General Karayannis, the Commander of the Greek Cypriot National Guard reveals that when the Turks objected to the constitutional amendment, Archbishop Makarios put his plan into effect and the Greek attack on Turks began in December 1963.
On 21 December, Greeks launched their planned major attack on Turkish civilians. The incident which was used as a pretext had taken place in the Tahtakale quarter of Nicosia which was shared by Turks and Greeks. When a Turkish woman refused to be searched bodly by a Greek male who had not even produced any convincing evidence that he was a policeman and while a crowd of Turks were gathered to protest this action the `Constables' of Yiorgadjis opened fire cutting the Turkish couple in half.
This slaughter was used as starting signal for further firing on Turkish civilian targets indiscriminately, including the statue of Atatürk, near Kyrenia gate, and even Lycee students, in the Turkish quarter of Nicosia.
Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Küçük appealed for calm, but the CBC, the Greek controlled state radio, did not broadcast his statement.
Authors like Robert Stephens, H. Scott Gibbons, H.D. Purcell, Prof. Oberling and many foreign journalists vividly described the 1963-1964 assaults giving concrete evidence that the Christmas attacks of the Greeks were preplanned and their paramilitary and private armies were equipped with the arms and ammunition supplied by the Greek leadership whose intention was to change the state of affairs created by the Agreements, by use of all means, including force of arms.
For instance, Robert Stephens, a British author observed:
"There is no doubt that these forces were brought into action during the crisis and that part of them got out of control, resulting at one stage in a small but savage massacre."
Robert Stephens, Cyprus, A place of Arms
(Pall Mall press, London 1966) p. 181 .
