre the TCs in 1974, not even by the leadership of the junta and the Eoka B,

Actualy there is evidence of such a plan. Firstly there is the known and public statements from NS. Secondly thei eare the written plans and orders captured by TC / T follwing the events of 74 that (alledgedly) show a detailed and comprehensive plan of the coupists, known as the Iphestos files (and which are the basis for the title of the book the 'genocide files'). I will try and find and post more information about this.