Cyprus-Forum.com

[Piratis]

This is a quote from Bir's story

Was this really the British masterstroke? The ultimate divide and rule strategy? The darkest design to justify the harsh measures they knew they had to take to prolong their colonisation of Cyprus? An attempt to give substance to their demands for bases should they be forced to abandon their imperial rule? In the case of the EOKA I belive this belief to be very fanciful.In the case of the TMT I have little doubt it is true...
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... 747#231747

I believe that to anybody with a clear mind it is obvious that the British have used the TC minority of Cyprus as means to deny to Cypriots their freedom and self determination.

The British initially fully exploited any justified fears that the TC minority could have in order to take them on their side and against Greek Cypriots.

Later on they fully exploited the greed that TCs (like everybody else) have, by promising and giving to them huge gains on the expense of Greek Cypriots, ensuring in this way that the antagonism and hate between Cypriots would continue forever.

Here are some small parts of a British made documentary about that period:


The British hire Turkish Cypriot policemen to fight against the Greek Cypriot liberation fighters:



Britain decides that the Turkish Cypriot minority can be used as an excused to deny to Cypriots their freedom and self determination, so they propose to Turkey to partition Cyprus.


First inter-communal conflict:

[T_C]

I believe it......

We was made to watch a whole load of videos on Cyprus while I was in the army and one of them covered this issue...

[Nikitas]

I remember those nights of 1958 very well. We lived in Nicosia, not far from Lokmaci and after the initial attacks we were advised to set up a "civl guard" and post guards with whistles on roof tops. The curfew was still on for Greek Cypriots, from 7 at night till 7 in the morning. It was an eerie atmosphere, totally deserted streets, people locked up inside.

Usually a British patrol would walk past our street and then it would be followed by TC policemen on foot. And then nothing, no security, no protection. There were several unprovoked attacks in our neighborhood, in one a TC driving past in a VW bug (they were quite new then) shot at our house with a pistol. A neighbor dropped a huge rock on the VW from the house next door and that ended the attack.

Considering the draconian measures the British took against the Greek side it is obvious that they tolerated the rampaging by the fanatics of the Turkish Cypriot side. At that time the mere raising of the Greek flag at a school would merit a full scale assault by British troops backed up by armored cars. Obviously it would have been a simple matter to move in and stop the rampages against the GC neighborhoods.

It is embarassing (at the very least) to think of how we were manipulated to turn on each other.

[Piratis]

It is embarassing (at the very least) to think of how we were manipulated to turn on each other.

It was all a matter of balance of power Nikitas. Those that had the power didn't want to let go of Cyprus, and Cyprus didn't have the power to kick them out. Everything beyond that was a nicely created camouflage to cover up the fact that Cyprus would remain a colony in the era of "decolonization", "international law" and "human rights".

The unfortunate truth is that it was not easy for Cypriots to act united and be fully considerate of one another. The Ottoman rule was over just a few decades earlier. Greek Cypriots where eager to finally be freed after centuries of foreign rulers, and they didn't care much about the fears and objections of TCs.

At the same time the TCs were not considerate of GCs either. Even when Makarios proposed independence, the TCs gladly accepted the "gifts" that the British gave to them on the expense of GCs, in order to maintain the divide and rule, keep the TC minority on their side and remove from Cypriots their self determination rights.

Even if we theoretically assume that GCs and TCs magically had managed to resist the divide and rule of the British and together they fought for an independent democratic Cyprus of equal Cypriot citizens, even then I am sure the British would device something to refuse to Cypriots their self-determination. Maybe they would direct their divide and rule policies over some of the other minorities in Cyprus, and offer to them what they offered to TCs. It would just make the resulting constitution even more ridiculous, but that never seemed to bother them.

So there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Everybody makes mistakes. To say that we should be embarrassed because we were not perfect is wrong. We could not be perfect. Nobody is. The only difference is that when you are powerful your mistakes never matter. You can make mistakes and crimes for decades and centuries and not only you will not be punished but everybody will see your behavior as natural. But when you are the weak, then they will help you make the mistakes and then come and use that as an excuse to punish you for them in the most severe and disproportional ways.

[zan]

I am sorry but was there anything about ENOSIS in there

[Nikitas]

Zan,

How is enosis relevant to the British using one community against the other? Do you think that the approach would have been different if the struggle had been for independence without a word being said about enosis?

[zan]

Zan,

How is enosis relevant to the British using one community against the other? Do you think that the approach would have been different if the struggle had been for independence without a word being said about enosis?

Absabloodylootly. You seem to be implying that the TCs were stupid enough not to know their own destiny. Independence of Cyprus was one thing but we fought against ENOSIS. Why can't you understand that. Denktas says we were against EOKA but then what did they stand for as their final result..

[Nikitas]

Ah Zan, you forget that the riots in 1958 where not against EOKA. I dont know how old you are, but from first hand experience let me tell you that they were rampages against whole neighborhoods and the immediate goal was exclusion of all others and establishing separating lines.

If it was simply against EOKA it would be perfectly understandable as a purely TC reaction. The way it played out in practice it does look in retrospect to have been a part British part mainland Turkish tactic.

I cannot vouch for other areas, but in our area there were no EOKA activists or any actions against the British or TCs. In fact our area was declared "in bounds" a label given by the British for safe areas. A famous bar just down the road was the frequent haunt for Britons and foreign correspondents (including Durrel). The attacks that came were totally unprovoked and large scale. Obviously meant to drive us out.

Now that I think of it that bar probably saved us, it was too valuable an asset for the British officers to let it get burnt.

One of the TC journalists who was shot in Nicosia by the TMT was shot in our street, I cannot recall his name now. He ran past us wounded and took refuge in a friend's house. It was one of those events when time stands still and everything seems to happen in slow motion. The gunman also looked scared shitless and he ran off.

[zan]

Ah Zan, you forget that the riots in 1958 where not against EOKA. I dont know how old you are, but from first hand experience let me tell you that they were rampages against whole neighborhoods and the immediate goal was exclusion of all others and establishing separating lines.

If it was simply against EOKA it would be perfectly understandable as a purely TC reaction. The way it played out in practice it does look in retrospect to have been a part British part mainland Turkish tactic.

I cannot vouch for other areas, but in our area there were no EOKA activists or any actions against the British or TCs. In fact our area was declared "in bounds" a label given by the British for safe areas. A famous bar just down the road was the frequent haunt for Britons and foreign correspondents (including Durrel). The attacks that came were totally unprovoked and large scale. Obviously meant to drive us out.

Now that I think of it that bar probably saved us, it was too valuable an asset for the British officers to let it get burnt.

One of the TC journalists who was shot in Nicosia by the TMT was shot in our street, I cannot recall his name now. He ran past us wounded and took refuge in a friend's house. It was one of those events when time stands still and everything seems to happen in slow motion. The gunman also looked scared shitless and he ran off.

Did you miss the post I made about the fact that EOKA and ENOSIS went hand in hand and that the ENOSIS movement was at least a hundred years old and anything that we did was against that. there were ENOSIS slogans everywhere and you are asking that we should have separated the two.

[Nikitas]

No, I am asking why the wholesale attack on civilians, something initiated by TMT, way before EOKA did anything like that. It could not have been a "spontaneous reaction" by Turkish Cypriots as a whole.

What could have been the desired outcome of an attack on a normal non provoking neighborhood in Nicosia? My interpretation is given above.

You are suggesting that it was a protest against Enosis, which does not make sense. Why not attack the Archbishop's residence, or some other Greek landmark. Attacking residential areas that ajoined Turkish areas kind of points to a different plan with specific geographical goals. In fact those goals were achieved when the Turkish area was closed off to GCs even to GC garbage collectors. How could garbage collection have anything to do with Enosis!!!!

How could the assassination of TCs be connected to Enosis?

It all happened under the benevolent eye of the British of course. They shoved 3000 Greek Cypriots into the internment camps on mere suspicion but not one Turkish Cypriot was ever even tried for rioting. No one was ever arrested and charged with the murders of those TC journalists and union members. If this does not tell you something then what can I tell you!