Cyprus-Forum.com

[zan]

On 28th December 1963 the London Daily Express carried the following report: "We went tonight into the sealed-off Turkish Cypriot Quarter of Nicosia in which 200 to 300 people had been slaughtered in the last five days. We were the first Western reporters there and we have seen sights too frightful to be described in print. Horror so extreme that the people seemed stunned beyond tears."

On 14th January 1964 "Il Giorno" of Italy reported: "Right now we are witnessing the exodus of Turkish Cypriots from the villages. Thousands of people abandoning homes, land, and herds. Greek Cypriot terrorism is relentless. This time the rhetoric of the Hellenes and the statues of Plato do not cover up their barbaric and ferocious behaviour." We were squeezed into defended enclaves, where we had to live for 11 years, surviving as best we could on humanitarian aid from Turkey.

In his memoirs, the US Under-Secretary of State, George Ball, said "Makarios’ central interest was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily massacring Turkish Cypriots. Obviously we would never permit that." The fact is that neither the US, the UK, the UN, nor anyone, other than Turkey eleven years later, took effective action to prevent it.

Glafcos Clerides, now the President of the Greek Cypriots, said at the time "we the Greek Cypriots are in full control of the Government. All the Ministers are Greeks. Our government is the only one recognised internationally - why should we bring the Turks back in? The Turks today control only 3% of the land. They have no rich resources and they are living through difficult times from an economic point of view. They will ultimately have to accept our point of view - or go."

[Nikitas]

Refer to the BBC and ITV coverage of the hostage TCs in Limassol and Larnaca stadiums. The TV crews interviewd both the captors and the captives. The hostage situation ended a few days later, again under the eye of foreign corespondents.

[denizaksulu]

Refer to the BBC and ITV coverage of the hostage TCs in Limassol and Larnaca stadiums. The TV crews interviewd both the captors and the captives. The hostage situation ended a few days later, again under the eye of foreign corespondents.

Nikitas, this happened only because the TV crew were there, thankfully. We can not imagine what would have taken place has these foreign media people were not there. One thing we have seen in happening is that men could be loaded on busses and then disappear. Like the missing GCs if you like.