by halil » Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:54 pm
lets to start few series for you Bafidis .
1
DURING THE 1963–64 PERIOD, it is estimated that around 25,000 Turkish Cypriots (one-fourth of the entire Turkish Cypriot community at that time) and 700 Greek Cypriots (including 500 Armenians) were displaced Of these, approximately 1,300 Turkish Cypriots had returned to their homes by 1970; the remainder were still displaced in the summer of 1974 when events led to the present de facto division of Cyprus. The resulting dislocation of people was massive. According to official Greek Cypriot sources, 142,000 Greek Cypriots (close to 30% of the entire Greek Cypriot community at that time) were displaced from the northern to the southern part of the island;and, according to official Turkish Cypriot sources, 45,000 Turkish Cypriots (close to 40% of the entire Turkish Cypriot community at that time) relocated from the south to the north.
When the Turkish military operation ended on 16 August 1974, many thousands of Greek Cypriots had already fled to the south, with only about 20,000 remaining in the north. By the summer of 1975, this number further diminished to around 10,000 (mainly in the Karpass area). The Greek Cypriot side claims that this was due to ‘the oppressing measures taken by the Turks in order to compel all the enclaved persons to leave’ the Turkish-controlled territories. Despite the Vienna III Agreement in August 1975 (more on this later), the number of Greek Cypriots in the north continued to decline: about 2,500 Greek Cypriots moved to the south during the remaining part of 1975, 5,800 during 1976, and 900 during 1977. By November 1981, only 1,076 Greek
Cypriots remained in the north.6 The population subsequently was reduced to less than 500, many of whom were very old. This decline, according to the Greek Cypriot side, was again ‘the result of a sustained campaign of harassment, discrimination and oppression’ directed towards them by the administration in the north.
It has been estimated that, prior to July 1974, the actual Turkish Cypriot population in the territory that subsequently came under Turkish control was 71,000; of these, 10,000 were persons who had originally lived in villages to the south of the new dividing line but had been displaced during the intercommunal strife of 1963–64. As for the Turkish Cypriots who lived south of the new line in 1974, many tried (secretly and apparently often under difficult and dangerous conditions) in the year that followed to reach what they regarded as freedom and the safety of the north. Also, in January 1975, some 9,000 Turkish Cypriots who had taken refuge at the British bases in Akrotiri when the Turkish military offensive began were transported (via Turkey) to the north. Thus, by June 1975 the number of Turkish Cypriots remaining in the south was only about 10,700. By September 1975 – following the Vienna III Agreement of 2 August 1975 – most had moved to the north, leaving only 130 Turkish Cypriots resident in the south.
Thus, the total figure of displaced persons in Cyprus following the events of 1974, including both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, was in the range of 210,000. This corresponds to 30% of the total population of the island at the time (636,000).
more to come....................
