Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nikitas]

To understand the events of the summer of 1974 you have to go back to 1973, when the Greek junta underwent an internal mini revolt. The psychopath Ioannidis took over from George Papadopoulos. Ioannidis was totally nuts and a rabid anticommunist. He decided to overthrow Makarios but failed to take into account the resistance which the Cypriots put up. Fighting was going on at various points on Cyprus until Thursday (July 15, the coup date, was a Monday).

When the junta took over in Cyprus it was frantically looking for a leader. Glafkos Clerides refused the presidency. They then went to Triantafyllides the Chief Justice who also refused. Sampson was a choice of despair and it shows how unplanned and chaotic the situation was. He was the worst possible choice, uneducated, brash, undiplomatic, and in panic himself.

Turkey invaded on Saturday morning. The Greek high command in Athens at first did no believe its own officers in Cyprus who said that the invasion was happening. They gave orders to engage only after the first bombing sorties of the Turkish air force. They took Makarios police out of jail and armed them and sent them to the front. It was another chaotic situation. People who were killing each other the day before were now trying to organise some sort of defence against the Turks. Obviously they failed and the first part of the invasion was over by Tuesday July 23 when Kyrenia fell. And that is when the shit started.

TC men were rounded up and held as hostages. Some thugs took over TC villages and played it tough, while TC thugs did the same to GCs in areas within the Turkish occupied part. Both sides started executing people in cold blood. Afania was one site of Gc massacre, Sandalaris and Maratha a site of a TC massacre.

Meanwhile the Turks were frantically reinforcing their beachead and on August 13 they presented an ultimatum. The Greek government (civilian this time, the junta had fallen), asked for 48 hours to consult.The Turks sarted Attila II on the morning of August 14.

The ferocity and disproportionate force used against the remnants of the National Guard and the civilian population was indicative of the intentions of Turkey- to terrorise the population and push them out. Which they did, so by time the offer came to move south in that British brokered exchange of populations most people fled south. It was ethnic cleansing pure and simple. The 25000 people cut off in the Karpas were soon kicked out with various pretexts and now there are a few hundred left.

That was a very short precis of what happened. There are some details which are still cloudy, like the prevention of Greek reinforcements being sent to Cyprus. Friends from Famagusta were on a ship bound for Cyprus when they were stopped south of Rhodos by the US 6th fleet and turned back. It is funny that the commander on that ship to this day refuses to admit that American ships were involved. My schoolmates who were on that ship tell me that they were stopped by two US destroyers. I believe them because I have since corroborated their account.

[GreekForumer]

TC men were rounded up and held as hostages. Some thugs took over TC villages and played it tough, while TC thugs did the same to GCs in areas within the Turkish occupied part. Both sides started executing people in cold blood. Afania was one site of Gc massacre, Sandalaris and Maratha a site of a TC massacre.

Meanwhile the Turks were frantically reinforcing their beachead and on August 13 they presented an ultimatum. The Greek government (civilian this time, the junta had fallen), asked for 48 hours to consult.The Turks sarted Attila II on the morning of August 14.

According to the ATCA missing.pdf document,

35 TCs went missing 20th July 1974. (Alaminos, Petrofani, Boghazi, Angolemi + others)
210 TCs went missing 14th August 1974 (Aloa, Maratha, Tokhni )

17 TCs went missing between those dates.

This suggests the Aloa, Maratha, Tokhni massacres of TCs started 14th August, the day of Atilla II.

[Nikitas]

Maybe my memory is hazy, but the bodies in Maratha were discovered shortly after August 14, indicating that they had been killed some days earlier. The Afania massacre documented by Sevgul Uludag happened similtaneously with the Maratha Sandalaris killings.

[umit07]

What was the context of the negotiations between the sides? Turkey had the duty of upholding the constitution, but really did GC's want to go back to the pre 63 "improved version" ? What were GC's asking for at the time?

[Nikitas]

The negotiations were going on between Greece (the new civilian government), Cyprus, Turkey, The TCs, and the UK and they were taking place in Vienna as I recall. The last round was not negotiating anymore, it was a take it or leave it partition ultimatum by Ecevit.

[umit07]

OK Nikitas do you know were I can find detailed non biased info on the facts of what was exactly going on at the time. It would be better if forum members could contribute a little more to this thread but it seems like everyone just goes "towards the flames".

[Oracle]

For me this is just re-enacting a battle ....

People do what they have to do to survive, no one can be in more than one place at a time ... yet each little event chaotically affects the overall cataclysm.

All in all, it holds little validity for influencing a solution to what is indisputably an unlawful occupation.

[pg]

OK Nikitas do you know were I can find detailed non biased info on the facts of what was exactly going on at the time. It would be better if forum members could contribute a little more to this thread but it seems like everyone just goes "towards the flames".

http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/www.cypr ... %2074.html

˜ Proposal of Denktash submitted at Geneva on the 12th of August 1974.
...
(d) The area of the Turkish Cypriot Federated State shall cover 34 per centum of the territory of the Republic falling north of a general line starting from the Limnitis-Lefka area in the west and running towards the east, passing through the Turkish controlled part of Nicosia, including the Turkish part of Famagusta and ending at the port of Famagusta.

[denizaksulu]

OK Nikitas do you know were I can find detailed non biased info on the facts of what was exactly going on at the time. It would be better if forum members could contribute a little more to this thread but it seems like everyone just goes "towards the flames".

Umit, it would be foolhardy to ask anyone on this forum and expect to get non biased information. Everybody will put their own slant on events.

Some people would advocate listening to both sides and then believing that the truth lay somewhere in the middle, but even this would be wrong.

[umit07]

Well I know that Deniz Hoca, I am asking for facts on what both sides wanted during the period. I think the period in concern is a very important part of Cyprus history of which I know very little about.