TURKISH ARMED FORCES: THE REAL PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN CYPRUS |
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Prof. Dr. Ata ATUN |
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Mr. Papadopoulos, the president of Greek Cypriot administration, and leading Greek politicians continue propagating that the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is the only factor hindering peace on the island.
Their catchphrase nowadays is, “If the Turkish military goes away, peace will come.” They repeat this at every occasion, domestic or international, anytime and anywhere.
Of course the Greek Cypriots do not want the Turkish military on the island. It is the only thing stopping them, the Greek Cypriot major-ity, from exterminating the Turkish Cypriots in 45 minutes, as Mr. Papadopoulos mentioned in his telegram sent to a US official in 1964.
After the declaration of independence in 1960, it became clear that the Greek Cypriots and Greece did not intend to abide by the con-stitution. They did not give up their ambition for the annexation of the island to Greece, and the Greek Cypriot leadership sought to unlawfully bring about constitutional changes.
In effect this would negate the “partnership” status of the Turkish Cypriots and clear the way for annexation with a Turkish minority.
The only way the Greek Cypriots could achieve their goals was to destroy legitimate order by the use of force and take over the state. Rule of law collapsed on the island in 1963 as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Court of Cyprus.
Christmas of 1963 saw the Greek Cypriot militia attack Turkish Cypriot communities across the island, killing many men, women and children. Around 270 mosques, shrines and other places of worship were desecrated. The constitution became unworkable because of the refusal on the part of the Greek Cypriots to fulfill the obligations to which they had agreed.
The bi-national republic which was imagined by the treaties ceased to exist after December 1963. The Greek Cypriot wing of the “partnership” state took over the title of the “government of Cyprus” and the Turkish Cypriots, who had never accepted the seizure of power, set up a Turkish administration to run their own affairs.
Under the Akritas plan — Mr. Papadopoulos was one of the two who drafted it — which was completed as early as 1961, the Greek Cy-priots sought to annihilate the entire Turkish Cypriot population on Cyprus and, accordingly, the attacks on Turkish Cypriots started the night of Dec. 20, 1963. This atrocious night is known as “Bloody Christmas” in Turkish Cypriot history and over 600 innocent Turkish Cypriot men, women and children were ruthlessly slaughtered in one single night.
The UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), with the mis-sion of bringing peace to the island, was sent to the island in March 1964.
They could not stop the clashes and the inhumane Greek attacks on Turkish Cypriots continued. Some 20,000 Greek troops arrived on Cyprus clandestinely to back up the Greek National Guards in their mission of massacring the Turkish Cypriots.
The outstanding Greek author Mr. Georgios Roussos, in his book titled “The Latter-day History of the Hellenic Nation, 1826-1974, Volume 7,” published in Athens in 1975, reveals this information, based on several official documents and memoirs of some outstanding high-ranking Greek politicians. As a result of grave human rights abuses, 103 Turkish Cypriot villages were destroyed and the inhabitants of these villages were forced to withdraw into small enclaves. Almost 60,000 Turkish Cypriots left their homes, belongings and memories and took shelter in safe areas to save their lives. In these enclaves their fundamental human rights were severely restricted and they lived out their lives as refugees within their own country. They had no access to most of life’s basic necessities, had no political representation and were exposed to constant violence and harassment regulated by the Greek Cypriot leadership.
The goal of the Greek Cypriot leadership under Makarios was to force all Turkish Cypriots off the island, either by brute force or by implementation of inhumane living conditions.
But the pace of Makarios for ethnic cleansing of Turkish Cypriots was not fast enough for the junta generals in Greece and this led to the Greek Cypriot National Guards overthrowing Makarios in a coup d’etat on July 15, 1974, under the command of Greek officers and with support of Greek troops from Greece.
From this point on, things changed dramatically on the island. Turkey had to intervene to save the lives of Turkish Cypriots since the speed of the genocide would have accelerated after the declaration of the “Cyprus Hellenic Republic” on July 16, 1974, by notorious human butcher and right-wing Greek operative Nicos Sampson, installed by the Greek junta as president of the unilaterally declared new republic.
After the intervention of the Turkish military on July 20, 1974, there were no clashes between the two peoples of Cyprus.
From that day, the Greek Cypriots never dared to attack Turkish Cypriots. No lives were lost, no Turkish Cypriots were exterminated because of their race and peace arrived on Cyprus.
It is the Turkish military who brought peace to the island, not the UN peacekeepers.
The Turkish Cypriots do not want the Turkish military to leave the island. They know that if the Turkish military leaves they will be exterminated by Greek Cypriots at the very first opportunity.
