johnoddy wrote:GIG, I was here, in Cyprus, in 1974. We were, at the time, the UN’s instant reaction battalion and I was stationed at Polis but manned OP’s from Paphos to Yalia. I was, at the time, an 18 year old with little grasp of the political situation. Our main objective was to protect unsurrendered Turkish villages and the general population. The OP at Paphos, in the old town by the mosque, is where I came under fire for the first time, shot at by the GNG. It was also where I watched the GNG torture and murder a Turkish baker whom they accused of spying.
We moved village after village of Cypriot Turks up to Nicosia, villages that had been their homes for centuries, they were allowed one bed sheet in which to pack their entire life and then run the gauntlet of Greeks throwing stones and hurling abuse at them. Greeks who they had lived side by side with over decades and who had been their friends.
I agree; it was Turkey who were the initial aggressor but if you’d walked into some of the unarmed Turkish villages after the GNG had been there then you would not have thought so. It was not the Cypriot Turks who started or even wanted that war but it was them that suffered for it.
After all this time do you not think it is time to put away your hate and bitterness? Turkey is not perfect, far from it but neither is Greece, it’s time to live and let live and if you should have any feelings let it be for the poor souls, on both sides, who lost their lives needlessly in a conflict that wasn’t of their making.
Welcome John, and thank you for your input.
As you state you were only 18 and uninformed of the political situation. Turkey's crimes against Cyprus didn't start (nor end) in 1974. Before you arrived, there had been over 20 years of direct terrorist activity organised from Turkey and in collusion with the TCs on Cyprus. Maybe you need to look into this for perspective.
Why were you in charge of looking after TCs when Turkey was here to slaughter thousands of Greek Cypriots? Why didn't you protect the Greek Cypriots?
Whilst you were looking out for the fate of one TC baker some 3,000 Greek Cypriots were tortured and killed, 1500 vanished and nearly 200,000 driven from their homes of centuries by the sort of tactics ISIS use right now.
If accused of spying this baker very likely was. Some TCs have come out to admit that despite seeming like nice ordinary people, teachers even, they hid guns, bombs etc for Turkey and took orders. We had one such confession here on CF. Also, false flag operations were rife. - even their political leaders were up to it (Denktash's confession). War is dirty - but you chose to support the ones that Britain supported. Britain supported TCs because they could be relied on to cause harm to Cyprus and Britain did not want to let go of Cyprus (does not want to let go of Cyprus even now).
I'd love to put away my hatred of Turkey (as a political country with a government) and forgive their actions but that can only
sincerely happen once they have left Cyprus and stopped their other atrocities on some other people and places.
Why don't you ask Turkey to stop its crimes against humanity? Surely that is what will lead to collective harmony.
And why have you not voted?
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