15 July 1974 Turmoil (2/2) |
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Prof. Dr. Ata ATUN |
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15 July 1974 Turmoil (2/2)
Rejections of Makarios’s proposals for the amendment of the Constitution of Republic of Cyprus ignited the armed assaults of Greek Cypriots towards Turkish Cypriots with the intentions to convert the island into a sole Greek Cypriot soil
The Turkish Cypriot Member of Parliaments and Civil servants were expelled from their offices at gunpoint. Armed Greek Cypriot militia attacked to Turkish villages and as a result 103 Turkish villages had to be abandoned by the Turkish in order to stay alive. These immigrants had no food, no house to shelter, no medicine, no money, no hope and nothing at all to live decently as human beings.
On March 1964 the UN Security Council (UN SC) decided to send an international peace-keeping force to the island to lower the tension between the two communities.
After three and a half years, in April 1967 with a successfull coup d’etat in Greece the regime turned into the hands of military Junta under the leadership of Colonel Papadopoulos.
Although he and his military colleagues wished for the Union of Cyprus to Greece, Makarios, with his harsh experience of the past three and a half years in the island, did not believe in this utopic wish and continued advocating for an independent Greek Cyprus under his and Greek Cypriot’s sole control.
The Junta of Greece sent another notorious officer, Yiorgos Grivas, who was the founder and the leader of EOKA (National Organisation of Cypriot Struggles) an illegal armed militia, which was established in 1950 in order to realize the union to Greece, to the island on August 1971. He immediately formed a pro-Enosis underground organization called EOKA B and began secret, underground campaigns against Makarios. His aim was to replace him with a Greek Cypriot nationalist supporting union with Greece.
EOKA B by started terrorist acts against Makarios and his government on the winter of 1972. Junta leader was overthrown by Dimitrios Ioannidis in November 1973 who hated Makarios. He put forward an aggressive attitude towards Makarios which ignited and spirited up the EOKA B nationalists. Upon the death of Grivas in January 1974, the cooperation between EOKA B and Junta became more dense and Junta managed to take over the control of National Guards, official army of the Greek Cypriot community and Republic of Greek Cyprus.
On July 2, 1974 Arcbishop Makarios, the then President of the Republic of Greek Cyprus sent an official letter to Gizikis, the figurehead President of Greece, accusing the junta organizing negative campaigns and plottings against him. He demanded immediate withdrawal of the Greek officers assigned to the National Guard of Cyprus.
Only after a mere thirteen days, upon the instructions from the military Junta in Greece the National Guard of Cyprus under the command of the officers from the Greek army sent from Greece overthrew the President Makarios and established “The Hellenic Republic of Cyprus”.
So is the story behind the July 15, 1974 coup d’etat which messed up the island of Cyprus.
Turkey had to intervene to avoid the application of the IPHESTOS PLAN by “The Hellenic Republic of Cyprus”, which drafted in detail how, when, where and by which National Guard troop the Turkish Cypriots would be exterminated…..
Ata ATUN
ata.atun@atun.com
http://www.ataatun.com
