 34 YEARS AFTER THE TURKISH INVASION |
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra - katoomba@cytanet.com.cy
Writing this article has been particularly taxing for me, not just because of the sizzling summer temperatures and the various articles I must finish writing soon, but mainly because it will once again remind me of the ongoing drama that Cyprus has been enduring for 34 years now, ever since the barbarous Turkish mehmetçik unlawfully invaded the sweet land of Cyprus, marking its history forever.
A small historical account is in order: on 16 August 1960 Cyprus had finally become an Independent Republic; although this was celebrated throughout the island, there was some unrest amongst the residents of Cyprus: the Greek-Cypriots viewed Independence as an interim to Enosis, the Turkish-Cypriots considered it a relief from the possibility of a union with Greece, while the Armenians, the Latins and the Maronites were worried as to how the Greek-Cypriots would treat them in this newly-founded state, whose  Constitution was labelled as “given”. This fragile partnership that gave the 18% Turkish-Cypriot minority super-rights, with 30% government participation and 40% Army and Police participation, along with a Vice-President with the right to veto, 3 out of the 10 Ministers and 15 out of the 50 Members of the Parliament, was not meant to last long.
After an escalating sequence of events, inter-communal violence broke out in the early hours of 21 December 1963. By midday, the Vice-President, the 3 T/C ministers, the 15 T/C MPs and all T/C government employees and policemen had left their posts, and soon after they took over the northern parts of Nicosia centre – amongst them Karaman Zade and Neapolis, thus evicting 231 Armenian families from their ancient quarter, and depriving them of their mediaeval Church of Sourp Asdvadzadzin and the Melikian-Ouzounian Primary School. Within Nicosia, a green line was established on 30 December 1963, separating the G/C from the T/C, thus laying the foundations for further partition.
The years went by, with many breathtaking events that led Cyprus more than once on the brink of a war with Turkey. However, with the exception of the Aghirda pocket (stretching from Nicosia till the outskirts of Kyrenia), life went on peacefully, although not without tension. The scheming and manoeuvring of the Greek military junta (which, at the time, controlled the National Guard), the United States and the United Kingdom, led to the unlawful coup d’ état against the elected president, Archbishop Makarios III, at 08:20, on Monday, 15 July 1974. At the time the tanks were attacking the Presidential Palace, president Makarios  was touring a group of schoolchildren from Egypt. Soon after Makarios escaped towards Kykko Monastery, the perpetrators announced that he was dead, and they installed a scapegoat as their puppet “president”, Nicos Sampson.
The cowardly coup was the beginning of the end: however non-meritocratic and person-centred Makarios’ administration might have been, his controversial presence was a bulwark against all Turkish usurpations, a stronghold against any military intervention on Cyprus. With Makarios out of the picture, Turkey had found the ideal pretext to invade our beloved Cyprus: the “protection” of the Turkish-Cypriots.
At around 5:30 a.m. of 20 July 1974, numerous Turkish troops landed at Five Mile point off Kyrenia, and parachutists are thrown in Aghirda pocket. Turkish aircrafts bombed Pentadaktylos range and Paphos forest, and within two days they had reached Kyrenia; although a cease-fire was agreed on the 22 nd July, the Turkish troops continued their onward march until the 8 th August, occupying about 3,95% of the total area of Cyprus, home  to around 40.000 people. Thanks to the military resistance of the National Guard and ELDYK (the Greek contingent in Cyprus, at the time based to the west of the Race Course), the Attila troops were unable to capture significant parts of Nicosia centre and its outskirts, while the heroic resistance of the UNFICYP troops, aided by the National Guard, managed to prevent the Turks from capturing Nicosia International Airport.
A few days later, on Wednesday, 14 August, Turkey once again invaded Cyprus, with full throttle. Nicosia, Famagusta and numerous villages were being bombed and tens of thousands of refugees fled to Larnaca and Troödos. By the time the cease-fire was signed at 18:00, on 16 August 1974, around 33,45% of Cyprus had been occupied. Even after the cease-fire, the Turks continued to occupy small parts of Cyprus until the end of September 1974, reaching till the northern boundaries of Dhekelia SBA, and seizing the Louroujina salient (thus controlling the Nicosia-Larnaca motorway), the Petra-Angolemi-Galini area, the prolific copper mines of Mavrovouni and Apliki Lefka, as well retaining the strategic Kokkina pocket, which is not adjacent to the occupied areas.
 The outcome of the Turkish invasion was devastating: 142.000 G/C and 2.500 Maronite refugees, 20.000 enclaved in the north (of which only 485 remain today), 3.500 killed, and about 1.600 missing. About 34,85% of the total area of Cyprus (3.224 Km²), i.e. 188 villages, 39 settlements and 10 Municipalities had been occupied, along with parts of Nicosia and Ayios Dhometios. Over the years, Turkey keeps a steady presence of 43.000 Turkish soldiers and 120.000 settlers from Anatolia, while the cultural damage done simply defies any quantification; suffice to say that out of the 677 occupied churches and monasteries, a fair number has been desecrated and/or turned into mosques, barracks or barns. Moreover, the pseudo-state - installed by Turkey, and recognised only by Turkey and Pakistan - has illegally and unfoundedly altered the names of almost all occupied towns and villages and of about 21.150 microtopyms.
 Today, 34 years from that dreadful summer, Cyprus is a much different place: after the opening of a small number of crossing points between the two sides, occupied Cyprus is no longer fully inaccessible, save for numerous military retained areas scattered all over it. We can now peacefully visit our occupied lands, see our beloved houses occupied by T/C or Turkish settlers, and we can watch our beautiful villages decay in the passage of time, since their illegal residents are not bothered to attend to them. On certain occasions we can even hold masses in some churches (only if you are Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Maronite or Anglican; Armenian Orthodox do not enjoy this “privilege”).Apart from that, we serve the National Guard for 25 months and, as reservists, a few times a year until the age of 50, while UNFICYP maintains its presence for over 44 years now; the buffer zone, an area of 242 Km² stretching across the island between the two sides, is UNFICYP’s realm. Yet, the most disturbing of all, although somehow inescapable and inevitable, is that our political leaders participate in talks about the solution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, the meaning of which was only made known to the general public just a few years ago, on the event of the infamous Annan Plan. Incidentally (?), the referendum was held on 24 April 2004.
While most of our politicians seem to have reached to a consensus that a federation is supposedly «the only possible outcome of the talks, based on the UN Security Council resolutions», none of them has had the decency to inform us about its history as a solution to the Cyprus conundrum. A bi-zonal, bi-communal federation is in essence Turkey’s second option to taksim (division). It was originally agreed upon in 1977, between Makarios and Denktash, at a time that a substantial number of Greek-Cypriots and Maronites continued to reside in the occupied part of Cyprus, under serious threats for their lives; what is more, we know that Makarios was vehemently against any form of geographical federation and, considering his character, it was most probably another manifestation of his cunningness, since he knew it was inapplicable at the time.However, Makarios died soon afterwards, and in the meantime most of the G/C and Maronite enclaved sought shelter to the government-controlled areas, while at the same time the Muslim population rapidly increased, with the influx of Turkish settlers from Anatolia. Considering the birth rates of the free and of the occupied areas of Cyprus, and the non-stopping arrival of the illegal and uncivilised settlers, the day that the Muslim population will outnumber the Christians may not be very long from now.
But it is not just the nature of the possible solution that bothers me; other matters cause me and many other Cypriots a great deal of distress and distrust towards the Turkish side. To begin with, the memories are still fresh from the brutal murdering of Tassos Isaac and the coward killing of Solomos Solomou, in August 1996 by Turkish-Cypriots and Turkish settlers, when they tried to enter the Turkish-occupied areas of Famagusta, while the clandestine cold-blooded assassination of Theophilos Georgiades, outside his Nicosia house in July 1994, still haunts many Cypriots up to this day.
Another sign of Ankara’s implacability is the Varosha issue: Varosha was not included in ‘operation Attila’; the only reason it was taken by the Turks is because its inhabitants, fearing for their lives, abandoned it. The Turks also occupied Ayios Memnon and Kato Dherynia, and they would have taken Dherynia too had there not been for a few armed G/C soldiers that thought it prudent to fire a few shots to make their presence known to the invaders.
 The Varosha area has been fenced for 34 years now, with its buildings having fallen into disuse and severe decay due to lack of maintenance and the exposure to the elements. For 34 years now the Turks have been toying with us that if we do this and that they may consider giving Varosha back, but for 34 years now not a single square foot has been given back to us. On the contrary, in 2000 they advanced to Strovilia area. What could possibly make us think they would ever be willing to give something back?
And finally, what is even more disturbing is that when one decides to walk over to the other side, all their wishful thinking is disillusioned for good: for starters, not only must we show our passport/I.D., but we are also subject to the ridiculous procedure of having to write down our information onto a photocopied piece of paper, which is stamped as a “visa” for entering the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”. This process is entirely unnecessary, and it is carried out purely to show us that there is a “state” in the occupied part of Cyprus, which we must respect. The lack of necessity for this time-consuming procedure (whose direct result is the formation of queues in front of the pseudo-police cubicles) is revealed when one loses their paper “visa”: since they are already registered in the pseudo-police computer system, no harm done.
 After we enter the occupied areas, we experience the vast antithesis between the free Cyprus and the occupied Cyprus: the majority of the Turkish settlers and T/C live in derelict houses, often devoid of furniture we consider to be essential, and the whole ambiance transfers you back in time. Not just that, if we venture to go just 200 m. away from the main streets, we find ourselves in a land of an almost deafening silence and isolation. Not to mention the eerie and backward settlers with their weird manners, their many wives and their veils, and the fact that they speak only Turkish. How are we supposed to live together with these people, with whom we have nothing in common?
Nevertheless, we must continue to fight for the rights of the people of Cyprus, and hope for a better future, in a united Cyprus (sic).
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Gibrahay calendar events
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PYUNIK - ANORTHOSIS 0-2 (0-3 aggr.)
