Cyprus-Forum.com

[askimwos]

Sener Levent Article in Politis 9/5/2007..


It was 24 December 1963. Those were the most critical days of the bloody fighting between the two sides in Cyprus.
The Greek side was attacking and the Turkish side was defending. The TC members of the Nicosia General Hospital were held prisoners in the hands of EOKA B paramilitaries, hungry, thirsty for two days.
The EOKA B paramilitaries were threatening them with execution. At that moment President Makarios leave the presidential palace and with the escort of some 30 armed presidential guard police officers comes to the Nicosia General Hospital to save the TC prisoners from the hands of EOKA B paramilitaries. In the eyes of the TC prisoners this an unbelievable miracle. Makarios leads them to the Presidential Palace to be save. He offers them food and shelter in the palace and after staying there for the night he arranges to be driven to the north nicosia enclave under the escort of British journalists.

The above were story was told 43 years after those days by mrs Aiten Bercalp. Mrs Bercalp is condisered a hero and a legendary personality among the TC community for the courage she has shown during those days.

She also described how she still holds a photo taken with Makarios at the time she was getting off the vehicle that drove them from the hospital to the presidential palace.

I guess this is story that most TC people don't know and surely Vp and zan would prefer not to have ever read.

IMO Makarios was a controversial figure that made many mistakes because of his inexperience in world politics. What is sure though is that he was no turk hater as some people are trying to convince us.

[observer]

In a speech on Sept. 4, 1962 at Panayia, Makarios said, "Until this Turkish community forming part of the Turkish race that has been the terrible enemy of Hellenism is expelled, the duty of the heroes of EOKA can never be considered terminated."

Doesn't exactly make him a Turk lover does it?

I think that he had an inner war with himself. I agree that taken overall he probably didn't want bloodshed. He did, however, want Cyprus to be Greek, and would prefer it if it had been Turk-free. In his ideal world the Turks in Cyprus would just slip away, leaving only Greeks.

But, TCs who had lived here for generations didn't want to go, and his speeches aroused some GCs to carry out acts of violence, causing the inevitable retribution, and the suspicion that we have today.

This tends to happen when we see "them" as the cause of our problems instead of seeing "them" as what we really know they are - a collection of individuals containing some who are bad, others good, some criminal, others law abiding, and everything in between.

[DT.]

In a speech on Sept. 4, 1962 at Panayia, Makarios said, "Until this Turkish community forming part of the Turkish race that has been the terrible enemy of Hellenism is expelled, the duty of the heroes of EOKA can never be considered terminated."

Doesn't exactly make him a Turk lover does it?

I think that he had an inner war with himself. I agree that taken overall he probably didn't want bloodshed. He did, however, want Cyprus to be Greek, and would prefer it if it had been Turk-free. In his ideal world the Turks in Cyprus would just slip away, leaving only Greeks.

But, TCs who had lived here for generations didn't want to go, and his speeches aroused some GCs to carry out acts of violence, causing the inevitable retribution, and the suspicion that we have today.

This tends to happen when we see "them" as the cause of our problems instead of seeing "them" as what we really know they are - a collection of individuals containing some who are bad, others good, some criminal, others law abiding, and everything in between.

although i don't agree with your posts generally i have to commend you on the way you argue your point.

[observer]

Thank you

[Get Real!]

although i don't agree with your posts generally i have to commend you on the way you argue your point.

Observer's arguments are feeble. Everyone knows that action always speaks louder than words therefore a politician should not be judged by what he says but by what he does. Makarios called upon the Greek Junta on many occasions to stop interfering in Cyprus and thus causing instability.

Makarios couldn’t even bring himself round to punish those who tried to assassinate him on a couple of occasions and would swiftly forgive and release them from prison!

Some foolish TC thugs encouraged by Turkey, Denktash included, saw fit to resist the flow of the masses of Cyprus and cause trouble in favor of Turkey even though they had already signed away their Turkish Nationality just three decades earlier under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

Denktash should’ve been executed for treason when he was arrested and once again the little clown was allowed to walk away free! Anyway, I can’t spend anymore time on this right now so I’ll leave it at that but those who want to talk ill of Makarios should get their facts right.

[observer]

Observer's arguments are feeble. Everyone knows that action always speaks louder than words therefore a politician should not be judged by what he says but by what he does

I don't think that anyone believes that Makarios ever pulled a trigger or planted a bomb, but his words encouraged extremists to do so and encouraged the hostility between the two communities.

Makarios called upon the Greek Junta on many occasions to stop interfering in Cyprus and thus causing instability.

Makarios' many speeches plus his approval of the Akritos Plan leave no doubt that he wanted enosis. I believe that his letters were not published until well after the coup, and even had they been published before it, I think that most Cypriots at the time would have thought that it he didn't want to join with a Greece ruled by the military rather than not join with Greece at all. Of course, it's possible that over time he found being feted on the world stage rather pleasant and decided that it was nicer to be a president rather than a priest in a Greek province, but few people would have guessed this in 1974.

Makarios couldn’t even bring himself round to punish those who tried to assassinate him on a couple of occasions and would swiftly forgive and release them from prison!

And there are some - myself included - who believe that they were so quickly forgiven because Makarios agreed with their aims, but not their methods or their timing.

Some foolish TC thugs encouraged by Turkey, Denktash included, saw fit to resist the flow of the masses of Cyprus and cause trouble in favor of Turkey even though they had already signed away their Turkish Nationality just three decades earlier under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

I'd see it as the majority of TCs not wanting to go from British Colonialism to Greek Colonialism when they had seen what had happened to Turks in other places and what was happening to Turks in Greece at the time.

Denktash should’ve been executed for treason when he was arrested

If you are talking about treason against the Republic of Cyprus of the 1960 constitution he would have been at the back of a long queue headed by Makarios and all the GC ministers!

[humanist]

Observer I agree with DT you have presented a good argument and a highly plausible scenario. Well done

[free_cyprus]

observer
how di we become turks and greeks in cyprus.............becouse we have an assosiation cos we speak their language..............is this what makes us greeks and turks. if it is then cyprus is in a sorry state mentaly if we think this

[free_cyprus]

not only they have comited treason against the island of cyprus but they continue to do so today. greek speaking and turkish speaking soo called cypriot rulers

[observer]

FC

how di we become turks and greeks in cyprus.............becouse we have an assosiation cos we speak their language..............is this what makes us greeks and turks. if it is then cyprus is in a sorry state mentaly if we think this

Many countries have divisions. In America you can be a Texan or a New Yorker with many differences, and it is fine to be proud of your heritage and support your local football or basketball team. But above that the majority of people in both states think of themselves as American.

The tragedy of Cyprus is that pride in heritage has gone beyond that. I have written elsewhere that had Greek speaking Cypriots wished true independence in 1950 and invited Turkish speaking Cypriots to join them, there would have been a partnership that Britain could not have stood against in the decolonisation era, and all of Cyprus would be independent today. No British bases.

The desire for enosis expressed in a greater or lesser form by the vast majority of GCs made sure that one-fifth of the population of Cyprus would resist it strongly. Taksim was never a desire of any but a very small number of TCs, and even those who wanted it largely did so because of a reaction against enosis.

The last 50 years or so have made the original divisions deeper and made both sides more suspicious of each other. And a very Cypriot characteristic is that we are more concerned with what 'the other side' will gain rather than consider what we will win together.