Cyprus-Forum.com

[georgios100]

My fellow Cypriots,

EOKA achieved independence of the island (1960) with blood and sacrifice.
The Turkish Cypriots never fought but were freed thanks to the GCs. Instead, the TCs created TMT (Grey wolves), not to fight against the Brits but to protect their own interests and at times attack the EOKA fighters. Suddenly, the TCs end up with 40% Cypriot land... for what?

Can someone explain how we ended up with this mess?
How come the TCs never thank us for freeing them?
Should the TCs be considered as cowards for not participating in the uprising?

Georgios100

[miltiades]

George , the T/Cs never entered the equation , frankly they were considered as second class citizens , their feelings were of no interest to us , the majority.
The struggle was a noble one the goal was wrong. The T/Cs would perhaps have struggled alongside us if the struggle was for independence , alas the ultimate dream was flawed .

[Oracle]

George , the T/Cs never entered the equation , frankly they were considered as second class citizens , their feelings were of no interest to us , the majority....

Why second class citizens?

I remember my parents talking about how the policemen were mostly TCs and it was impossible to turn to the police with any everyday problems.

Also, the Brits generally treated the TCs better than the GCs.

It was the GCs who were second (third!) class citizens in their own homeland in the 50s, and even worse, slaves before that!

[erolz3]

EOKA achieved independence of the island (1960) with blood and sacrifice.

EOKA struggled to achieve enosis and in that it failed.

Whilst enosis may have represented freedom from colonial rule to GC, to TC it represented the replacement of one foreign colonial ruler, Britian, with a foregin rule that for them was even worse than British colonial rule, namely that of Greece.

The Turkish Cypriots never fought but were freed thanks to the GCs. Instead, the TCs created TMT (Grey wolves), not to fight against the Brits but to protect their own interests and at times attack the EOKA fighters.

TC struggled to stop one clonional ruler being replaced by what was for them another worse foreign ruler and in the process of this struggle THEY secured the Indpendance for Cyprus, rather than is subsumption into the Greek state. It is a plain and simple fact that without the struggle of the TC people Cyprus today would not exist as a nation and sovreign state. It would exist as a remote region of Greece. Cyprus would today not be ruled by Cypriots, but be ruled by Greeks. It would not have a seperate voice in the UN and the EU and many other international organisations, its voice would be subsumed into that of Greece.

How come the TCs never thank us for freeing them?

Without the struggle of the TC people Cyprus would not today be an independant sovreign nation. Still I do not want or expect any thanks from you for this.

Should the TCs be considered as cowards for not participating in the uprising?

Are you really so limited that you can not understand why TC not only did not help you to replace Britain as a foreign ruler with Greece as a foreign ruler but actively resisted such ?

It remains one of the great ironies of the Cyprus problem that the RoC owes its independance as a sovriegn nation state today to the resistance of TC to enosis.

[Get Real!]

EOKA struggled to achieve enosis and in that it failed.

Incredibly, the EOKA swearing in oath makes no mention of “enosis” whatsoever, but ONLY about removing the British.

[Oracle]

EOKA's PRIME aim was independence from Britain.

They knew they were up against resistance from Turkey and so, later, gravitated towards Enosis for security from the second enemy to freedom, the TMT.

If the Turks were not buzzing around to invade Cyprus, none of this would EVER have been a problem.

[erolz3]

Why second class citizens?

Because we were a numericaly smaller and economicaly weaker community with a different langaue and relgion than your larger one that had been idological taught that you were the indigenous real and civilised people of Cyprus and we were the remnants of barbarians invanders and oppressors in your land.

I remember my parents talking about how the policemen were mostly TCs and it was impossible to turn to the police with any everyday problems.

After GC resorted to violence against British rule it was inevitable that the Brtitish would start to recuit olice disproportionatley from the TC community. Before that time I am not aware of a massive bias to TC numbers within the Cypriot police force.

Also, the Brits generally treated the TCs better than the GCs.

Easy to say but do you have any credible evidence to actually support this claim ?

[Oracle]

Why second class citizens?

Because we were a numericaly smaller and economicaly weaker community with a different langaue and relgion than your larger one that had been idological taught that you were the indigenous real and civilised people of Cyprus and we were the remnants of barbarians invanders and oppressors in your land.

The White supremacists in South Africa were numerically weaker but they were tyrannous. And so were the TCs. So, don't play "innocent" just because you were a minority. Yes, your Ottoman habits had a lot to do with your superior attitude.
Point proven

I remember my parents talking about how the policemen were mostly TCs and it was impossible to turn to the police with any everyday problems.

After GC resorted to violence against British rule it was inevitable that the Brtitish would start to recuit olice disproportionatley from the TC community. Before that time I am not aware of a massive bias to TC numbers within the Cypriot police force.

And the TCs put their own interests before Cyprus.

So, you were not inocent in complying with the Colonialists.
Point proven

Also, the Brits generally treated the TCs better than the GCs.

Easy to say but do you have any credible evidence to actually support this claim ?

See above for one example ... well paid jobs in the police force.

Point proven

[Get Real!]

...that you were the indigenous real and civilised people of Cyprus and we were the remnants of barbarians invanders and oppressors in your land.

So why don't you give us YOUR take of the story...

Just who exactly are the indigenous Cypriots, and where did "Turkish Cypriots" come from?

[erolz3]

EOKA's PRIME aim was independence from Britain.

They knew they were up against resistance from Turkey and so, later, gravitated towards Enosis for security from the second enemy to freedom, the TMT.

Just blatant revisionsit history I am afraid and clearly so I beleive to anyone with a modicum of non partisanship. Who led EOKA ? Did Grivas EVER accept independance as an 'alternative' for ENOSIS ? You claim EOKA's prime goal was indepedance, yet for the man that set up and ran the orgnisation this was so absolutely and clearly NOT true. Did you all somehow 'trick' Grivas then ? Was it the case that the man who set up and ran EOKA did not himself know what its goal was ?

The simple reality was that the ending of Britain colonial rule in Cyprus was ineveitable with or without an armed struggle from either or both off the main communites there. What was not inevitable was what would happend to Cyprus AFTER British rule had ended.

If the GC leadership had been truely concerned with independance then through out the 40's and 50's when Britian was offering increased home rule of Cyprus by Cypriots as a progression to eventual inevitable inpendance , they would not have rejected EVERY offer made. The reason why they consistently reject such offers were that they all recognised to some degree a right of the TC community to have a say in Cypriot affairs and this could only be a block on the ambition for evntual enosis, and thus the GC leaderships rejected all such offers.

In the simplest terms Indepedance did not require armed struggle and violence to achieve. Enosis DID reuire amred sturggle and violence to acheive and even despite the use of armed striggle and violence it was not achieved anyway, something that many GC today are greatful for even if they do not admit it externaly or even internaly.