The Genocide Files [First Edition] 0951446428

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Harry Scott Gibbons

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THE GENOCIDE FILES by

HARRY SCOTT GIBBONS The Genocide Files is a thorough research into the so-called "Cyprus problem." It exposes the bias of the United Nations Organisation towards the Cyprus Turks, and its apparent inability to protect

them against their more numerous and militarily more powerful co-inhabitants of the island, the Greek Cypriots. The book describes how the Greek fixation with Enosis - union with Greece - led to a one-sided war against the Turks and the brutal massacres of their men, women and children. Harry Scott Gibbons explodes the myth that Greeks and Turks had lived happily together from independence in 1960 until 1974 when the Turkish armed forces, without reason or provocation, attacked Cyprus and divided the island between the two races. And he explains how the Turkish intervention came only after the mainland Greek-led coup which caused a war of Greek against Greek in which 2,000 Greeks and Greek Cypriots died in five days, the reason Turkey called its action the "Peace Operation."

The operation series of secret

also discovered, in a

documents captured by the

Turkish forces, a cold-blooded plan to wipe out the entire Turkish-Cypriot population, documents that the author calls

The Genocide

Files.

His book does not

make

for pleasant

reading. An authentic tale of brutality never does.

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The Genocide

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Harry Scott Gibbons

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THE GENOCIDE FILES A Charles Bravos Modern History

Harry Scott Gibbons

Copyright

©

1997 by Charles Bravos, Publishers

All rights reserved.

UK. December 1997.

Published in the First printing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication

Data available.

ISBN 0-9514464-2-8

Charles Bravos, Publishers, 182 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 Tel: 0171 241

7UY

2079 Fax: 0171 241 2069

For Sheila, Yvette and Charlie And Marion Chesney and Rose Mary

And

Jeffrey

THE GENOCIDE FILES HARRY SCOTT GIBBONS

Book One

Book Two

PEACE WITHOUT HONOUR

:

THE COLONELS OF GREECE

:

Book Three

:

WAR AND PEACE and THE FINAL SOLUTION

Harry Scott Gibbons

1

BOOK ONE PEACE WITHOUT HONOUR "If

peace cannot be maintained with honour,

it

is

no longer

peace."

Lord John Russell (1792

Speech

I

gratefully

Cyprus

am

Greenock, September 19, 1853.

acknowledge the help given me by the Turks of

particularly thankful to Mr.

of

assistance,

the

new

especially

republic in

Osman of

should otherwise never have been able I

I

Orek, the then Defense

Cyprus,

revealing

for

the

happenings and intrigues and introducing I

1853)

researching the genocide period from 1963 to 1968, and

in

Minister

at

-

me

to

his

unstinting

behind-the-scenes

many eyewitnesses

to meet.

must also thank the Greek Cypriot Public Information Office

of that period for opening their archives to me, enabling

me

to

check every press release, every statement, issued by the Greek Cypriot authorities during this bloodstained period.

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER ONE At 2.10 a.m. on Saturday, December 21, 1963, two cars carrying men and four women, drove through the

ten Turkish Cypriots, six

Greek quarter of Nicosia, the Cyprus

homes

capital,

heading for their

Turkish quarter. They were returning from dinner

in the

Kyrenia, the resort on the northern coast.

They had eaten

were happy, and they were almost

destination.

at their

in

well, they

They were actually inside the Turkish area when a group of armed Greek Cypriot civilians suddenly appeared in the headlights of the leading car and signalled it to stop. Both cars halted. The gunmen ordered everyone out of the cars. The ten obeyed, puzzled. A crowd of Turks from the overlooking houses appeared, awakened by the shouts.

As though on Greek

Cypriot

cue, a

convoy of cars loaded with uniformed brandishing Sterling machineguns

policemen,

outside the open car windows, turned a corner ahead and roared up the street towards them.

from the

The

The

civilian

gunmen

quickly stepped

away

two Zcki

Halil

cars.

first

burst of

machinegun

fire

almost cut

in

Karabuluk, 25, married with three children, and Jemaliyeh Emir, 32, an attractive divorcee with a 12 year-old daughter.

Three of the Turkish bystanders, caught

savage

in the

wounded to the ground. The crowd fled, screaming. The gunmen leapt into the police cars. The cars drove off. I

first

was

in a restaurant just a

civilian

few hundred yards away when those was not aware

shots echoed across the ancient walled city.

and the shots that were

that they,

fire, fell

to follow,

I

would be heard around

the world.

Genocide - the extermination of the Turks of Cyprus - had begun.

The does not

civilized world, as the like that

Western nations

call

themselves,

word genocide. Foreign correspondent,

writer and

Harry Scott Gibbons author

Tim

Sebastian

atrocities during the

told

why

an

in

3

investigation

Serb

into

Bosnian war and the Dayton peace agreement

which appeared

in

newspaper, The

Mail

Day

Night and

the

of the

section

on Sunday, on

February

British

1996,

25,

an

indictment of the appalling callousness with which the war crimes

have been ignored.

There were, he reported, "up

to

250,000 people

killed;

900 places of detention where more than

graves; over

are reported to have

been held; an estimated 20,000

and 50,000 people

tortured.

pattern

a

It's

150 mass

half a million

women

raped

of systematic

and

meticulous barbarity."

And why

will there be

no punishment for

this

genocide?

Sebastian reported what a United States official told him:

"At the

all

costs they (the Western nations) had to stay

word 'genocide' -

cleansing' instead.

You

the

to

the

UN So

do something

was there

happened,

up

set it

is.

in

away from

called

it

'ethnic

couldn't say genocide because that would

have required them to act under the had

So they

g-word.

to prevent

it.

UN

charter.

They would have

Genocide was the whole reason

the first place."

Don't say

at least in the

GENOCIDE,

and

that

means

it

never

eyes of the politicians of the West and the

United Nations. Otherwise, they will

tell

you, solutions cannot be

found and peace agreements cannot be organised. But

am

I

not a politician, and

I

owe no

allegiance to the United

Nations, the European Union or the United States.

I

am

not afraid

to use the "g-word."

Genocide to see

it.

in

Cyprus erupted in December, 1963, and was there until 1974 when, after a bestial feast of I

continued

It

slaughter and rapine that shocked the world, the surviving victims

gained their

own

And now

safe haven.

the civilised world, in the form of that self-righteous

triumvirate, the United Nations, the

European Union and the United

States, intends to breach that safe haven,

peace for 23 years, and This

is

let

the story of the

the genocide

where there has been

recommence.

Cyprus genocide.

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER TWO I

was covering the Middle East for the London Daily Express, and time was based in Cyprus because had been deported from

at that

I

my

Lebanon,

Beirut,

Patrick's Day,

previous base, on the

1962 -

after trial

emergency)

martial law or state of

17th of March, St.

by a military court (there was no for insulting a

member

of the

Lebanese security forces, namely the government censor (there was no censorship, officially

any

at

rate)

words and waving of arms"

Beirut, "by

in

the

main post

office in

(a not uncharacteristic habit

in those days, in fact, the normal means of communication between Lebanese) - and had a six months suspended prison

of mine

sentence waiting for

me

if

I

dared set foot outside the transit lounge

of Beirut International Airport. Lebanon, under the influence of

Colonel Nasser of Egypt, had become a rather nasty, paranoid,

little

was my newspaper's criticism of Nasser's police state socialism that was behind my expulsion, as the censor in question himself later told Reuter's news agency. police state. In fact,

I

had returned

1963.

to

it

Cyprus the day before, Friday, December 20,

had been doing a story on the border troubles

I

East Frontier of

Kenya and had flown from

in

the North

there in a tiny police

plane to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, then by commercial

Red Sea to Aden, and the long haul up was lucky enough to get a connection to Cyprus

airliner across the

to Beirut

- where

the

I

same

day, instead of having to spend the night on a sofa in Beirut airport transit

lounge while armed security

sprawled around demanding of

my

latest

adventures.

had been carrying It

had been a

days, and

New

I

my

We

suspended sentence

tiring

me

in

in the

food and

telling

them

20 months

and out of the

I

airport.

journey and had taken the best part of two

Year break. Behind Kenya,

ordered

boredom by

had become friends

was looking forward

Somalia and

men

relieve their

I

me

the

I

to a

had

squalid

left

Christmas and, with luck, a the border fighting

between

and

attendant

villages

their

scavenger Marabou storks and half wild dogs, the goose-pimpling

Harry Scott Gibbons

me menacingly

night raids, and the rifles pointed at

Ethiopian soldiers as

!

5 by hard-eyed

photographed them from across the river

where the three borders met.

What

hadn't reported to

I

a six-month ceasefire

- most of whom,

levvies

my newspaper was

that

I

had arranged

between the British-officered Kenya border ironically,

were Somalis ("white

officers

with black privates" as the British foreign press used to say) - and

from inside Somalia. The British officers said six months would see the end of their service and if the fierce Shifta would agree to a ceasefire, they'd collect their pensions and be off the Shifta raiders

and then Kenya and Somalia could blow themselves

to

smithereens

were concerned. The Shifta agreed. took the messages back and forth across the border - just a few hundred

as

as they

far

I

yards from the Kenyan Beau Geste-style fort of the British to the

mud

Shifta

As

I

hut

HQ.

flew up the Red Sea from

stop at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia,

mountains of

Yemen on my

many more hundreds, lost

since

I

had

last

King Badr, with

its

I

right,

Aden

to Beirut, with a transit

watched the

llyushin bombers,

the

or even thousands, of innocent lives had been

curved daggers and ancient

napalm and poison

to

After

the death and despair

rifles,

Yak

and the might fighter planes,

gas, as Egypt's president

through the ancient kingdom of

tried to blast a route

Sabeans all

razor-backed

reported the war between the bare-foot army of

of the Soviet-supplied Egyptian army's tanks,

Abdel Nasser

stark,

and wondered with sadness how

grab the oilfields of Saudi Arabia. I

had been witnessing, the lovely

like Paradise on the starboard wing as few miles of the journey across the grey, turbulent

island of

Cyprus appeared

flew the

last

I

Mediterranean.

The smiles at Nicosia airport, the waves from the waiting taxi many of whom knew me from my frequent trips to and from the airport, and the "welcome back" handshakes at the Ledra

drivers,

Palace Hotel, where dispel the recent I

filled

mountains

I

collected

my

white Rover 60, helped to

memories of bloodshed,

hate, suspicion

and

fear.

up the Rover, drove the 16 miles north over the to

my

rented villa,

known

as "The Blue House," in the

The Genocide Files

6

winter-sleepy seafront village of Kyrenia, went for a glass of throat-searing draught

wine

at Klito's

my

last

in his

of East Africa from

my

my

rose garden,

pores, dressed and sat

on

home

in

porch congratulating myself on being alive and back

this friendly, tree

When in

had a

- inspected

barrels tasted over three hours old

showered the

stroll,

bar - nothing

the

phone rang,

Nicosia with

The

covered island

had grown

to love.

quickly accepted an invitation to dinner

some English and Greek

was of

talk

I

I

friends.

the weather, the potato and grape harvests, the

overdose of winter sunshine and the dearth of

rain.

Violence and death seemed as remote as that East African desert plain

I

had so recently crossed on

foot.

was on my third satisfying brandy, at 2.10 a.m. on Saturday, December 21, 1963, when the two ill-fated cars drove through the I

old walls of Nicosia, heading for the Turkish quarter.

The

cars contained six

from a happy dinner out In

in

men and

four

women, Turks,

returning

Kyrenia.

one of the cars was Zcki Halil Karabuluk, 25, husband and

father.

In

a

few minutes he would be

Shenay was asleep with

home where He was

at

three children.

their

his wife

thinking

happily of his wife's twenty-fourth birthday the following week, of the

party

and

presents

for

their

could fuss over and spoil their

and

daughter

three-year-old

cighteen-month-old boy, and the welcome holidays

in

which he

new five-wcek-oid second son. All December early morning,

Cypriots love children, and that cool

young Karabuluk was In the

32.

second car

Moslems

are

a

happy man.

sat a

more

Europeans and divorce

to

goodlooking divorcee, Jcmaliych Emir, practical

about

life

them, however tragic,

Jcmaliyeh was happy, had prospects of marriage

and a twelve-year-old daughter festive season, with peace

to

return

and goodwill

home

to all

than

West

a fact of

is if

most

life.

she so desired,

to.

The coming

men, held only happy

thoughts and no fears for her.

As enclave

the cars passed through the Tahtelkalc quarter, a Turkish in the

Greek

part of the walled city, the headlights of the

Harry Scott Gibbons

7

leading car splashed against a group of young across the street.

The

The men, dressed

positioned

in civilian clothes,

moved

winter suited against the

windows of

the cars. They spoke in Cyprus learned Turkish. There was no need those days, nearly all Turkish Cypriots spoke Greek.

cold night

Greek. to. In

men

cars stopped.

air,

Few Greeks

to the

in

"Get out," they said.

The men

in

"We

arc police."

car opened

the second

the

doors and walked

forward.

"What do you want

?"

one asked.

"Let us see your identity cards."

One of

the

Turks spoke up. "Show us

YOUR

identity cards,

your police cards." Pistols appeared in the

out!"

came

hands of the Greeks. "All of you, get "

the order. "Line up and be searched.

From

a possible

argument and quarrel, the situation had suddenly become deadly.

The Turkish men, hands raised, allowed themselves They were unarmed. They lowered their arms.

to

be

searched.

"Now

No

the

women," and

several of the Greeks stepped forward.

Cypriot, Greek or Turk, will allow you to touch his

the West, a

husband might allow

handbag, especially Cyprus, no.

And

this

if a

was

The Turks objected "If

a

policeman

to

gun were being waved to

women.

examine in

In

his wife's

his face.

In

be a body search.

loudly.

you arc police, take us

to a police station

and

let

the

women

be searched by a policewoman."

The women joined

in.

"Take your hands off

us!

You

are not police!"

The Turks, at gunpoint, were pushed and slapped. The uproar woke up the street and about two dozen Turks poured out of their houses in nightwear, the men in pyjamas, the women, their nightdresses

hastily

covered

with

overcoats,

huddled

doorways. The pyjama clad men gathered round the voices added to the din as lights went on

all

along the

in

cars.

street.

the

Their

The Genocide Files

8

"He's no policeman," shouted a

Olympiakos Club"

woman. "He's Yanni of

the

Nicosia football club).

(a

?"

"Under what law do you carry guns

one of the newcomers

asked.

There was,

They had

no law authorising the police

in fact,

be armed.

to

the right to carry out normal checks on cars or characters

behaving suspiciously. They were by the wholescalc stopping of

These bulk checks, as

I

not,

traffic for

however, allowed to do so no apparent reason.

found out

later,

had begun

in

the

Tahtelkale area several days before; and had been a matter of bitter

complaint

The

in the

Turkish-Cypriot press.

CID

civilian attire, too, struck a discordant note.

(Criminal

men, of course, could be on duty in clothes, but no policeman in Cyprus had ever, while in dress, controlled traffic or stopped people to check their

Investigation Department) civilian

civilian

identity cards.

Yet here was a group of middle of the night, searching people

when

at

gunpoint.

police patrols.

On

armed Greek area,

top of

civilians, in the

holding up

this,

it

illegality

traffic

took place

Cyprus press - the Turkish

a section of the

complaining of the

illegally

a Turkish

in

at a

part

and time

- was

of such conduct. In addition, any such

to be carried out by mixed Greek-Turkish There were no Turkish police with this patrol. So it was

checks had

apparently a vigilante group. It

was only

later that the

Greek side alleged

that the

gunmen had

been enrolled as "special constables" by the Minister of the Interior, a Greek, and backdated this action to before that night. But this "hindsight" was nonsense. Full government authority - Turkish and

Greek - was necessary obtained.

The move was

for such action, to

and

this

had not been

provoke the Turks, done deliberately,

not innocently or carelessly.

The

din

grew

louder,

menacing. The Greeks,

still

the

Turkish

voices

outraged

and

brandishing their guns, began to back

away. Suddenly, up the halt

street roared several cars.

They screeched

where the crowd of Turks was gathered and out

to a

leapt several

9

Harry Scott Gibbons

uniformed Greek policemen carrying Sterling submachine guns.

Without warning, they opened

fire.

Zeki Halil Karabuluk, happy husband and father, and Jemaliye Emir, happy, good looking divorcee with few cares, were standing

when

together

the

into the road in a

burst came.

first

The

yards from home.

bullets cut

They were only

them nearly

few hundred

a

two, flinging them

in

jumbled heap. Three onlookers

on the

rolled over

pavement, wounded by a second hysterical outburst.

The crowd, screaming, The uniformed their cars

fled.

police, joined

and drove

by the

Then they did another inexplicable sudden appearance and wanton at

corners

street

civilian

gunmen,

leapt into

off.

began

and

killing.

thing, as puzzling as their

They

shooting

stationed themselves

every

at

vehicle

that

approached.

At 3 a.m.,

a car driven

He had

scene.

hurriedly

awakened by one of

by

a Turkish

dressed

in

policeman drove up uniform

his

the witnesses to the murders.

after

When

to the

being bullets

spattered the street around him, he quickly reversed and drove out

of range. fell

to

A

the

curious Turk peered round a corner,

ground,

wounded. Although

the

was

shot

streets

at,

and

were now

deserted, the Greeks kept up the shooting. In the crossfire, they shot

and wounded two of their

Word

own

side, a

policeman and a

of the shooting had spread, and gangs of Greek civilians

apparently

decided

it

was an

official

"open

day

season"

shooting Turks, and by 4 a.m. they were roaring

down

civilian.

in cars

for

up and

the streets of the Turkish sector of Nicosia, shooting from the

open windows. Where these Greek

civilians got their

never explained by the Greek authorities that these incidents

who

guns was

later officially

denied

had ever happened.

was an offence to carry unlicensed weapons in Cyprus, and weapons were sporting shotguns. Pistols, rifles and machineguns were banned for civilian use. Yet these carloads of Greeks were armed to the teeth with the most unsporting of It

the only licensed

weapons.

The Genocide Files

10

One

car drove up to the Kyrenia Gate, the northern entrance to

the Turkish inhabited area of the walled city.

They

fired at the

bronze statue of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, sending splinters flying.

The

car drove on and fired on the offices of

The Selimiye Mosque near

the municipal market

The Christmas war had begun. But by

onslaught

brutal

majority,

the

Rauf Denktash,

Communal Chamber.

lawyer and President of the Turkish

was shot

wasn't a war.

it

and,

as

it

It

up.

was

emerged

a

soon

Greek community against the smaller, unarmed Turkish community. But the Greek side, in

afterwards, heavily armed, virtually

control of communications, labelled

it

an "uprising" by the Cypriot

Turks, and claimed the Greeks were only defending themselves and

were therefore fighting later,

it

became

a

"war" for their survival. Looking back

clear that the

expected to react, either with

Turks fists

those two cars had been

in

weapons,

or

provocation and set the plan for genocide not mattered not at

in

to

the

Greek

motion. That they did

The Greeks simply went ahead with their It was supposed to have ended by

all.

plans to exterminate the Turks.

Christmas, with Cyprus "cleansed" of

Greek documents

later

was accomplished, and these

before this

its

Turkish population, as

showed, but the international press arrived "visiting firemen," as they

were called by foreign correspondents based abroad, described the onslaught as "inter-communal fighting." This gave the impression

were equally to blame for the bloodshed, in much same way when, 30 years later, Bosnian Serbs attacked

that both sides

the

defenceless

massacred

Moslem its

villages,

innocent

towns and

inhabitants,

Western governments, too - came

the

cities and raped and Western media - and

to describe these

happenings as

between "warring factions."

As bed

in

the extermination plan

my

house

in

was being

put into action,

I

lay in

Kyrenia, dreaming dreams of Christmas, of

my my

rose garden, of dinners with friends, of peace and goodwill, of a

wonderful holiday on It

to

was good

I

this beautiful island.

had those happy dreams. They were the

have for some time.

last

I

was

1

Harry Scott Gibbons At 2.30 am. on the Saturday,

20 minutes

just

Osman

after the first murders,

Kutchuk, and the Defence

the island's Vice-President, Dr. Fazil

Minister, Mr.

1

Orek, both Turks, went

to the

Paphos Gate

police station to complain to the Minister of the Interior about the

by the Greek police. The Tahtelkale quarter was under

killings

wounded

siege and the dead and

left

lying in the streets.

At the station they looked round

in

amazement. Apparently

it

had been heavily fortified with sandbag barricades even before the first

shooting. Entering the station, they

saw

the police

armed with

Sterling guns and rifles.

When that

they spoke to the Turkish constables inside, they learned

only the Greek police had been armed.

consent

Turkish

of the

They

Constitution.

ministers,

realised

with

Done without

was

this

shock

their

of the Interior, Polycarpos Yorgadjis,

who

the

of the

whatever

that

happening had been carefully planned. They made to the Minister

breach

a

was

complaint arrived at

answer to their phone call. Then the Turks returned to their quarter and later issued a statement calling for calm among the island's Turkish community. Inexplicably, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, controlled by the Greek side, refused to mention this

the station in

in their

On

news

bulletins.

Saturday, no Greek civil servants turned up for work

in

offices situated inside the Turkish sector of Nicosia.

The law courts inside the Turkish zone remained closed when Greek judges and advocates stayed away. Seeing this, and deciding that the situation was becoming more serious than the official announcements said, the Turkish civil servants did not go to their offices on the Greek side. In the

decision

forenoon, the Greek

ordering

general

a

members of

gendarmerie. They announced that with "new" firearms "to prevent those

who were

still

on duty

government took a the police and the police were being issued the

of

mobilisation

in

weapons. This unilateral decision

new

flareups." Turkish police,

Greek

sectors,

to mobilise

were not given

was again

a breach of

the Constitution.

Then Greek

police,

armed and

Turkish quarter of Nicosia.

in vehicles,

began

to patrol the

The Genocide Files

12

Turks, ordered by their leaders to do nothing to provoke the

Greeks, watched silently from the balconies and sidewalk coffee

shops as the police shouted "Long

EOKA"

live

(the Grcek-Cypriot

which had fought against the British until the island's independence) and "Long live Enosis" (union with Greece). Turkish police in Greek areas were taken off mixed patrols and other active duties. terrorist organisation

Cyprus

blaming the Turks, spoke of "serious incidents" A news bulletin said the police were taking

radio,

but gave no details.

measures

to restore order.

At 9.30 a.m., shots from a passing police car injured two boys in

the playground of the Turkish

Boys Lyccc near

the

Kyrcnia

Gate. Dr.

Kutchuk phoned

to

Archbishop Makarios, President of

Cyprus, and asked for an urgent meeting to discuss the incidents.

With the three Turkish cabinet ministers, Defence, Health and Agriculture, he then drove to the Presidential Palace, the former British governor's residence, situated south-west of Nicosia

Pedieos River, by

way

by the

named - no imagination

of the newly

required here - Presidential Palace street.

Makarios was

flanked,

already

rooms, by

furnished reception

one of the

in

Minister

Interior

luxuriously

Yorgadjis and

Justice Minister Mrs. Souliotou.

Kutchuk impressed on Yorgadjis

away from

that

Greek police should stay two

the Turkish quarter until after the funeral of the

killed had taken place. Agreeing, Yorgadjis insisted the fatal shots were not fired by the police, but by the Turks themselves. However, a joint statement was hammered out and an appeal for calm was

issued

later

from the palace.

It

said

the

situation

was "under

control."

While they were aged between 5 and Nicosia, to their

was

talking, a car taking eight Turkish children,

7,

from

homes

in

their school at

Lakatamia, southwest of

the capital for their Christmas holidays,

fired on.

As the driver accelerated, a half window and lodged in a heavy book boy. Ten bullets

hit

the car.

spent bullet smashed the rear in

the satchel on the back of a

Harry Scott Gibbons

Word

of the fresh incident was phoned to Kutchuk

and he and Makarios drove the area of the shooting. plate

AK

13

1,

in the presidential

The

car, a

the

official

presidential

the palace,

black Cadillac, bore the number

the archbishop's personal

number. Makarios never

He

failed to hold both his top positions impartially. at

at

car to visit villages in

At

palace.

spent his days

he

night,

slept

in

his

Archbishopric, inside the Nicosia walls, where his parents also lived

and where

all

the staff

were

cither blood relatives or

boyhood

friends.

His car was the official presidential one. The number plates

were those of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Cyprus. After the tour, Kutchuk returned to his residence, a wistaria

covered, sprawling brown stone

villa,

now

the official office and

residence of the President of the independent state of Northern

Cyprus, built on the Quirini embattlement of the city wall near the

Kyrenia Gate. Shortly after the apparently successful meeting with Kutchuk,

Makarios made proposals to

an

amend

amazing announcement.

He

reiterated

his

the Constitution - the proposals which had

been the blatant cause of the intcrcommunal problems which had resulted in the Greek attacks - and said the Treaty of Guarantee, allowing Britain, Greece and Turkey

to intervene in

event of law and order breaking down, was void. the Constitution unilaterally, he said.

Cyprus

in the

He would amend

The Turkish leadership was

stunned.

But with the Turkish leaders ensuring a policy of no

retaliation,

Nicosia grew quiet on Saturday evening. It

looked as though

slightly it,

more

this

like the others in the past, If

I

had been just another incident, perhaps

vicious, in troubled Greek-Turkish relations, but that

would be resolved by

talks.

had known of something that had occurred a few hours

at 2.10 AM on Saturday, December would not have been so complacent, and would have realised that something much more sinister than "just another incident" (my words) was underway.

before the murders of the Turks 21,

I

At 10

PM

on Friday, December 20, Altay Alagun, aged 24,

a

police constable in the fingerprints department of the Athalassa

The Genocide Files

14

HQ

police

on the Limassol road south of Nicosia, was on duty. The

was Police Superintendent Thegadris.

officer in charge

whom

Without warning, the Turkish police there, none of

were gathered together by

carried weapons, all

of

whom

Greek colleagues,

their

were armed. They were lined up and marched outside and

the headquarters

into a field.

Alagun

told

me

the story.

"Most of the Greeks were not police but armed civilians who

We

had joined our escorts

were marched

to a big,

seemed

the

locked, so

be put

was cold and

name means 13

to the

British

rule.

It

but the doors were

in there,

headquarters building and

without any explanation.

in

was

the central heating

and stretched out for a

Come

to

we were marched back still

was under

the island

Turks were going

turned loose,

We

two-storey building that had been used by

commandos when

Turkish

"It

had no idea what was happening.

on the long

rest

Greek) came

and

in

on.

table.

went

I

my

to

office

Then Thegadris

said, "This place

is

(the

no good.

with me."

And

he took

me

to the

Greek policeman. The

We

with a Turk.

called to

me

treated

refused.

I

Greek protested loudly

were

diningroom where to join

photo dark room and locked

out the next morning.

let

them, but

I

"By Saturday evening, when no idea what was going on,

in

with a

went

I

into the

Greeks were having breakfast. They

the

all

me

being imprisoned

at

I

was so angry

it

was

the

at

way

getting dark, and

had been

I

still

having

decided to get out of there."

Altay Alagun was blond and blue-eyed and could have passed easily for an

Englishman, and spoke Greek fluently.

would have recognised him as "I

put on

civilians, got

my into

oilskin,

my

walked past twin

lines of

Nicosia. Just like that.

My

lucky

we

all

whom

Turkish colleagues

arrest, but

were released

without any explanation. Looking back now,

How

armed Greek

car and drove into the Turkish quarter of

behind were put under

they were.

No Greek

a Turk.

were."

I

a

I

had

few days

realise

how

left

later

lucky

Harry Scot I Gibbons

15

CHAPTER THREE Some background

of Cyprus

is

necessary for the events reported

As backgrounds, like introductions, make this one as short as possible.

here to be properly understood.

can often bore the reader,

Cyprus Sicily

I'll

the third largest island in the Mediterranean, after

is

and Sardinia.

lies in the

It

is

40 miles marked by its

in the

north and the

eastern Mediterranean

from the Turkish coast and 60 miles from Syria. great twin mountain ranges, the

Troodos

in the

islands separated

Beshparmak

dawn of

south. In the

It

time, these ranges stood as

by the Athalas sea channel which

Mesaoria (Mesarya)

Unfortunately,

plain.

today the

is

potentially

this

rich

agricultural plain produces only crops fed by winter rains. Wells

draw only brackish water and

for

much

of the year

it

is

arid

and

semi-desert.

The first BC, when Palestine.

BC

definite evidence of settlers

A new wave

heralded

the

in

multitude of

skills,

habitation

was about 7,000

Turkey,

southern

Bronze

As refugees from

Age.

lands

poured

in,

BC

and by the 9th century

they

The

a sought-after prize

island split

up

and

by successive rulers

into several

wars

and

brought

a

Cyprus had become

one of the great trading powers of the region. As a

became

Syria

of immigrants from Turkey around 2,500

neighbouring

suppression

human

from

arrived

result

Cyprus

in the area.

kingdoms which paid

tribute to

the Assyrians, the Egyptians and then the Persians. Alexander the

Great's defeat of the Persians

in

333

BC

freed Cyprus, but on his

was fought over by his generals Ptolemy and Antigonus and finally became part of the Egyptian Ptolemy kingdom for 250 years.

death ten years later the island

The Roman empire took over from 58

BC

to

395 AD, then

followed Byzantine Cyprus from 395 to 1191. The Seljuk Turks

under Saladin had recaptured Jerusalem

the

in

1187 and King Richard

was passing by in 1191 on route to join Third Crusade when his fleet was scattered by a storm. One of

the Lionheart of England

The Genocide Files

16

was shipwrecked on

the vessels

the coast of Cyprus, and the then

ruler of the island, the brutal, self-styled

Emperor

Comnenos

Isaac

of the Byzantine family, imprisoned the passengers.

Unfortunately for him, they included King Richard's fiancee,

Queen Joanna of man of few words, and married Berengaria, who

Princess Berengaria of Navarre, and his sister,

Richard

Sicily.

attacked

was

also

landed

apparently

and,

Comnenos, defeated him, crowned Queen of England

a

at the

wedding,

Limassol

in

Castle which he had just captured.

He

then conquered the rest of Cyprus and enjoyed a delayed

honeymoon, so monastery and

who

it

is

said,

fortified

St.

in

Hilarion

by the Byzantines

castle,

originally

who named

it

a

after a

Arab invasion of the Holy Land. Richard island when he needed funds for his campaign after he joined the Crusade by selling it to the Order of Knights Templar, which had been formed after the First Crusade to protect pilgrims going to Jerusalem. With the Holy City now in Saladin's hands, the Templars gladly took over Cyprus, with hermit

fled the

quickly disposed of the

Hilarion castle one of their bases.

the

But the Templars soon found they had insufficient funds to keep island's population in subjugation, and handed it back to

The Lionheart promptly gave

Richard.

Lusignan,

who

had just

The Lusignans period of Cyprus' celebrated for

its

lost his

ruled

for

history.

three

Under

centuries, their

men

of

friend

Guy

de

fabulous wealth through

its

most

brilliant

island

became

the the

rule,

and spices and particularly for the beauty of its

his

to

it

Kingdom of Jerusalem.

trade in silk, leather

its

architecture and for

letters.

The Venetians then took over the island from 1489 to 1571 when the Ottoman Turks conquered it and held it until 1878. Greek Orthodoxy was encouraged by the Ottomans, who banned the Latin (Catholic) Church. In

1878, the Ottomans leased Cyprus to Britain

supporting Turkey against Russia. the side of In

in

chose

return for to fight

on

World War One, Britain annexed the island. then offered Cyprus to Greece if she'd enter the

Germany

1915, Britain

war on

When Turkey

in

Britain's side, but

Greece refused and stayed neutral

1917, by which time the offer had been withdrawn.

until

7

Harry Scott Gibbons 1925, Cyprus

In

became

a British

1

Crown Colony,

crown

the

being represented by a governor. All the islanders, Turks and Greeks,

became

British

considered to be about After World

been

citizens.

75% Greek

War Two,

The

and

25%

lifeline to

the Greeks of Cyprus,

was

which had not

which protected the Suez Canal and the

Arabia and the Far East, began

(union) which meant union with Greece.

to

agitate for enosis

They were encouraged

in

by Greece, which obviously regretted having turned down

Cyprus the

then

conquered by the German-Italian Axis Powers and was

Britain's military base

this

population

Turk.

as a gift in 1915. "Zito Enosis"

rallying cry

children

at

(Long Live Union) became

mobs and

of rampaging

the

slogan taught to

Greek Cypriot schools.

to retain Cyprus as a strategic base, refused Greek takeover. Greece in turn, still close friends with Britain for her support during the war with Germany and Italy and with Greece's communists that followed, officially maintained a hands-off policy, but covertly encouraged Greek Cypriots to strive for union. As the head-on clash between the Greek Cypriots and the governing British approached, one man became the dominant figure on the Greek side.

Britain,

determined

to discuss a

Mikhael Mouskos was born in 1913 in the village of Panayia in the Troodos mountains. From a poor family, his parents decided his future lay in the Church, and when he was 13 he was taken into Kykko monastery to study for the priesthood. Just before World

War Two,

he was sent to

the

Theological College

at

Athens

University. After the war, he travelled to the United States and

entered

Boston

University's

acquired his excellent

School

command

of

Theology,

where

he

of English. While there, he was

elected Bishop of Kition, a powerful position in the Ethnarchy

Council of the Greek Orthodox Church

He

in

Cyprus. He was only 35.

returned to Cyprus and took charge of the fight for Enosis.

It

good bishop did not seek independence for his country, but union with Greece and nothing short of that. To this end, he organised a referendum for Enosis among Greek Cypriots. The power of the Orthodox Church was displayed when must be pointed out

that the

The Genocide Files

18

any Greek

who

did not sign in favour of Enosis

excommunication. The vote

As

in

was threatened with

favour was just short of 100 percent.

Mikhacl Mouskos - irreverent him Mickey Mouse - was elected Archbishop

a reward for his activities,

British troops called

of Cyprus and Ethnarch of the Cypriot Greeks.

Makarios

III

He took

the

title

of

and was thenceforth addressed as "Beatitude."

He was only

37.

later, in 1954, Makarios decided that violence was way to gain Enosis and he joined forces with a Greek Cypriot who had retired from the Greek army with the rank of colonel. His name was George Grivas.

Four years

the only

Grivas was born

Famagusta Bay

1898

in

Trikomo, a village overlooking

in

of the island, into a middle class family.

in the east

Gymnasium in Nicosia, he joined the Royal Academy in Athens in 1916. He took part as a

After the Pan Cyprian Hellenic Military

Greek invasion of Turkey in the early he learned much from Turkish which contributed to the Greek defeat.

lieutenant in the disastrous

1920s and claimed guerrilla tactics In

that

later

1940 he fought the

through

Albania,

and

occupation raised his of the colonels

who

own

communist takeover of Greece

Mark Mazower, Press,

in

German/Italian

band which he called "X." One

the successful told

invaded Greece

me

coup

that thwarted a

Grivas was too far to the

words) and too unstable for him, and he

right (a fascist, in other

few weeks.

quit the ranks of 'X' after a

University

they

subsequent

the

guerrilla

made

later

when

Italians

during

his

1993),

book "Inside adds

a

Greece" (Yale

Hitler's

strange

footnote

Grivas'

to

activities at that time.

'X' had started out fighting the Germans, he says, but by 1944

was spending more time Liberation Front) and

its

fighting the

Communist

EAM

powerful, ruthless military

(Greek People's Liberation Army) from 'X's base

(National

wing

in the

ELAS

Theseion

area beneath the Acropolis. 'X', he alleges, "took part in major

operations Battalions."

(against

the

Communists)

alongside

the

Security

Harry Scott Gibbons

was

then Grivas

If this is true,

19

a collaborator, for the Security

were raised by the German occupying power and

Battalions

manned by Greek volunteers

to fight not just the

Communists and

other insurgent groups but to round up civilians and ship them to

Germany

as slave factory workers.

by the Greeks, and

would have been

if

Mazower's

is

as traitors

correct, then Grivas

a traitor, too.

Mazower quotes an unnamed loyalties of

They were branded

allegation

observer's assessment of the

Grivas and his 'X' group.

"Today (they

are)

with

the

Germans, tomorrow, when the

blessed King returns, with those bringing him back."

When

British

and Greek troops moved

Christmas, 1944, the communist

ELAS

into

Athens

just before

guerrillas tried to take over.

Grivas attempted to have his 'X' group officially attached to the liberating armies to fight the

communists, but the British refused

and disarmed him and his men. However, he did return to the Greek army and fought in the civil war with the communists from 1946 to 1949.

After the hostilities, Grivas tried, and failed, to form a Greek political party,

and then became obsessed with getting the British

out of Cyprus, the land of his birth, and uniting

who

win Enosis without resorting it

it

with Greece.

He

at first

hoped he could

to overt violence, but

by 1954 decided

had several meetings with Makarios,

could be achieved no other way, and Grivas

moved back

to the

island.

Together,

this

oddly-matched but deadly pair planned and

war against

carried out a vicious,

bloodthirsty

Turks, and those Greeks

who were slow

Like the

nom de

Communist ELAS

guerre.

He

called

the

British,

the

to support them.

guerrillas before him, Grivas took a

himself Dighenis, after a legendary

Byzantine hero. The original Dighenis

on Cyprus. Mount Beshparmak

is

said to have

lies in the

left his

mark

northern mountain range

and

it is shaped like a fist, giving it its Turkish (Beshparmak), Greek (Pcntadactylos) and English (Five Fingers), names. Legend

says the distinctive form

was caused by Dighenis when he grasped

20

The Genocide Files peak

the

after leaping across the sea

from Asia Minor

to

escape his

enemies.

Grivas/Dighcnis formed his underground army from two Makarios organisations, the Young People's Christian Orthodox Organisation and the Pan Cyprian Enosist Youth Organisation. He called his new army the Ethniki Organosis Kypriakon Agoniston, Organisation of Cypriot

National

(the

known by

its

Greek acronym

Makarios

organised

Fighters),

ever after

for

EOKA. arming of

the

shipments of weapons from Greece.

In his

EOKA

by

clandestine

memoirs, "Full Circle,"

Anthony Eden wrote:

"EOKA was common form

EOKA

not acting in the

in

received

name of independence, which is name of Enosis.

colonial agitations, but in the direct

support

from Greece

money, arms,

in

organisation and propaganda."

What followed has been described as It was in fact a terrorist campaign.

uprising.

a It

war and an

civil

can be compared to

the terrorism of Northern Ireland in that the Irish Republican

(IRA) carried out the

killings, as did

EOKA,

and

its

Sein Fein likened to the role of Makarios. Just as Jerry

Army

mouthpiece

Adams, Sein

denies ever having been a terrorist

Fein's bearded spokesman,

himself, so did the bearded Makarios, hand on heart. But Makarios

was

a full partner in running

the death and destruction least, a terrorist

That

is

how

it

EOKA, was

equally responsible for

caused and therefore,

in

my

opinion

at

and a murderer. the British and the Turks

saw him,

too.

The EOKA terrorist campaign lasted four years. In that time 504 people died. 142 British civilians and servicemen and cS4 Turks were murdered. The British deaths included wives and mothers, murdered quite deliberately to spread fear. Of the 278 Greeks, some were terrorists killed by British troops (nine were hanged) but the rest, the overwhelming majority, were innocent Greek civilians murdered by EOKA for working for the British administration, or being pro-British, or simply not aiding and abetting the terrorists with sufficient enthusiasm. a terrorist is to cause terror. The communists of Union (only seven percent of the population were ever

The motive of the Soviet

Harry Scott Gibbons

21

members) had it down to a fine art, if that expression is They learned that murder, mutilation and incarceration could keep a whole nation in thrall, and terrorists throughout the Party

permissable.

world today practice

EOKA and hand

system.

this

make them

terrorised the British to it

make them

get out of

Cyprus

over to them. The Greek Cypriots were terrorised

to

toe the Enosis line and support the terrorists.

The campaign was

not

an

for

independent country

which

Greeks and Turks would share, but for Enosis, union with Greece, where Turks would be unwelcome. So the Turkish population was terrorised to make them leave as well. The terrorists didn't care where the Turks went - Turkey, Britain or simply jump in the sea.

The

encouraged them

terrorists

And

EOKA

that

was

to leave

by murdering them.

the perhaps the worst mistake Makarios, Grivas,

and the entire Enosis movement could have made. The

mistake that was eventually to destroy their hopes and crush their dreams of a new Hellenic empire that would encompass Istanbul to be renamed Constantinople - and the ancient Byzantine world.

When

they took on the Turks of Cyprus, they simply stepped

out of their class!

Among

the

who

Turks

rose

to

the

challenge was Rauf Raif

Denktash.

He was born Cyprus,

A

in

in

Ktima,

in the

Paphos

District in the west of

1924, the fourth and youngest son of a judge.

classmate

at

the English School in Nicosia described him as

being a natural leader, top academically.

He became

in sports,

including wrestling, as well as

politically-minded early, and

column on Turkish communal affairs newspaper published by Dr. Fazil Kutchuk. writing a

Denktash studied law Lincoln's Inn

in

1947.

A

in Britain

17

and was called

few years

was

Halkin Sesi, the

to the

Bar

fellow Cypriot, Glafkos Clcrides,

called to the Bar at Gray's Inn a

On

in

at

at

was

later.

his return to Cyprus, he practiced law

and served for nine

years as Cyprus Prosecutor. Appointed to the

Commission

for

22

The Genocide Files

Turkish Affairs by the colonial administration, Dcnktash drew up

such fundamental laws for his community as family law, the office of the Mufti, the transfer of Turkish schools and the Evkaf (Moslem

endowments)

religious trusts and

to the

Turkish Cypriots, and had

these endorsed by the British.

When EOKA began Dcnktash

Turks,

its

terror

armed counter movement.

It

was

desperately short of weapons,

But

island.

later

campaign against the

by co-founding

responded

its

called

were gradually spread around the

British

and

Cypriot-Turkish

Volkan (Volcano) and was

members

some arms were

a

scattered throughout the

infiltrated in

tiny groups,

from Turkey and and the name was

to Turk Mukavcmct Tcshkilati (Turkish Resistance Movement) and became known by its Turkish acronym TMT. Those serving in it were referred to by their own people as "The Fighters," and the name stuck. The power base of this anti-terrorist movement was in the Nicosia suburbs of Gonycli and Ortakoy, and

changed

there

were several bloody encounters there between the

Greeks In

in

TMT

and

these areas.

1958 and 1959, Dcnktash put the case for Turkish Cypriots capitals, and at the United Nations.

in

London, Athens and other

A

typical

example of how

TMT

both the Turkish

EOKA

carried out

its

killings to strike at

and the British administration was the

murder of Ferruh Djambaz, a Turk,

Djambaz was employed by

in

Nicosia

1958.

in

the British colonial administration

Commissioner's office, which is now the office of the president of the Northern Cyprus Republic. He spoke English and Greek besides Turkish and travelled with the commissioner, a Mr. Clements, on his rounds. He and his wife Kiamouran had four children, Ferhan, 5, Tourhan, 4, and and worked

in

the Nicosia

one-year-old twins Sheyhan and Djcyhan. They lived at

the end of

Ferhan,

Ermo

Street.

Their house was

now Mrs. Arikbuka and

"I

remember

it

as clearly as

went

to

work on

if

it

Greek

the under

(pronounced Eesh) Bank in Nicosia, told childhood abruptly ended.

father always

in a

me

Tahtclkale

manager of

the IS

of the day her happy

had happened

his bicycle.

in

area.

this

morning.

Because of the

My

EOKA

Harry Scott Gibbons terrorists, there

his job,

was

a

curfew

at that time,

23

my

but

because of

father,

had a curfew pass.

"That morning he said goodbye to us and had just got on his

was cycling away when

bike and

and, calmly and deliberately, shot at

So close was

point blank range.

came

Greek walked up behind him

a

my

father in the back of the head

the shot fired that the bullet

out through his forehead.

"Turks

who saw what happened

my

vanished, even as

father

managed, by some miracle,

was

the

said

murderer simply

falling off his bicycle.

He

actually

holding his head, then

to get to his feet,

he collapsed, dead.

"A

army

British

grandmother,

my

hearing

patrol,

the

shot,

father's mother, rushed out

rushed

My

up.

from the Turkish side

of the road and tried to run to his body but was stopped by the soldiers.

But

my

mother's uncle,

who

also lived on the

Greek

side,

got through to him. Turkish police were called and took the body to the Turkish part of the area. there, too, to stay with

My

our belongings from our house

Why

us, her children,

over

to

all

our grandparents' home."

had he been murdered?

"First, still

mother took

our grandparents. Turkish friends fetched

he was a Turk, and Greek Cypriots hated the Turks, and

do. Second, he

worked

for the British,

hated the British, and perhaps

still

And

do.

and Greek Cypriots there

was one more

During the day my father served the British. At night he worked for TMT. He carried arms to little enclaves of Turks so they could defend themselves against EOKA. The Greeks found thing.

out,

and they executed him.

"We an awful

never went back to our home, not even to look

memory

it

has for us.

Where

I

at

it,

such

now is actually only a even if we wanted to. The live

few yards away, but we can't go there house is now in South Cyprus, the Greek

part, and UN troops patrol Green Line that the British drew in December, 1963, to halt the Greek massacre of the Turks of Nicosia and to separate the two communities.

the

"One thing shall never forget. That fateful morning, my father went outside but he didn't ride off immediately. He looked around, I

24

The Genocide Files

came back leave

to

house and

into the

the

house.'

lit

Perhaps

He told us, 'No one is saw someone or something

a cigarette.

he

Then he went outside again. him - and crushed our lives.

suspicious. that killed

My

mother heard the shot

"The Greeks no doubt regarded my father as a Turkish dog, for was what they called us, Turkish dogs. But he was a Fighter, a Turkish hero, and our hero. He was a real hero and that is how he will be remembered. And we loved him." that

Could Ferhan Arikbuka contemplate Cyprus again?

living with the

Greek of

"Never, she says, "never. Greek propaganda goes on endlessly

how Greeks and Turks have always lived happily side by What happened to my father is the reality of what life was like

about side.

with the Greeks.

I'll

never allow

my

family,

my

children to live

under those Greek murderers."

It

having

become

masterminding the Scychelle Islands

March

9,

in

evident

increasingly

Makarios

that

was

EOKA

campaign, he was deported to the the Indian Ocean, a British possession, on

1956.

The day he was flown out, the Governor, Field Marshal Sir John Harding gave a detailed account of the reasons for the expulsion. There was a announcement said,

large

volume

of

evidence,

the

official

Archbishop has himself been deeply implicated campaign of terrorism launched by.... in the EOKA evidence of the Archbishop's complicity has accumulated from many different sources." that "the

Makarios was also accused of having personally supplied funds to

purchase arms and explosives for the

terrorists.

It

was

reported,

announcement, that a "large sum from the monies which the Archbishop collected from Greek communities in the United States during his visit there in 1954 was handed over by him in Athens" to buy these terrorists arms. said the

The governor's summing-up

no doubt about the British

left

view of Makarios. "So long as there were grounds might be induced

to

to use the influence

hope that the Archbishop which he possesses among

Harry Scott Gibbons his

community

and back

them away from violence, disorder and

to lead

to the path

25 tear

of peace and democratic rule the Governor was

of the opinion that the good of the people of Cyprus as a whole

compelled him complicity

to

overlook the shameful record of the Archbishop's bloodshed,

in

intimidation

and

tyrannous

the

suppression of free opinion. The Archbishop has chosen to reject

new and

offer of a

the

political

problems and

constructive approach

to

Island's

the

continue to seek to gain his ends by force.

to

"With that he has finally removed any compunction that the Governor may have felt against dealing with him, not as a responsible leader, and still less as the head of a Christian Church, but in that character which he has himself chosen to prefer, the leader of a political campaign which relies on the use of ruthless violence and terrorism."

But when the Suez Canal came into Egyptian hands of that year, Cyprus lost

much

of

the end

at

strategic value to Britain,

its

Makarios was released from his exile

in

March, 1957

(I

and

understand

Greek Cypriots are trying to make a shrine out of the house in which he spent his year there), and, still banned from Cyprus, took up residence

in

Athens.

The matter of cash handed over by Greek-Americans arms

to a terrorist organisation has a parallel

in the

to

supply

fund-raising

habits of the Northern Ireland terrorist organisation, the IRA.

These

funds are collected by Irish-American communities and handed

over by the

US

the people

made

it

is

organisation Noraid to the IRA, purportedly to feed starving and destitute by the fiendish British. But

no secret the money

is

used to purchase arms and explosives

with which to murder innocent people, just as

do again, no doubt,

What

I

if

EOKA

did,

and will

the occasion arises.

can never understand

States of such groupings as

is

the proliferation in the United

Irish-Americans, Greek-Americans,

Italian-Americans etc. Doesn't anyone just become an American anymore? Perhaps only Northern Europeans do, apart from the Irish. No one hears of Anglo-American, or Danish-, Swedish-, Norwegian- or Finnish-American groups collecting funds for troubles back States IS their

home. Maybe home!

it's

because they consider the United

26

The Genocide Files

Come grouping

to

think of

it,

I

don't

know

of a Turkish-American

that deals in arms, either.

The war with EOKA continued for two more years, and then Makarios capitulated and agreed to forswear Enosis and opt for independence.

The war was

over,

but

the

negotiations

were

protracted.

On

February

8,

On

1959, Greece and Turkey agreed on Cyprus

18, Barbara Castle, then chairman of Labour Party, went to the Dorchester Hotel in London to meet Spyros Kyprianou, then Makarios' representative in London. "1 have just come to visit my dear friend Mr. Kyprianou," she told reporters. A few days later she had a brief meeting with Makarios at the same hotel. Britain's socialists were moving quickly to cement their ties with the anticipated new Left-leaning rulers of Cyprus. Those ties are stronger than ever today.

independence.

February

Britain's

On

February 19 the London-Zurich Accords, so-called because

hammer out an agreement were held in those cities, were signed by all parties concerned - Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Cypriot Greek and Turkish sides. But it took a further 18 months to draw up a constitution for the island. conferences to

On February 22, 900 EOKA men were released from the British Army's four detention camps in Cyprus. British troops were confined to barracks. Cyprus Radio advised service families to stay indoors. The slogan "EOKA" was shouted throughout the country. would not seek the presidency were offered to him. About six months earlier, the head of the Lebanese army, General (and self-styled Prince) Fuad Chehab had said exactly the same thing about the vacant presidency of Lebanon. A bloody civil war, aimed at ousting the previous, pro-West president, Camille Chamoun, had knew, simply by just ended at the cost of some 2,500 lives and following the general's official car, that he had been having secret meetings with the Left-wing, pro-Nasser members of the Lebanese

The next day, Makarios

of Cyprus, but would accept

said he it

if

it

I

Parliament

who were

leading the anti-Western revolt. And, being

on good speaking terms with them (1 was working for the London knew they were in Daily Mail at that time and based in Beirut) constant touch with Nasser. The obvious conclusion was that if the general agreed to move Lebanon away from the West and into the 1

27

Harry Scott Gibbons Nasser (and therefore the Soviet) president

He

if

told

orbit,

he would be elected

he stood.

who would

everyone

bowed

president, but finally he

to

he didn't want to be

listen that

popular demand, or so he said,

And

stood for the presidency and, surprise, won.

imprisoned, tried the

its

And

that time.

dislike of both Nasser

Anyway, when

into

the

and Makarios.

presidential

good of

sacrifice himself for the

made no

the Express

heard Makarios would only accept

I

screaming

dragged

state.

I

London Daily Express by

bones about

turned Lebanon

And, of course, had me by the military and deported. was working for

anti-West and into a Nasserite police

his country,

I

knew

if

no

palace,

it

he were

doubt

had

all

to

been

arranged beforehand.

By August, 1960, presidency

to

a

the

constitution

Greek-Cypriot and

was

the

ready.

It

gave the

Vice-Presidency

to

a

Turkish Cypriot, to be elected by their respective communities.

Archbishop Makarios

III

and Dr. Fazil Kutchuk were elected.

The constitution was a victory for the Turks, for bi-communality was introduced at every level and all government posts, including were allocated proportionally on a 70/30 basis, even time the Turks did not have sufficiently qualified personnel to take up all these positions.

the police,

though

at that

Each community had

its

own law

courts and major towns their

The outgoing British administration had not wanted the Turkish community to be persecuted or deprived of these rights, and to make sure of that, the Vice-President as well as the President was given the power of veto.

separate authorities.

The agreement military bases

also

on the

allowed Britain to maintain two large

island, Akrotiri in the south

and Dhekelia

in

the east.

There was one

final nail in the coffin of

any eventual Greek

Cypriot attempt to join Cyprus to Greece, or so the British thought. Britain,

Greece and Turkey signed a Treaty of Guarantee

to

ensure

the independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic

of Cyprus by preventing "direct or indirect enosis or partition or

annexation" by any of the three guarantor states.

28

The Genocide Files Should this treaty be broken, the agreement stated, the guarantor were to take the "necessary steps" to sort things out. But if

states

concerted action could not be taken for any reason, then each guarantor state - that

is,

Turkey and Greece - had the

Britain,

to take action to re-establish the conditions laid

down by

right

the Treaty

of Guarantee. Therefore, the Greeks of Cyprus could not opt for cnosis, and the

Turks could not

partition the island

were not enough

If this

to

and join Turkey.

end the Makarios dream, another

proviso was that Colonel George Grivas, alias Dhigcnis, should be

banned from the

island, never to return.

Makarios, seeing within his grasp the presidency of his very

own

all the prestige that entailed, dropped his EOKA arms with unbecoming haste along with his fight for

country, with

comrade

in

Enosis and signed the agreement. I

would have agreed

firmly believe that at that time Makarios

anything, signed anything, to get Cyprus

The ended

governor,

British

Harding, at

Two

left

Sir

Hugh

in his

who

Foot,

to

power. had succeeded

the island on the frigate Chichester, and British rule

midnight on August 15, 1960, after 82 years.

days

later,

20

EOKA

terrorists

who had been

sentenced to

prison terms by the British returned to Cyprus, flying in to Nicosia

be welcomed as heroes by an ecstatic crowd. Prominent among them was Nicos Sampson, who had been acquitted of a charge of

to

murder,

but

given

the

death

landed waving a was thrown over

commuted

penalty,

to

life

EOKA

emergency. He bunch of red daises, and wept as a laurel wreath

imprisonment, for carrying arms during the his shoulders.

At Nicosia Stadium they gathered, with

a

crowd of 20,000,

to

be greeted by Makarios. "In

your heroic faces," he told them, "the Cypriot people see

again with tears of gratitude and great emotion the sacred symbols of struggle, and hail the pioneers of the principles which, headed by

Dighcnis (George Grivas) and you, the glorious fighters of

EOKA,

they have secured through superhuman sacrifices. "It is

who

with grief

we

recall all those heroic

are absent from the present reveille,

all

companions of yours those

who

sacrificed

29

Harry Scott Gibbons their lives for the us. ...their It

sake of Cypriot freedom. Their souls hover over

work has yielded

didn't

seem

fruit...."

worry him, or the crowd

to

for that matter, that he

had dumped one of the "pioneers" he had just lauded, and seen him booted unceremoniously off the island.

While the constitutional staying in Athens, and

I

was

talks

were going on, Makarios was

sent there by the

London Daily Mail

to

report on the negotiations.

The Greek to

was buzzing with foreign

capital

wheedle words of wisdom out of any

who appeared

out

in

the open.

I

remember

"Why does

trying

talking to various

Greek

idea of Enosis, of Cyprus being joined

the

Greece, have such an appeal for you?"

covering the story.

I

I

to

asked one Athens reporter

He immediately launched

into a long confusing

and so on.

talk about "our destiny," "uniting our peoples,"

When

all

Greek diplomat

and asking them about Enosis.

journalists

his eyes

reporters,

British or

suggested that Greek Cypriots were not really Greeks,

shone with what seemed

to

me

at the

time as nothing short

of Messianic intensity.

"We

are brothers,

we

are the

same people, we must be

united at

"

last

When

I

left

him,

was accustomed

I

was thinking of

to hearing

the

same

from Arabs about

sort of

their

brethren while they were slaughtering each other

Arab It

speeches

I

beloved Arab

in the

name of

unity.

was

in

Athens

that

I

met Makarios there

had organised a personal interview with him

for the first time. in

I

his suite at the

Grande Bretagne Hotel. was looking forward to a bit of a "scoop." However, when got to the door of the room he was using as an office, his secretary, a look of doom on his face, showed me a copy of my newspaper, the Daily Mail. On the front page was a single column cartoon depicting Makarios, wearing his normal droopy-eyed, sad expression, holding behind his back a British army-type hand grenade. The caption was, naturally, "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." I

I

30

The Genocide Files

The interview was

not a success. In fact

Makarios simply mouthing platitudes, telling them it was not worth reporting.

One point that never made absolutely no attempt later

I

it

was so awful, with

had

to cable the

Mail

forgot about that meeting. Makarios

I

found

that

legendary charm, which

to reveal his

he did possess. That cartoon must have quite knocked

I

it

out of him.

As

part of the allocation of the rights

community, the new

each

state

had

50-member House of

a

Greek and

Representatives (parliament), and also

Communal Chamber,

the

members

and responsibilities of

a

be elected by

to

a

Turkish

their

own

communities.

These chambers were invested with a great deal of power own communities, having complete jurisdiction in educational policy, religious and cultural affairs, marriage and divorce matters, community activities and taxes. regarding their

Rauf Denktash was elected as President, or Speaker, of the Communal Chamber. Glafkos Clerides, who had represented the Greek Cypriots at the independence talks, was elected President, or Speaker, of the new 50-member House of Representatives, which was divided 70%/30% (35/15) between Greeks and Turks.

Turkish

Glafkos Clerides was born on April 24, 1919, in Nicosia. After attending the Pan Cyprus Lycee, he went to England to study.

War Two, he flew with RAF Bomber Command, down over Germany in 1942, and spent the rest of the war

During World

was

shot

grew up in Britain during the war. was too war service but served three years in the RAF afterwards and remember how revered the aircrews were. They were all volunteers, and it took immense courage to go out night after night knowing just how great the odds were stacked against them returning home.

as a prisoner there.

young

I

I

for

I

at

King's College, London

1948.

He was called to the Bar worked as a lawyer until

After the war Clerides studied law University, and received his in

1951.

1960.

He

LLB

in

then returned to Cyprus and

Harry Scott Gibbons

He joined him

the

EOKA

31

terrorist organisation in 1955.

codename, or nom de guerre, HIPERIDES,

the

Greek hero. He has never

assumed

that he is

still

stated that he ever quit

Grivas gave

after an ancient

EOKA

an active member, for he

is

and

it

is

proud, in his

present role of president of Cyprus (in effect South Cyprus, the

Greek-controlled

part)

commemorations. He

EOKA

For

"violations of

is

the

known

salute

at

to boast of his

all

the

nom de

EOKA guerre.

those days Clerides prepared dossiers of British

in

human

rights in Cyprus."

the

Greek Government

the

European

He

take

to

also

Human

These

Athens which

in

files

in turn

were passed

to

passed them on to

Rights Commission.

attended the London independence talks and during the

government of 1959-60 he served

interim

as Justice Minister.

was hoped that the tumultuous past of Cyprus would not be The island had been ruled by Persians, Egyptians, Romans, the French Lusignans, the Venetians and had become part of the Byzantine, Ottoman and British Empires. It

repeated.

Now, and

for the first time

at the

beginning

it

was

it

a self-ruling, independent country,

looked as though

it

would be a happy one,

too.

But

it

didn't.

Cyprus became independent on August

over three years

Just

15, 1960.

on December 21, 1963, whatever take root was swept away in a tide of

later,

happiness had managed to hatred and bloodshed.

And

the reason

was

the

Greek Cypriot obsession with Enosis.

Before Makarios entered into his unholy alliance with George Grivas, he constantly

made

his intentions about Enosis publicly

clear.

On "I

his election as

Archbishop

take the holy oath that

national

Cyprus

freedom and to

I

shall never

Mother Greece."

in

October, 1950, he declared:

shall work for the birth of our waver from the policy of annexing

32

The Genocide Files a

In

cable

the

to

of

President

Non-Self-Governing Territories

UN

Committee

the

for

in

September, 1951, he

the British Colonial rule in

Cyprus and we claim

at the

wrote:

"We denounce

self-determination and Union with Greece. In

January, 1952, Makarios called on Greek Cypriot youth to

support him.

"Our youth rally.

will give

"Let the

new support

for Enosis," he told a youth

young men of Cyprus hold high

the standard of

struggle...." In the first half

help

of the 1950s, Britain was giving aid to Greece to

recover from both the hateful Nazi occupation and the

it

equally bitter war with the

Communists that followed. Makarios, wedge between the allies.

ever the Byzantine, attempted to drive a

"The Cyprus a Panhellenic

issue," he said

on Athens Radio

demand and postponement of

few days

later,

June, 1952, "is

between Greece and

issue naturally poisons the relations

A

in

the settlement of this

having apparently failed

reaction to his views, Makarios rounded on the

to get a

Britain."

favourable

Greek government.

warmly thank the Greek people," he told Athens Radio, "for in which they have identified themselves with the cause of Enosis. Your leaders, however, did not respect your demand that "I

the

way

the

Cyprus question should be submitted At Troodhitissa Monastery

that he

was considering

in

to the

United Nations."

August, 1954, Makarios hinted

insurrection.

He

declared:

"Our aim is Enosis and only Enosis. We shall not only struggle abroad - we shall give battle in our own country."

He continued

this

theme

in a

sermon

a

month

later.

"If the Greek application to the United Nations means must be used to continue the struggle."

The

call for

bloodshed came

in a

speech on

May

fails,

every

Day, 1955,

addressed to Greek Cypriot youth. "Carry

on the

Enosis

struggle,

defying

dangers

and

even

sacrificing your lives for the cause."

The London-Zurich accords, under which union with Greece was prohibited, were signed on February 19, 1959. Nevertheless,

Harry Scott Gibbons Makarios, of the

in a

fifth

speech

in

Nicosia on April

anniversary of the founding of

months before independence, made he had agreed

On

Enosis.

to,

33

1st,

1960,

EOKA,

at a

and

celebration

over five

just

what

quite clear that, despite

it

he had no intention of giving up the fight for

the contrary, he

showed

that he

had every intention of

overthrowing the London-Zurich Agreements.

"The epic grandeur and glory of

EOKA's

liberation struggle,"

he told the crowd, "laid the foundation stone of national freedom.

This freedom

it

was

their sacred duty to safeguard

come deep down

and complete.

an end. They merely change their

National struggles never

to

form, preserving

the

same substance and

the

same

content.

"The realisation of our hopes and aspirations

is

not complete

under the Zurich and London Agreements. The glorious liberation

whose anniversary we

struggle,

advanced

and

bastions

celebrate today, has secured for us

impregnable

independence. From these bastions

complete victory. There

works

"Let us therefore

and

let

is

work with

Makarios

had

in

we began

five years

New York

our

man when

he

our country

ago will soon

fruit."

scarcely

taken

over

as

President

independent republic of Cyprus than he announced, to the

for

it.

faith for the future of

us be certain that the task

be completed and bear

strongholds

will continue the struggle to

nothing impossible for

something and believes

for

we

in a

of

the

statement

Herald Tribune on September 27, 1960:

"The cause of Enosis has not died!"

So much God. In

for the

word of His Beatitude Makarios

III,

Man

of

speech after speech, he carped about the London-Zurich

Agreements, insisting they represented only the starting point of the fight for

union with Greece.

Then, he

made

in

Panayia, the village of his birth, on September 4, 1962,

a statement that plainly

the island.

showed

his plan for the future of

34

The Genocide Files "Unless

this

small Turkish

community

(the Turkish Cypriots),

forming a part of the Turkish race which has been the

terrible

enemy of Hellenism,

EOKA

is

expelled, the duty of the heroes of

can never be considered as terminated."

On

April 9, 1963, Makarios told the

"Union of Cyprus with Greece

is

all

end

by establishing

On

an aspiration always cherished

Greek Cypriots.

within the hearts of to this aspiration

London Times:

It

is

impossible to put an

a republic."

July 27, 1963, he said:

"The Zurich and London Agreements have a number of positive elements but also negative ones, and the Greeks will work to take

advantage of the positive ones and get

rid

of the negative ones."

was unfortunate for the Turks of Cyprus that Makarios' method of getting rid of the negative elements of the Agreements was to attempt to get rid of the Turks themselves. By genocide. It

Harry Scott Gibbons

35

CHAPTER FOUR Omorphita, a suburb just north of Nicosia's walls, was regarded by the Greeks, as their press revealed

crack

much

later, as the

toughest nut to

Turkish defence.

in the

The 1960 census

put the population at 5,126 Turks and 1,133

Greeks.

On

Saturday, the Omorphita Turks began preparing to

that

defend themselves. They had been watching the signs of impending intensive that they

Greek attacks and had decided, accurately as would take place over the Christmas period.

Earlier in

28,

it

turned out,

December, a mason from Omorphita, Ibrahim Osman,

was building

a school in Lapithos,

on the north coast, when he

witnessed a Turk, Ibrahim Nidayi, being questioned and searched

by police and then taken into custody. Nidayi was never seen or heard of again.

The

ruling at that time

enforcing

activities

in

the

hundreds of villages such as

was

that

police restricted their law

The countryside, including Lapithos, came under the jurisdiction towns.

of the gendarmerie.

Osman began

to

sent a report to the Turkish leaders of Omorphita,

check on Greek

They found

that

Turkish shops had been checked on and

searched by Greek police

Turks

in

who

activity in their area.

in several areas.

They were informed

that

nearby villages were being told by their Greek neighbours,

"We'll destroy you by Christmas and then we'll

own

the

whole

island!."

Apparently the Cyprus grapevine was operating as usual and

it

served to warn the Turks.

On

Saturday morning, armed Greeks

patrol the streets of

Omorphita.

identified as former

EOKA

members of

Many

in police

uniform began to

of them were immediately

members who had

the police force the previous day.

certainly not been

36

The Genocide Files In the

Tahtclkalc quarter, cut off from the main Turkish area the

Greek police bullets, the residents watched with dismay as armed Greek civilians began moving into their sector. The men gathered to talk and decided to move out as soon as they could find a gap in the Greek siege. night before by

Their chance

came

noon on Saturday, and

just before

a

convoy

of lorries crossed over from the main Turkish quarter. Wardrobes,

beds and armchairs, mattresses rolled and tied with trundled

down

tablecloths.

A

string,

the narrow staircases. Precious linen and hand

canary

in

a gilt cage, excited into

were sewn

song by the bustle. Neighbour

Children with pots and pans and bewildered faces. helped neighbour as they waited their turn

in

the lorry removal

relays.

The exodus from days

the

Greek area of Nicosia had begun. Four

Christmas,

before

1963,

democratic state of Cyprus saw

the

its first

independent,

three-year-old

immigrants. They came, not

from some far-off colony or underdeveloped country, but from one sector of Nicosia, across in

Hermes

As

the last of the lorries

They moved was set up.

Street, into another.

with relatives and friends, and Cyprus'

moved

first

ghetto

out, a burst of

A

spattered the wall of a Turkish house.

Turk

machinegun

fire

instinctively threw

himself violently on the ground, and fractured his skull.

him up and laid him on the back of a armed Greeks watched as crossed over Hermes Street.

Silently his friends picked truck.

From

the last lorry

For a

the rooftops and balconies,

little

while there were whispered conversations, then the

Greeks moved over the doors, took

to the

up positions

evacuated Turkish houses, forced open inside.

me, unaware of what was happening in the capital, Christmas still approached happily, and on Saturday morning watered my cherished roses on their terraces, cut several dozen blooms to decorate the rooms, and drove down to the Hesperides For

I

Hotel on the seafront for a drink and a chat with Andy, the Greek

owner, and his English wife, Jean. Perhaps

I

should explain

why

it

was

that

I,

an experienced

Middle East correspondent, could have been unaware of what was happening just a few miles away in the country where was based. I

37

Harry Scott Gibbons

When Express

was deported from Lebanon, it was decided by the because had been many years in the area and spoke

I

that,

I

Arabic, instead of being replaced and sent elsewhere,

and use

the nearest friendly spot, Cyprus,

travelling to the Mideast trouble spots.

was

that,

had

to transit

unless

flying to

in the transit

in that

if

should go to still

The main inconvenience

connections were bad,

lounge. In three years,

dreary place before a

who had

I

as a base while

Turkey or Greece, or even Egypt,

through Beirut, and,

spend the night of nights

was

I

it

new

I

had

I

to

spent dozens

I

president

was

elected,

me went out with the old president, the oily Fuad Abdullah Chehab, who had been the general commanding the tiny Lebanese army, and who loved to and the secret police

style himself as

The new

Emir

(Prince), a

president,

and he actually was a

arrested

title

he

made up

for himself.

whose name was Helou, which means sweet very sweet person, at least compared to the

phoney prince Chehab, cancelled dozens of Lebanese, with

my

deportation order and allowed

long prison

terms and even

death

hanging over them, back into the country. He also

sentences

revoked the order banning some 600 Lebanese journalists from

working

newspapers. Until then the outside world had no idea of

in

Lebanon had become a

the extent

The way

socialist police state.

was welcomed back

I

after three years

gave

me some

satisfaction.

When Helou came

to my name on the list for rehabilitation, he was but his aides gave him the name of a member of the Lebanese parliament who knew me. The MP was a doctor, a fat, hairy fellow by the name of Antoine Souaid, a creature actually despised. When he was called to the new

had no idea where

I

I

Presidential

Palace

(all

Lebanese presidents arrange

their

own

private palace, at taxpayers' expense, naturally) he rushed there excited, thinking he

was being

new

told

cabinet.

I

was

invited to

become

by presidential aides

a

later

member I

back

to

"You can

Lebanon."

tell

No

your friend

would have

when Helou Harry Gibbons he can come

loved to have seen the expression on Souaid's face told him,

all

of the

Cabinet post, nothing.

38

The Genocide Files

Well, he HAD been one of Prince Chehab's lapdogs, after all, and a staunch advocate of repressive socialism, as all too often very affluent people are.

Not long

after

good doctor dropped dead

the

that,

operating room. Fell right on top of the patient.

was remembering me and

On Cyprus

I

did

his cabinet post

reporting.

little

We

when

I

the

in

like to think

his heart

gave

he

out.

had a local correspondent,

Alex Efthivoulos, a Greek Cypriot who also worked for the Associated Press, who covered any stories he thought fit, and had no cause to interfere with him. Besides, since had been based I

I

there, the island

had been tranquil and had apparently settled down

completely after the years of terror and bloodshed leading up to independence. as

I

I

used

could between

it

my

as a rest trips.

or two, sometimes only a

me

camp, getting as much relaxation

Occasionally

few days, before

I

could manage a week

a cable or

phone

call

had

rushing to Nicosia airport.

was caught so unawares is that the official was keeping in close touch with Nicosia - were whole thing down, and no one contacted seemed to

But the main reason bulletins

-

playing the

know

I

I

I

otherwise.

And no

scare stories had been sent by any of the

local correspondents of foreign

should have been told of

it

newspapers or news agencies, or

immediately by the Saturday duty

my

on the Express Foreign Desk. Besides, Saturday was

I

detail

day

off,

though always on standby, as the Daily Express did not publish on

my

Sundays, and the Sunday Express seldom called on

services

except on a running story.

But while

drank brandy sours, an insidious mounting of tension

I

was taking place

in

Nicosia.

Greek youths, many of them students, began quietly moving into Greek-owned houses on the borders of the Turkish area. Police cars were seen driving up and handing out guns. Several strategic buildings,

approach

like

the first fatal shots

Turks

Cornaro

the

to Nicosia,

that a

Hotel,

had been occupied,

on the Saturday.

It

commanding

the

western

later,

even before

was becoming

clear to the

I

learned

well-planned operation was being put into action, but

as yet they could not guess the final objective.

Harry Scott Gibbons Before noon, more cars drifted up quietly

dozens

unloaded

of

dark-faced

to these buildings

men

young

Clutching Sterling guns dripping with

39

already

black

they

oil,

and

armed.

moved

silently to the flat rooftops.

The

oil

was

a giveaway.

These were the guns of

EOKA.

These weapons, now augmented by arms shipped

EOKA

former

gunman

Polycarpos

Yorgadjis,

in

the

by the sullen,

bespectacled, Minister of the Interior, for his "secret" armies, had

been buried

and had

in

secret caches, covered in oil and

when

awaiting the day

lain for years,

wrapped

in rags,

the call to shoot

would again go out to EOKA. Now they were unearthed, and this time they were going to be used, not against the British, but against a section of their own people - the Turkish Moslems.

An

influx of outsiders

was seen

nearby Kaimakli quarter.

in the

Strange Greek faces appeared in the large, two-storey, Greek-owned Regis ice cream factory, which had an uninterrupted view over Omorphita. The view was obtained the previous Thursday, December 19, when an old Greek mudbrick house in front of the factory was pulled down, an act that was again only

seen

in

hindsight as advance planning for the onslaught.

A group of armed Greek police and Greek police superintendent, drove up school

at

civilians, supervised to

the

by a

Greek elementary

Trachonas, just west of Omorphita. The school, a large

building in open grounds, also overlooked the Turkish part of

Omorphita.

The group began unloading

crates

from

their

trucks

and

carrying them into the school, empty of children for the week-end.

Two

Omorphita police station went to the make enquiries. They were calmly told there was to be a theatrical performance for the children and that the crates contained equipment and costumes. The Turks returned to the police station Turkish policemen

at

school to

to

make

at

the school

their report.

A

short while afterwards, Bren guns appeared

windows.

Local Turkish leaders began organising their

and started collecting

all

the

arms

available.

own

defence force,

40

The Genocide Files

To defend themselves and out

the Turks had

mostly

countryside

the

in

at

best sporting shotguns,

hay forks and home-made

daggers. In Lutfi

Biberoglu, just outside the city walls and near the Lcdra

Palace Hotel, Zeka Alsanjak, 26, went to the second floor of his

house with

his father's shotgun.

"We knew

the

killing

was

defend ourselves," he told me.

starting,

"I

but

second floor landing with the shotgun cradled

how that

I

could save

when

my

they smashed

two of them, and then "But

family

dawn broke

packed what

we

joined the crowds

it

in the

the

all

unable to

in

my

lap,

wondering

Greeks attacked.

door below

would be

me

over for

I

I

thought

could get one or

us.

and, thank God, the attack had not come.

could and at

when

we were

Saturday night on the

sat all that

moved

Dr. Kutchuk's vice-presidency asking for

of what was happening."

We

inside the Nicosia walls and

news

Harry Scott Gibbons

41

CHAPTER FIVE In

who

Nicosia and Omorphita lived several hundred Turks

had

served with the British authorities during the years of the Cyprus

"Emergency" which preceded independence.

Omorphita had

the lion's share of these, former special police

and a great number of commandos, trained by the fought the

EOKA

terrorists for years;

men who had gained

British,

who had

exceedingly tough, open-air

the respect of their British colleagues by their

courage and marksmanship.

Throughout the island to

that

weekend, those men were beginning

organize themselves with British efficiency. Disregarding the

pretence of uniforms, these were "The Fighters."

An Omorphita man, Ozer Djambaz,

25,

was on duty as a security December 21. He

officer at Nicosia airport that Saturday morning, recalls

going to the Omorphita Football Club, a meeting place for

Turks,

in the

evening and leaving

at

11

p.m. to return home.

A

him the Tahtelkale. Djambaz walked

friend of his, Halil, a builder, called at his house to

tell

Greeks were shooting at the Turks in back to the club to find out what was happening. "I

passed groups of Greeks and Turks sitting

discussing the situation, aware that there

was

in their

own

cafes

trouble going on.

The

two sides were not what you would call friends - Greeks and Turks were never close in that sense - but were not what you could mean. And, as describe as outright unfriendly, if you see what I

said,

we had

1

separate coffee shops.

local TMT commander came into the club, which had become a sort of headquarters for the Fighters, and told us he thought it was the beginning of an all-out Greek attack and that there was going to be a lot of bloodshed. He told us to gather up all the guns we could to defend ourselves. We managed to get together a few shotguns, a few Sten guns, some very old British rifles, and some machetes.

"Then the

overnight

42

The Genocide Files "That was

we had

all

stem the might of a vastly superior,

to

well-armed Greek army intent on wiping out the Cyprus Turks."

A couple of the Continuing

Fighters were put on street corners as lookouts.

round up arms, by the Sunday night the Fighters

to

had accumulated an arsenal of six

("very old"), five Sten

rifles

guns, two Bren light machineguns (one out of order), a variety of

and about 100 shotguns. Bullets were severely limited, the 1914-18 war.

pistols,

some of them dating from The weapons were Fighters gave their

distributed

first

among

the top

On Sunday,

during daylight hours." The order was obeyed.

morning

editions

of

marksmen. The

order - "non-combatants to stay indoors

the

Turkish-language

statement by the Turkish leaders issued

press the

in

carried

early

the the

hours of

Saturday.

The statement advised and

peacefully,

measures which their

"We

will only serve the

confirm that our just cause

members of our community

away by It

"fellow

Turks

themselves from

calmly

act

to

resorting

Greeks

in

to

and

extreme

the realisation of

"

aims

advise

restrain

is

in

not to

capable hands, and

let

we

themselves be carried

anxiety."

appeared, even

at that early point, that the

no illusions regarding Greek intentions.

Turkish leaders had

But the

statement, as interpreted in the Turkish language,

Turks were

to

present themselves

victims of Greek oppression, but battle erupting

in

of the

not that the

advance as the innocent

was intended

and keep the way open for

spirit

was

to prevent a fullscale

talks.

Ayios Sozomenos (pop. 150 in 1963, mainly Turk) lies 10 miles southeast of Nicosia, on the road to Larnaca. At noon on Sunday, several cars filled with Greek policemen arrived and called together the Turks. They were instructed, on orders from the Minister of the Interior, to

hand over

all their

guns.

The only guns were, of course, licensed sporting shotguns. Having heard of the incidents in Nicosia, and bearing in mind the instructions from their community leaders to keep the peace,

Harry Scott Gibbons

43

several of the Turks returned to their houses, brought out their

firearms and handed them over.

The

police

When little,

left.

they had gone, the village

flat-roofed, whitewalled houses.

they stared

at

headmen met in one of the A phone call to Nicosia, and

one another, surprise and fear on

their

weatherbeaten

faces.

No

come from

order for the handing over of guns had

the

Interior Ministry.

With the Cypriot

villager's suspicion of police, not

Armed men were

had been handed over.

all

the guns

posted on the roads

approaching the village.

At 3.30 a.m. on Sunday afternoon, the funeral of the

on the Saturday morning took place Nicosia.

As

He

first

the Turkish

two

killed

quarter of

Over 10,000 Turks attended.

the prayers

Turkish

in

were completed, Rauf Denktash, President of the

Communal Chamber,

told the

crowds

that

reiterated the appeal to remain calm.

any action

in

taking revenge against the

Greeks would be a "betrayal of our just cause."

He

said that the Greeks

innocent persons "It is

random

at

essential that

we

wanted the Turks in

revenge.

to retaliate

We shall

and

"kill

not do this.

preserve our calm and act

in

a disciplined

manner." His admonitions were received stolidly, and the mourners began to disperse,

without outcry, to their homes.

Denktash, watching them go with a lawyer's shrewd eyes, gave a sigh of relief. talks

On

the

with the Greek

Monday, it was assumed, there would be members of the Cyprus government on

arranging a ceasefire and a return to peace. Until then, he wanted the

Turks

to

keep out of trouble.

After Denktash

Cypriot policemen the funeral

left,

in a

there

was an

police landrover

incident with

who had

two Greek

turned up just as

crowds were dispersing. Later the Greek side alleged

44

The Genocide Files

that they

stabbed.

I

were attacked by the mourners and one of the policemen got the Turkish side of the story 30 years later.

Mustafa Kortun attended the English School

at

Strovolos, near

the police training centre, founded by a colonial officer

named

Ncwham. told

"The headmaster was Mr. Egglcston, a very tall man," Mustafa me. "In 1963 was in the third grade. The classes were mixed, I

Greeks and Turks. There was one Greek boy remember well, Nicos Constantinides. He was 16 or 17, was 14. We were all waiting for our exam results before starting our Christmas vacation. We were sitting around chatting, unaware that the first massacres of the Turks were about to happen and disrupt our lives, at least the I

I

Turkish

lives, forever.

"As we

sat

around, Nicos suddenly approached and began to

in English, which was the main language of communication between Turks and Greeks, although most older Turks and all the Turkish students spoke Greek, in fact had to speak Greek in order to progress in the new, independent Cyprus.

question me.

"

"I "

"I

He spoke

'Look,' he said.

'We have EOKA. What do you

just stared at him.

'You have Volkan,

had no idea what he was getting

that's all

knew nothing about in his

He switched

Greek.

to

at.

you have.'

either organisation, so

I

still

stared.

pocket and produced a handful of

he put his hand

"

I

have?'

Then

live bullets.

'Mustafa, have you seen anything like this before?'

"I'm sure

now

he was trying to find out

if

we Turkish

students

had any experience with firearms.

was living in a boarding house at that time. When term it was usual for parents to try to visit the school and ask the teachers about their children's performance. But this time no Greek parents turned up. Then one Turk arrived and told us about the shootings in Nicosia. A Turkish driver came in a bus to take the Turkish children home to their villages. My village was near "I

ended,

Limassol, about two-and-a-half-hours away.

"The bus driver, a Mr. Ataturk

Halil,

monument we saw

took us

a large,

first into

Nicosia. At the

angry crowd. Rauf Denktash

Harry Scott Gibbons

was calming them down,

them

on

calling

45 not

any

take

to

irresponsible action.

"After he

left,

said they had

Greek Cypriot police drove up

come

infuriated the

to investigate the

Turks and they

before they succeeded

landrover and

But

tried to overturn the vehicle.

heard two shots fired by the Greeks, the

I

crowd drew back and

in a

shootings the day before. This

the landrover

left.

was

I

told later that a

Turkish boy was injured by one of the shots."

Mustafa and

family were

his

March, 1964, when

in

near

Mallia,

Limassol,

in

was attacked by Greeks from neighbouring They took refuge in Kandou. His schooling was completed

villages.

it

in the

south of the island, and afterwards he served three years with

TMT

in

Limassol. Three years after he had been forced to quit the

English School, his old maths teacher, a Mr. loannides, turned up his

home

sheets, "I'd

with

some of the

things he had

at

the boarding house,

left at

books and odds and ends. had

my mind set on being an actor when was at school," my ambitions, like those of every Cypriot Turk, I

he told me. "But

died on that fateful day,

Mustafa Kortun

December

now

is

21st, 1963."

the head of the North

Cyprus Turkish

Republic's Public Information Office. After the funeral, Turkish civil servants met and decided on

advice from their leaders to go to their offices as

on

usual

well-intentioned

Monday

morning.

decisions

that

It

were

in the

was never

Greek quarter

another

of

carried

out

many that

Christmas.

On Sunday evening the temperature suddenly dropped. Throughout the capital, husbands brought in logs and lit fires in the British-style fireplaces. In

Turkish

the

wondered what -

quarter

of

dawn would

discussed

shivered, bulletins

the

that they

the

Nicosia,

people

shivered

and

Greek quarter, people decided - guided by radio

bring. In the

incidents,

were nothing

serious, and settled

down

for a

cosy evening around the crackling logs.

At 9.20 p.m. on Sunday night, a Turkish sandwich maker, Vasit Mustapha, was riding his motorcycle along the Kyrenia Road. As

46

The Genocide Files

Aspava Bar between

he passed the

the Turkish village of Ortakoy

and Nicosia, his motor cycle was raked by machinegun and his passenger tumbled into the road, dead.

and he

fire,

Several cars following behind, including one belonging to a

Turkish barrister-at-law, Ergin Salahi, 24, drove into the bullets

of

hail

and five more Turks were seriously wounded, including the

lawyer's brother, Adil, 26.

Almost as

if at

a signal, firing

opened up

over the Nicosia.

all

Turkish areas, families huddled on floors with mattresses

In the

and wardrobes piled between them and the walls, as Greek rooftop snipers raked the ghetto with automatic I

was

fire.

Kyrenia when the phone rang

in

Nicosia until the early evening

when

at

10 p.m.

most Turks and ordinary Greeks, believed

like

I

had been

away

the firing had died that

following day would see the matter straightened out.

talks

No

in

and, the

hint of

what was being planned was given out by the Greek authorities. The Greek press, radio and official statements all spoke of "self-defence," and as

I

had been into the Turkish zone of Nicosia

and seen no evidence of any warlike intentions, neither guns nor barricades,

Greeks

it

all

looked like yet another propaganda battle by the

in their jostling for a

reason to

amend

the Constitution and

usurp the Turks' legitimate powers.

Other representatives of newspapers living

in

Cyprus, old hands

at foreseeing the ending of such incidents, could find insufficient

evidence for causing bold headlines abroad.

newspapers abroad particularly interested

The phone local

call

Nor indeed were

at that stage.

was from Wally Kent,

a Kyrenia resident

Wally, a

tall,

thin,

Gary Cooper type of Englishman, had

a small yacht into Kyrenia harbour fourteen years earlier

not

and

correspondent for several foreign newspapers.

left

the island since.

He

lived a quarter of a mile

away from me

in

sailed

and had

an old. fort-like

house called "Hatter's Castle" from the days when

by the British army, and friends.

It

was

thorn bushes.

built

later

it was occupied renamed "Wally's Folly" by his

on a lava bed and surrounded by a jungle of

47

Harry Scott Gibbons While Wally

sunning himself outside the house, sipping

sat

his numerous cats, his wife, Kay, went about the soul-destroying task of planting a flower garden in

brandy and stroking one of

local

the pitiful pockets of soil lava.

A

which had

drifted into the hollows in the

happy, smiling woman, she was also a great cook.

Wally talked

fast, the first

time

I

had ever heard him do

so.

"Nicosia's exploded," he yelled.

We

had both been

to the capital

returned an hour earlier, so

he said

"It's started in earnest,"

Wally had an old car its

owner did through

me

drive round to

covered

the

a car parked silently

I

narrow,

we

in

answer

to

my

query.

chugged along much the same way thought for a moment, then told him

we would

and

breakneck speed. As

evening and had just

that

life.

sixteen,

that

didn't grasp his meaning.

I

my

take

Nicosia

at

slowed down at the middle of the road - the Turkish

reached the Aspava Bar,

in

into

to

We

car into town.

miles

twisting

as

I

lawyer's car.

The headlights blazed, interior told

as

I

me

the story.

I

hung open and the lighted Wally to count the bullet holes

the door left

it

to

accelerated and roared into town.

Unknown

to

us,

although the dead and wounded were

believed to have been taken away, there

was

still

an injured

all

man

He was Adil Salahi, the lawyer's wounds were serious. But sometime during the night his friends managed to reach him and carry him away. He survived, and today runs the Ersalahi textile store in Kyrenia. He also has lying in the ditch beside the car.

brother. His

several bullets

still

lodged

As we reached

the Ledra Palace Hotel, the unofficial foreign

press headquarters since

1955, 1

we

EOKA

began

its

terrorist

campaign

in

could hear the shooting.

told

experienced contacts

in his leg.

Savvas, in

the

Egyptian-Greek

night

porter,

highly

looking after the needs of journalists, to get on to his

among

the

happening, while

Greek police and

we drove

EOKA

and find out what was

into the walled city to the offices of the

English language daily newspaper, the Cyprus Mail, situated almost

48

The Genocide Files

on the border between the Greek and Turkish quarters, which apparently

was now

the firing line.

Then shooting broke out

behind the

just

hotel.

Avenue were the offices of the Turkish They were guarded by Turkish mixed Cyprus army. Originally intended to number

Shakespeare

In

Vice-President, Dr. Fazil Kuchuk.

members of

the

2,000, the army's composition had never been agreed

upon by Greeks or Turks, and numbered only 300-odd men. Next to the offices were barracks occupied by this tiny mixed Cyprus army. Greek soldiers opened fire on the brown stone villa that was Kuchuk's office, and the Turkish guards fought back. Bullets whined and crashed among the shrubbery in the back garden of the hotel.

Meanwhile in the

to

the Turks

Turkish sector.

wounded

A

Aspava Bar had arrived was phoned Pedieos Bridge, only a few

outside the

request for blood transfusions

Nicosia General Hospital next to the

hundred yards from the fighting around the Vice-President's

The

request

was

office.

refused.

At that time the Minister of Health was a Turk, Dr. Niyazi Manyera. He phoned personally to the chief medical superintendent of Nicosia General Hospital, a Dr. Fessas, father-in-law of Nicos

Sampson, who was owner and editor of the Greek-language daily the murderer during "Makhi" self-confessed and a prc-independence

terrorist activities.

His request received a brusque "No" and he orders could not be accepted and "that

is

was

told that his

the directive received

from the Presidential Palace." Fessas was not so polite

when dealing with

Turkish doctor Ayten Berkalp was on duty

in

his

own

the surgery

staff.

when she

heard about the appeal for blood. "I

thought

we

could send some of the blood stock belonging to at the Greek blood bank," she said later.

Turkish clinics and stored "1

sent

a

message

to

Dr.

Fessas and

he

came over with

Vassilopoulos, the director-general of the Health Ministry.

him

for

three

or

four

litres

exploded. 'Do you expect

me

of the stored Turkish to

I

Dr.

asked

blood.

He

send blood to the Turks?' he

Harry Scott Gibbons shouted

top of his voice.

at the

lack of blood transfusions.

I

him

told

that

I

blood.'

"He got angrier and gave me

my

repeated

my

you

for

best for

Turks have

to let the

When

a severe telling off.

I

request he got so furious that he threatened to beat me.

was saved by being remember murmuring a I

mercy of

Turks were dying

I'm working and doing

'

told him, 'and in return I'm asking

you,'

some

49

As

called back to the surgery. prayer,

I

went,

'Oh God, please leave no one

at

I

the

a Greek!'

"Dr Fessas was blind with hatred for the Turks." It was later found out a very good reason for the refusal. There was no blood in the blood bank. Since 9.20 wounded Greeks had I

been pouring into the hospital.

The matron, Miss Turkan Aziz,

a Turk, described the scene.

She was off duty in her two storied house inside compound when she heard the shooting. She put on

the hospital

her uniform

and went over to the hospital.

were

"There

armed

men everywhere. Some wore

uniforms, but most were civilians, dressed

and military clothes. They were

civilian

wards and even

corridors, the

"And

the

in the

in

in

police

hotchpotch of

a

the grounds, in the

operating theatre.

wounded! The hospital was filling rapidly. Cars were in convoys. They lay on the floors in the wards and

bringing them corridors.

I

sent over to the nurses'

the off-duty nurses.

poured

We

worked

home all

in the

grounds

night and

to fetch all

the

still

wounded

in.

"We

didn't even have time for a cup of tea."

Wally and

I

had no idea

this

was happening,

that the

Greeks were

taking heavy punishment. Their propaganda, via the state radio,

continued incessantly the theme that the Turks were the

Greeks were defending themselves,

restoring order.

and

in

the

open police

revolt,

were

50

The Genocide Files

During the night of Sunday/Monday, the Fighters

unarmed observers. They paced

sent out their

in

Omorphita

the boundaries of the

Turkish sector.

At about 9.30 p.m. Greeks opened up on the Turkish

part,

spraying the streets and houses.

The only escape route Hamit Koy, at

for the

Omorphita Turks was north

that time

known

as

cut off from Nicosia to the south by

Greek

fire.

village of

The

streets

to the

Mandrcs. They were

were cleared and the Fighters took over. The Stens, were kept aside for close fighting.

the pistols and the shotguns

marksmen loaded

Six selected

the rifles and, each with

his

scanty supply of ammunition, climbed to a vantage point.

Methodically, the

and began slowly

On Monday

began

to bark.

Greek casualties

started

morning, the Fighters gathered together the Greek

families living in lines at

rifles

to rise.

Omorphita and escorted them over

to the

Greek

nearby Kaimakli.

Reporting

this act later,

been told by the Turks

:

one of the evacuated Greeks said he had

"This

is

a gesture to

unarmed

civilians."

This, which might have been described as a "Christian act," was

very

much

Moslem

a

one. Except

in

cases of revenge, or where

religious principles have been involved, a Moslem will take

granted that

women

and children are

left

it

for

alone or escorted out of

the firing line.

At Christmas, 1963, however, the Moslem Turks of Cyprus how "un-Christian" the Christian Greeks of Cyprus had

learned

become.

Harry Scott Gibbons

51

CHAPTER SIX Leaving the Lcdra Palace Hotel, Wally and

I

drove around the

former British Wolseley Barracks and up to the Pedieos Bridge over the so-called Pedieos River, a gully that of the

outskirts

running off the

capital,

wound round

rains

in

winter

the

and

providing a magnificent haunt for the island's voracious, fecund

mosquitoes the

rest

of the year.

The bridge was sealed

off,

manned by members of

the

Cyprus

army. They could only have been Greeks, as the Turkish members had taken refuge

Next

in the

Vice-President's office.

to the bridge, the lights

of the General Hospital

lit

up the

crowded with armed police and civilians. The road leading past the hospital main gate was blocked with armed

grounds,

civilians, so

I

circled the roundabout without stopping and drove to

the city walls.

We tried the bridge over the moat at Paphos Gate. The lights which normally shone in the little squares just inside the walls, from the coffee shop, the fire and police stations, were out. Only a street lamp showed the deserted square, the coffee shop closed, its pavement tables and chairs, still used in winter whenever the sun shone, empty. In the

darkness beyond the square,

automatic and

rifle fire.

A

drove further on to the entrance square, night,

we

could hear the din of

brief consultation, and at

we

turned and

Metaxas Square. Across the

we turned left into Regina Street. Normally, at this time of Regina Street would have been a bedlam of braying juke

boxes and shouting, drunken voices. That night the row of sleazy bars was closed, the juke boxes silent,

the

drunken

songs

stilled,

and

the

no

young was to be

longer

"hostesses" with their carping, harsh voices were gone.

It

some time before they were again to merit commission by drinking lemonade purporting to be champagne and paid for by unsuspecting, or simply drunk, customers.

52

The Genocide Files Several cars, their headlights blazing, tore towards us and past.

I

could see the gun barrels sticking out of the open windows. Turning right out of

Regina

parked the

lanes,

car,

Street,

we drove

and went

into the

slowly through the narrow Cyprus Mail building.

The Cyprus Mail was owned by Jakovidcs, popularly known

as

Jacko, a short slightly tubby Greek with a voluble smile. Jacko

stayed clear of opinions on internal politics as

much

as possible, his

English-language paper being read mainly by the island's foreign residents.

His office,

its

records and facilities were always

at

the disposal

of foreign journalists.

He greeted us warmly, told us to help ourselves coming in, and dashed back to his private office to

to the reports start

phoning

around for news. in many English-language newspapers abroad, several of the were local correspondents for European and American newspapers and magazines. Jacko reported for an American news

As

staff

agency; Peter Hellicr, a young, unperturbable Australian, for a British one.

Hellicr

showed us

the reports.

The Greek police had admitted that they had killed Vasit Mustapha, the Turkish sandwich maker.

A

policeman

who

took part

in

the shooting said they

driving along in a convoy of three cars

behind them, began firing

and waited

in

at

when Mustapha,

were

driving

them. They stopped their cars, he said,

ambush.

When Mustapha

and several cars came along, the police opened they in turn were fired on from several directions, but managed to escape. They took the dead Turk with them - no mention of his firearm - and also picked up a wounded Greek civilian. Another wounded Greek civilian was found near the fire.

scene

Then, he

later

said,

by a Greek

taxi driver.

There seems

Turkish residents of the area had taken

down

little

their

doubt that the shotguns

after

Mustapha had been ambushed. But the police failed to explain the presence of two Greek civilians apparently afoot in a wholly Turkish area on a road leading to Kyrenia, 16 miles away. The only answer seemed to be that they were armed civilians, two of the

Harry Scott Gibbons

53

newly appointed "special constables," and had taken

part

the

in

ambush.

The

two Greeks had been dragged from

police statement said

Turkish quarter of Nicosia, near Ataturk Square,

their car in the

the Kyrenia Gate, beaten

Greek sources were quoted as saying caused by the refusal of Turks

to

were

that the incidents

consent to "normal police routine"

on the Saturday. They did not explain why the "police" were not uniform or how they came to be issued with arms. Otherwise, there was very

denied

any

attack

at

up and one stabbed.

on

little

to

go on. The Greek authorities

Turkish

the

in

but

quarter,

the

police,

were "restoring peace." The day before, we had been fooled by a Greek communique stating the police were in "full control" of the situation. Now it seemed they were not really in nevertheless,

control after

all.

Whatever was happening, the Greek authorities were not giving away any information. Nothing could be found out about Greek casualties.

No mention

of the appeal for calm by Turkish leaders

was given. I

went outside

bark of

into the street.

rifles, filled

The

chatter of automatic fire, the

the cold, clear night. Cars shot past, the light

from the Mail's porch catching

briefly the

grim young faces and the

hands tightly clutching their weapons.

At the held

street corner

across

was

a group of

lounging

chests,

their

young

against

civilians,

the

wall

exaggerated nonchalance of young braves on their

were

party. Police they

not,

matter of individual outlook.

Wally and

I

and as

the

scalping

to "restoring" peace, that

Dead men

was

a

are notoriously peaceful.

typed out our stories, drove back through Metaxas

Square, dropped our cables off

Gate and returned story to write.

first

weapons with

I

to the

at the

Post Office next to the Paphos

Ledra Palace.

It

was

a very frustrating

said there appeared to be fierce battles raging

across the city between Greeks and Turks, but the Greeks, who were now obviously running the government and subsequently its information outlets, were simply repeating that all was under control.

There were no reports of casualties, and

in

any case

it

was

54

The Genocide Files

the fault of the Turks. But because Wally and knew that the Greeks were lying and that all hell had broken loose, whether fullscale war or not, we were able to inject this into our stories all

I

without giving specific details.

Savvas, the night porter, had nothing new. The Turks were on the rampage, the Greeks were restoring order. Still no casualty figures

from the Greeks.

Had we known about the Greek casualties, the situation would have become clearer. But private cars - probably we had passed several that night - and not ambulances, were removing the wounded.

The amount of little in

revolutions, and to

draw

The But

fire

power used by untrained

reckoning casualties.

on average

I

it

civilians can mean have witnessed several Middle East

takes thousands of expended bullets

sufficient blood to provide a blood test.

bullets crackling across Nicosia's rooftops I

was unaware of

their training,

and

were no guide.

the Turkish quarter's frontline snipers,

their accuracy. Later

it

was described

the Turks, from their rooftops and balconies, coolly

to

me how

watched the

random, almost panic stricken

fire from the other side, deliberately gun flashes. Standard army behaviour - if you stay cool long enough - but behaviour seldom found in

took aim and shot

at

the

civilians.

At the Ledra Hotel, Stelios, the head Greek barman, was on Stelios bore a striking resemblance to Bela Lugosi, the Hollywood actor famous for his vampire roles.

duty.

During

the

troubles

in

the

fifties

that

led

to

eventual

independence, Stelios had an agreement with EOKA, the terrorist movement, that no journalists were interfered with on the premises.

There was more than compassion or business sense Stelios genuinely liked his customers and no

barman

in

this.

likes his bar to

be boycotted as a danger spot.

With the hotel immune to bullets, and the bar the gathering ground for the foreign press, British army officers went there to drink and accept drinks (mostly to accept) in return for friendly snippets of information.

Harry Scott Gibbons

Many

a plan

was revealed

and many a

cocktail shaker,

in

55

the neighbourhood of Stelios'

call Stelios

made from

the hall

phone

booth to his contacts. I

a

am

mouse

sure Stelios could have heard a

scratch

its

velvet ear

hundred yards away.

No one condemned As

Stelios

for

his

discreet

newsgathering

was concerned, during the visits made to Cyprus in the late fifties, Stelios was welcome to anything he could get out of me. The knowledge that could sleep safely in a city where every shot could mean a Briton with a bullet in the back was activities.

far as

I

I

I

well worth

it.

The only

thing

I

had against Stelios was

his

poker dice. Not

that

he played for drinks on the bar, but that he always won.

Wally and

I

walked up

to the ornately

carved L-shaped bar.

The L-shape was awkward. The L was inverted towards the This was fine for the barman, who could see the customers

clients.

easily, but

had

caused many a twisted neck among the imbibers

to turn right

round

who

to address a colleague or a friend.

"The usual, Mr. Gibbons?" asked

Stelios.

"And you, Mr. Kent

?"

Wally changed

was on as

stiff

his drinks

pink gin bracers.

according to his moods. Tonight he I

new developments. "The Greeks against

unjustified

attacks

my

enjoyed

Wally used the white telephone

in the

are

whisky, water, no

ice,

bar corner to find out any

still

defending themselves

by the Turks," he told me, with a

sardonic grin.

During the night

at

Omorphita, Greeks began

to

infiltrate

the

Turkish quarter. In

daylight, apart

from the Fighters, the Turkish population

stayed off the streets. At night they

dwindling supplies work.

at

came

out to buy

some of

the

the local stores, to meet and gossip, and to

56

The Genocide Files

While men worked on the barricades, moving trucks, cars and sandbags with earth for

furniture to block the narrow streets, tilling the snipers' positions, the

women

started to burrow.

Between the terraced houses, they dug and levered, using kitchen knives, chisels, axes,

hammers and

car jacks. Gradually

they opened holes between the walls, and by

December linking

The

dawn on Monday,

23, the rudiments of a gigantic warren had appeared,

whole sections of the

quarter.

Fighters were able to crawl from house to house without

exposing themselves

in

daylight

Greek

withering

the

to

fire

directed along the streets outside.

The women passed

food, water and coffee along the burrows to

the Fighters' vantage points.

The

children

worked

too.

That night they were employed as

lookouts, their sharp eyes and shrill voices sending the alarm of the

through the area. The shotguns came out and blasted.

infiltration

The Greeks

retreated.

About one

the morning,

in

residence from the Ledra Palace. that telephone

been cut off

was

"By "I

whom

I

learned later

p.m.

at 11

"Don't go.

was dead.

line

connections to the Turkish quarter of Nicosia had

Wally and I decided what was happening. Stelios

phone Dr. Kutchuk's

to

tried

I

The

to drive into the

Turkish quarter,

to see

aghast. It's

?"

I

wcrry dancherous.

You

will get shot."

asked.

don't care by

whom," came

the practical answer. "Greeks or

Turks, Armenians or Jews, you will get shot."

"Oh, well," said Wally, "I've always wanted to get buried

in

Cyprus," and he unlimbered himself from the barstoo! and headed for the door.

We

We

drove into the Turkish quarter.

It

infamous "Murder Mile" of

EOKA

was

a foolish thing to do.

down Ledra days where many

crossed Metaxas Square again and

Street a

- the

uniformed

Briton had died from a bullet in the back - drove casually through

57

Harry Scott Gibbons the

lancwork of the border zone and towards Ataturk

intricate

Square.

We

drove slowly, our headlights blazing, the car

interior

lit

up,

under the guns of two opposing armies, one a vast conglomeration of youths, students, former anti-British terrorists and policemen, leaping from

doorway

all

doorway, shouting instructions wildly,

to

shadows, the other grim, deadly men who carefully gun flashes. Carefully, to conserve the swindling supply of ammunition.

firing blindly at

shot at

Wally was chatting away,

think about arrangements for a

I

New

Year's Eve party, so several shots had been fired over the car before

was aware

I

that

we were

at last

being challenged.

We

were

outside the newly built Turkish Saray Hotel, overlooking Ataturk

Square. trod on the footbrake,

I

was

opened the door and leaned

Wally

out.

going on about his party.

still

"Don't

shoot!"

I

yelled

into

the

night.

"We're

British

journalists."

A voice English so

We

I

came from twelve feet over my head. The voice was knew that our nationality at least had been accepted.

in

car, our arms raised, and faced main lounge balcony of the hotel. A line of men

crawled slowly from the

upwards

to the

stood looking

down

at us.

I

moved

"Good evening, Mr. Gibbons," dangerous around

it's

here

into the

headlamps.

said the voice. "Don't you

tonight?

We

know

rebellious

Turks are

we wanted

to find out

massacring innocent people."

The I

line of

lowered

men chuckled

my

at the

sarcasm.

hands and explained

that

what was happening. Wally had stopped talking about

"We

are being attacked, as you can see. But

defeated.

go

We

think

it

is

his party.

we

will not

be

best that you leave by the Kyrenia Gate and

to safety."

We went

re-entered the car and drove out of the Turkish quarter.

to the Post Office

and sent a story about our

trip.

One

We

thing

58

The Genocide Files

we had

discovered was that there were

we

Turkish sector. Nor did

no barricades into the

still

men roaming the streets. identity of the man on the Saray

see armed

What we never discovered was the Hotel balcony, nor how we managed

to

cross

the

frontlines

unscathed.

We

dropped by the Cyprus Mail again, and because Jacko and all the information they had managed to dredge up, we showed them our stories. The result was that the little adventure Wally and had just had was sent round the world, and later that day, Monday, December 23, the international press Hellier had shared with us

I

brigade began to descend on Cyprus.

Whatever the Greek Cypriots, led by their president, Archbishop Makarios, intended to do to the Turks that fateful Christmas, it would now have to be done in the full glare of world publicity in the morning, we returned and maddeningly the whole way.

At three o'clock slept peacefully

At 6 a.m. carried

it

I

was up

again.

I

made

to Kyrenia.

Wally

a pot of sweet Turkish coffee and

with two cups to the low wall of the drive leading to the

house. There, under the row of tall, thick jasmine and mimosa bushes that shaded the flower seed beds, prepared in winter for spring transplanting, had my morning chat with Havva, my 1

Turkish gardener. Eve, as her

name

signified in English,

was

short, skinny

and

wrinkled. She wore long, brightly-coloured Turkish peasant-style dresses, a headscarf and

men's shoes.

She had seven children and a layabout husband who hennaed his hair bright orange. She looked about 50, although she was only in her early thirties. She worked for me to feed her household and send several of her children to school.

Eve

lived in

Templos,

a Turkish village a mile

west of Kyrenia,

nestled beneath towering, ruined St. Hilarion Castle, built by the

Byzantine rulers as one of their strongholds atop the northern range of mountains to repel invaders.

when

The only

attacks the castle suffered

were from the painstaking brushes of British businessmen who had retired to Kyrenia to spend their remaining I

lived there

59

Harry Scott Gibbons years gazing upwards from

bungalow porches,

their

trying

to

capture the glory of the ancient stronghold with their paint-sets.

The mitigating reason

I

factor about these

liked them,

was

budding Van Goghs, and one results of their efforts -

whatever the

that

they couldn't be missed, displayed as they were hotel in Kyrenia

in every bar and - they reaped enormous pleasure out of painting

and boasted seldom of

their talents.

Hilarion also had the distinction of being the inspiration for the castle in the late

Walt Disney's film "Snow White and the Seven

Dwarfs." Or so the story goes.

Templos took

When

name from

its

and established themselves

was where they food

and

Zeytinlik, It

is

started a

in St. Hilarion Castle, the village

below

stabled their horses and where they purchased their

fodder

Templos

supplies.

has

"The Place of the Olive Trees."

He was simply kebab

his family, he

grill

I

now been renamed

think

I

prefer Templos.

accident prone regarding work.

When

he

stand in Kyrenia, to the unrestrained delight of

burned

same

the

When tools.

Order of Knights Templar.

perhaps unfair to describe Eve's hennaed husband as a

layabout.

down

the

Cyprus from Richard the Lionheart

the Knights took over

hand on the glowing charcoal and closed

his

night as the auspicious opening.

he once helped

Occasionally he

me

came

to

change

to help his

garden, which meant that she and

I

had

a car tyre, he

to labour the

replacing the transplanted flowers he had put

had trampled on with unseeingly out to sea,

his

lost,

broke

uncomplaining wife

in

in

my the

following day

with torn roots or

huge labourer's boots as he gazed

perhaps,

in a

dreamworld of press button

kebab stands, car tyre changers and flower transplanters.

There was no need to cable early stories to my newspaper. We were two hours ahead of London time, and if the main story could be sent off by early evening,

morning It

to

was

had up

to

2 a.m. the following

work out what the day would bring, was seeing my peaceful Christmas holiday

pointless to try to

although already vanish.

I

send additional reports or top up the old ones.

I

60

The Genocide Files

A

selfish thought perhaps, but that

violence

Aden and

in

East Africa.

month had seen sufficient wanted to rest, eat well, I

just

I

and get drunk occasionally. 1

breakfasted on a bottle of cold beer on the villa porch, the

my

olive groves and Hilarion at

across the dark, winter sea. lightweight suit, for the sun

I

back, the Turkish coast somewhere shaved and showered and put on a

was

shining.

Then Wally rang and drove over old car in the shade of

my

shortly afterwards.

He

left his

we

small stand of spruce trees, and

drove

off to Nicosia.

Eve waved from

the garden.

It

was months before

I

saw

her

again.

Wally and

I

drove

to the

Cyprus Mail

office.

By

this time, all the

streets leading into the

Turkish quarter were scaled off by young

gunmen, who glared

us suspiciously.

at

I

saw only two uniformed

policemen that day. At noon, Dr. Kutchuk, Dr. Niazi Manycra, the Health Minister, and Fazil Plumer, Agricultural Minister, drove to the Paphos Gate police station. President Makarios arrived in his black limousine.

Yorgadjis drove up with his personal bodyguard.

They met

in the

sandbagged police

police watched avidly. Other police

outside ordering

away

station; heavily

armed Greek

with fixed bayonets stood

sightseers.

Kutchuk put forward his case. He asked for a ceasefire and talks between representatives of the two communities. Makarios stroked his black beard, his eyes calm as only a priest's can be, his voice soft and conciliating, his expression one of a friend misunderstood. I

in

knew

return

He had worn it when interviewed him King George Hotel in Athens in 1958, on his

that expression.

his suite in the

from exile by the British

I

in the

Seychelles Islands.

Then he was pleading his innocence of British charges that he was responsible for inciting violence against the British in Cyprus. This time, he was pleading innocence of the same charge against a section of his

own

subjects, the Turkish Cypriots.

While he spoke, the armed Greeks around him fingered their automatic weapons.

nervously

Harry Scott Gibbons At length

it

was agreed

that both

61

would appeal

sides

ceasefire, urging peace

and calm among the people.

Makarios drove

sad eyed and serene.

returned

to

their

off,

own

unsuccessfully tried to

The radio.

quarter.

On

The

three Turks

Greek

way,

the

snipers

hit their car.

was broadcast over the Greek was followed immediately by a commentary

joint statement

It

for a

controlled in

Greek

calling on the people to continue fighting for the "materialisatian of

our aspirations - Enosis."

The shooting in

advance by

increased.

that

The

ceasefire appeal,

its

effect nullified

commentary, was ignored.

One of the Turkish employees at the British High Commission was Emine Alagun. She was newly married and pregnant with her first child, Sami. Her husband, Altay, was the police constable at the fingerprints department of the Athalassa Police HQ who had managed to escape from the Greek gunmen who had occupied the headquarters.

They

lived in Nicosia.

The whole weekend

there

Monday morning, December

was shooting

all

around them, but on

was taking Emine decided she should go to work and was dropped off at the Commission by her husband. She found British Army armoured cars in a protective circle around the compound. 23, believing the ceasefire

hold,

But by the time she was ready

to return

home

the situation had so deteriorated that the Turkish

in the

evening,

employees were

unable to get through the Greek cordon around Nicosia's Turkish quarter.

Emine and

the others

were put

in

armoured cars and

delivered to their homes.

"We

could not get back to the Commission for a couple of

months," she told me, "then arrangements were made to give

me

and the other Turkish employees a staff car with a chauffeur and an

armoured car escort Commission.

to

take

us

daily

to

and from the High

62

The Genocide Files "It

was

lovely.

Wc

thought

wc were

very posh riding

in

a car

with the Union Jack flying."

When

he dropped

his

wife off

Monday morning, December

HQ

the police

in

High Commission that Alagun reported for duty at

the

at

23, Altay

Ataturk Square. All the Turkish police from the

area were gathered there.

The

gendarmerie

Turkish-controlled

had

section

their

on

headquarters

main

the

road

to

the

in

Kyrcnia

via

Ortakoy. Greeks occupying the Severis flour mill were firing on

Turks on the Nicosia-Ortakoy road. by then held by Greeks, and orders Altay Alagun was one of seven capturing it. The seven were chosen

The gendarmerie building was

were given for it to be taken. policemen given the job of because at that time they were serving with the gendarmerie, which performed police duties outside the main towns.

"We were simply told to if we didn't!" Alagun

back

take over the building and not to said.

"We

piled into

two

come

civilian cars

rifles and a Sten gun. We drove to the which then had open fields and was not all built up like today. From a safe distance we examined the HQ. There were about 25 Greeks around the building, all armed, guarding it. They were carrying what we called "jungle rifles."

and were armed with six

Kumsal

area,

This was a short-barrelled compact British Lee-Enfield intended for jungle warfare.

It

rifle

did not live up to expectations,

however, and was declared obsolete

in

The Turks decided they couldn't

1947. take the

assault and agreed to get past the guards first

HQ by a frontal and sec what they

could do.

"Wc fields.

us.

hid our guns in the boots of the cars and drove over the

We

The

were gendarmes and the Greek gendarmes there knew was open and wc drove through, unchallenged.

gate

inspector, Stephanos Xcnophontos, came out to had known each other for years and liked each other. He was a good man," Alagun told me. "He was normally in civilian clothes but that day he was in uniform, with a Sterling

"A Greek CID

meet me.

We

submachinegun hanging from

his shoulder.

63

Harry Scott Gibbons "'What arc you doing

here,?' he asked.

HQ

get to the Athalassa police

gendarmerie

to report for duty at the

told

I

him we couldn't

we had come

because of fighting so

station. 'Well done,' he said,

then to our dismay he began to inspect our cars.

"'Are you looking for guns?'

'Do you think open the boots?'

insulted.

me

to

I

asked him, trying to looked

I

would hide guns in the cars? Do you want It was his turn to look insulted. 'No, no, I

believe you, Altay,' he said.

So we got away with

the

part of

first

our plan.

"We wandered gendarmes,

come,

move

that the

Greeks would

us

kill

all.

that

We

and whipped out the

rifles

we were fools to we had better

decided

sauntered casually to our cars and,

fast,

the boots

inside the building and found several Turkish

unarmed. They whispered

all

at a signal, tore

and the Sten, and turned

open

to face

the Greeks.

was

"I

would open

certain they

were so surprised they to

drop their guns, but they didn't.

this

before but

came

we

we

realised

"It

was

Sterling. said.

at

killed, but they

We

yelled

at

them

had never done anything

to the

gunpoint.

like

Greeks before they

main door and we

As each one went

stripped of his gun.

left to

me his

my

to face

There were tears

But he put

We

had to disarm the

pushed the Greeks towards him

was

and we'd be

So one of us went

to their senses.

through, he

fire

just stood there, gaping.

in

gun on

Greeks and found five or

friend Stephanos.

his eyes.

the ground.

'I

I

demanded

his

trusted you, Altay,' he

We

then searched

six officers with pistols.

the

all

They begged us

not to take their guns because, they said, they'd get into trouble

with their superiors!

"Looking back,

it

all

sounds so ridiculous. But we were

inexperienced and completely disorganised.

we

keep their hand guns, then Turkish quarter and

let

We

let

all

the officers

escorted them to the edge of the

them go.

"The same day, the Greeks murdered two Turkish policemen,

one

a

sergeant,

in

the

Nicosia-Morphou road, and

village

of

Peristerona

on

a third in Kokkinotrimithia nearby.

the

The

64

The Genocide Files

two in Pcristcrona were number was 2424. "The phones

we

at

killed

by

were

the gendarmerie

returned from freeing the Greeks,

Nicosia police

HQ

and

down

settled

Greek gendarme. His badge

a

we

to

operating and,

still

when

reported our success to the

await events.

"Then came a phone call from somewhere on the Greek side. They were returning that night to take back the building, the voice promised. We were worried. This sort of warfare, fighting our own

was something we had never envisaged. We what we would do when the Greeks attacked and someone thought up a mad idea of a warning system. We had found plenty of hand grenades in the building and it was decided that if anyone saw a Greek he was to throw a grenade to warn the rest of

colleagues with guns, discussed

us."

Some

time

later,

one man thought he heard a noise and picked

The building was in darkness and the Turks could see nothing. After a while it was agreed that it was a false alarm and the nervous constable was told to put his grenade back in his pocket. What happened next was like a Keystone Cops scenario, up

his grenade.

Alagun

me.

told

"T can't

let

go the grenade,' the policeman

said.

T pulled out

the pin.'

"There was another discussion and it was agreed he would throw it away. But we hadn't told the rest of us what we were doing and when the grenade was thrown into the darkness it rolled under a police car

and blew

it

to bits!

The

noise

was

terrific.

"The next minute the rest of our group, thinking it was the Greek attack, panicked and lit out for Nicosia on foot. The four of us left behind shouted to them to comeback but they only ran faster!

"We around

know what

didn't

my

to

do now.

I

hung half

waist and climbed to the top floor.

Greeks came,

to

thrown them down the

1

a

dozen grenades

planned,

stairwell.

I

when

the

had no plans

after that.

"What

did

reinforcements against the

happen was that, alerted by our runaways, came driving at high speed from Nicosia to help us

Greek attack

that

never came.

We

rushed downstairs

65

Harry Scott Gibbons

to them that we were Turks and still held the They wouldn't believe us! What made it worse was that

and began shouting building. the

Greeks began shooting

at

us from somewhere.

one of the Turkish attacker/rescuers are Greeks who speak Turkish. Throw down your weapons and surrender!"' "'You can't fool

shouted back. '"We

Fortunately, to

us,'

know you

someone had

throw the main

the presence of

"Our colleagues recognised us gendarmerie headquarters was over

In

mind

at

last,

moment

at that

switch and the whole building

light

up.

lit

and the siege of the

at last."

Famagusta, on the southeast coast, a Turkish journalist,

Yak,

correspondent

local

of

the

Turkish

Nicosia

Osman

language

newspaper, Halkin Sesi, heard of the ceasefire and, with the paper's agent

selling

in

Famagusta, drove up

reached the Famagusta Gate

on

their

to

When

Nicosia.

in the city walls,

they

Greeks opened

fire

The car was hit several times, but they escaped They were hospitalized inside the Turkish quarter for

car.

uninjured.

shock. suburbs, Turks began to think of evacuating main Turkish centre within the walls.

In the city

safety of the

the

In

Chaglayan

To

one

area, just southeast of the walls, over

hundred Turkish families furnishing, they

to the

wrapped

lived.

With no trucks

their jewellery

to take

and prepared

away

their

to leave.

the east of the area stood a three-storey block of flats built

for police families, a skyscraper

by Nicosia standards. The Turkish

Greek colleagues. on the Turkish houses.

police families had been taken hostage by their

From

the rooftop, snipers started firing

The to

nearest families to the snipers began to

move. From house

house they went, sheltered briefly by friends and neighbours,

then driven, slowly and relentlessly by the hail of lead, nearer and nearer to the city walls.

As they retreated, a straggler, an old Turkish man, crumpled and He was still lying in the middle of the road when night came.

fell.

By Monday

night they

were huddled, over 600 of them,

houses close to the Famagusta Road.

in a

few

66

The Genocide Files

The evacuated houses were Greeks -

In the

after the cease-fire

looted and set on fire by armed

agreement.

Nicosia General Hospital, Matron Turkan Aziz reappraised

the situation.

The shooting was

Greek casualties were

increasing,

flooding the hospital, the armed youths crowding the grounds were

becoming increasingly arrogant, and she had 29 female Turkish staff to look after.

was a Turkish male nurse, Mehmet Veli, and a young Turkish schoolteacher, Mcntesh Zorba, awaiting

In addition there

patient, a

clearance to leave the hospital after recovering from an operation.

There were also 21 Turkish

The matron went

in-patients.

to Dr. Fessas

and explained the situation. She that, because of the "war,"

asked what should be done. Fessas said

as he described the situation, he could not guarantee the safety of

the Turkish nurses.

He suggested that home in the

sent back to the nurses'

they be taken off duty and hospital grounds.

The two

Turkish men, the male nurse and the schoolteacher patient, he suggested should be taken by the matron to her situation

until

flat

the

had cleared up.

The matron agreed with

his suggestions, called together the

Turkish nurses and sent them back to their rooms

in the

home. She

sent for the two male Turks and went with them to her house, which stood alone on the edge of the fenced-in hospital grounds,

and took them up the

stairs to her private flat.

Opposite her flat, on the other side of Homer Avenue, was the long low building, the House of Representatives, the organ of in Cyprus. Around the corner and further along Byron Avenue were the offices of the Ministry of Justice and

democratic government

the Ministry of the Interior. It

was from

Polycarpos offensive

the latter,

Yorgadjis,

was being

The matron left maid to give them

from the private office of the minister, EOKA gunmen, that the Greek

former

directed.

the

two men

in

her sitting room, told her Greek

a drink, then returned to the nurses'

home

to

check on her charges. On the way she met two of the Turkish nurses walking towards her flat.

Harry Scott Gibbons "I

thought

told

I

you

to stay in the

home," she snapped

They were going "those two boys."

best matron manner.

Turkish cakes - to

67

to take

in

her

some "sweets" -

The matron ordered them back to the home. As she did so, armed youngsters threw their cigarettes on the ground and

several

stepped forward.

"Where were those two going?" they asked. "To

my

flat,"

"Who's

replied the matron.

in the flat?"

She explained the

situation.

come with you and check your

"We'll

story."

The group entered the house, led by the matron. The sun had gone down, and the lights were on throughout the house. As she entered her livingroom, the two refugees stood up smiling. Their smiles turned to alarmed expressions as they saw the armed Greeks crowding into the room. The gunmen searched

the Turks for arms,

and then began

systematically searching the house.

Eventually, one of the group spoke to the Matron.

"We must check your story. Medical Superintendent." She

told

them

to use her

The spokesman "No,

it

is

with us to the

phone.

hesitated.

better that

about these two.

You must come

We

we speak

shall

to

him personally. Don't worry

post guards to see they

come

to

no

harm."

The matron reluctantly assented. As they left, one armed man was left on guard inside the room, a second was posted downstairs outside the house. In the

main block, Dr. Fessas readily confirmed

his instructions

about the Turkish nurses and the two male Turks.

The spokesman for the armed Greeks escorted The guard outside had disappeared.

the matron back

to her flat.

"You had better wait here until I find out where he companion, and left the matron at the foot of the stairs.

is,"

said her

68

The Genocide Files

Ten minutes

he had not returned, and the matron finally

later

decided to enter the house.

As she walked slowly up

the stairs, she saw with a growing fear were spattered with bullet holes. At the top of the Greek maid stood silently, staring vacantly at the

that the stair walls

the stairs,

closed door of the livingroom.

Walking past her, and taking a deep breath, the matron slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

The two Turks this

sat

time they did not

on chairs exactly as she had

They had been machinegunned where they

them. But

Dark blood fronts and The guard stationed inside the room to keep

welled through the tattered remnants of their dripped on the carpet.

them from harm had vanished, spraying he

left

rise to greet her. sat.

shirt

the staircase senselessly as

left.

The matron

sat

down on

rose and crossed the

stirred,

another chair. After ten minutes she

room

to the

phone and called Dr.

Fessas.

He came accompanied by the him outside her livingroom door. "Just look inside that

A moment

later the

assistant matron.

Turkan Aziz met

room." doctor re-emerged into the hallway.

He

covered his face with his hands.

"My God, my God," down the stairs.

he mumbled.

He

turned and slowly walked

Matron Aziz packed a bag and carried it over to the nurses' home. The Greek nurses there watched her nervously as she prepared to spend the night there.

Two

hours later, two Greek policemen went to the home, asked matron and began questioning her about the incident. One of them pulled out his notebook and began writing. The matron lost for the

her customary poise.

"Stop wasting paper," she snapped, and showed them to the door. police

Showing no rancour, but looking left.

distinctly

relieved,

the

All that night, the lights from the matron's flat blazed

into the darkness.

She never returned

there.

69

Harry Scott Gibbons

CHAPTER SEVEN In

Larnaca, the small port on the southeast coast, shooting broke

out between Greeks and Turks.

Two

Turks were seriously wounded

clash in the Ayios Ioannis quarter.

in a

The Greek and Turkish

were divided roughly by

quarters

Okullar Street. Across this street walked two young British soldiers

from the 3rd Green Jackets. They wanted

Greek family with

whom

to

escort to safety a

they were friendly and

Turkish side. But the soldiers, unthinkingly, were

and there was nothing

to

show they were

Bandsman Gordon Baldwin,

who

lived on the

in civilian

clothes

friendly faces.

22, married with

two

children,

one

only three weeks old, was knocked to the ground by a Turkish bullet

and died.

His companion crawled to safety. roared up in

its

Landrover, was fired

A at

British

military

and retreated.

It

patrol

came

a

second time, and recovered the body.

In

Nicosia, the Greek police began to give their version of the

various incidents.

caused when a

The

The

mob

first killings

fire

on the police, they

said.

police had to defend themselves. In defending themselves, the

police had

wounded

a Turk.

At 9.30 a.m., said the the Minister of

way

on the previous Saturday were

of Turks opened

reports, a

Greek police car was escorting

Communications, Andreas Papadopoulos, on

his

Works Department. As he passed the Turkish Boys' Lycee, his car was stoned by the students who rushed out of the playground on to the street and tried to disarm the police. The to the Public

police fired three shots over the boys' heads.

Two

of the shots had obviously not been high enough, for two

boys were struck and injured.

At the same time, continued the police cyclist

was shot

at

reports, a

by three armed Turks, but was not

Greek motor

hit.

The Genocide Files

70

At 10.15 a Greek bus coming into the fired on.

city from Kyrcnia was were smashed but there were no casualties.

Two windows

There were other reports more or In Larnaca,

work and to rot

At

customs

the harbour

was

less

agreed on by both sides.

and dockers did not turn up

for

closed, crates of fruit for export were

left

officials

on the quayside. the Larnaca gendarmerie headquarters, the Turkish

were forced

to leave after a fight.

In Lefka, in the

Two

members

of their side were arrested.

northwest of the island, the Greek members of

One

the gendarmerie left their post.

officer had his sidearm taken

away from him. The police force as a joint organisation had already collapsed. It was now all-Greek. The gendarmerie, the only security force

commanded by

was quickly

a Turk,

disintegrating.

At Peristerona, a village between Nicosia and Lefka, a Turk was shot and

wounded by Greek

Ogut Osman Nuri, born

police.

a Turkish Cypriot,

was

a naturalised British

Anne was from Edinburgh

subject. His blonde wife

in

Scotland.

Nuri, an architect, lived in the Turkish quarter of Nicosia, but at

2.30 on

Monday

afternoon they were visiting English friends

at

house on Vasilios Voulgaroktonos Street

in

their small street level

the

Greek

sector, only a

hundred yards away from the Cyprus Mail

offices.

There was a knock draftsman,

holding a

opened

pistol.

it

at

the door. Peter

to

reveal

He stepped

a

Snowdon, an

architectural

uniformed Greek policeman

into the tiny lounge, looked

round

until

he saw the black-bearded Nuri, and addressed him.

"You had

You

better leave this area immediately.

You

are a Turk.

are likely to be shot."

Nuri's wife

Anne began to Snowdon cut

British subject, but

"The policeman's right" he Immediately!" he added as

explain that her husband

was

a

her off abruptly.

said. "Let's get

Anne began

to

over to your place.

speak again.

Harry Scott Gibbons

71

The two men and their wives walked outside to where their cars were parked. Snowdon locked the door behind him. As Nuri and Anne started to enter their car, a group of young armed civilian Greeks moved up. One of them, holding a submachine gun, stepped

who

close to Nuri

stood poised with one foot inside the car, holding

door with

the top of the

his right hand. Nuri recognised the

Greek

as a friend.

"Hello," he said.

At point blank range, the gunman

Anne screamed force of the bullets, I

fired a long burst.

as her husband, smashed backwards by the bounced off the car and slithered on to the road.

was standing outside the Cyprus Mail when The killer had fled.

I

heard the shots.

I

ran up.

On

the opposite side of the narrow lane stood a group of

young

armed Greeks. I

said one word.

One

"Why?"

of them, a

answered

tall

thin

boy about seventeen, shrugged and

briefly.

"He was

a Turk."

Nuri died

in the

ambulance on the way

to hospital.

His wife was flown to London the same day.

Mathiatis village

lies

Monday, December

20 miles south of Nicosia. On

23, 1963,

it

the evening of

had a population of 208 Turks and

201 Greeks.

That evening, over a thousand Greek youths, accompanied by a handful of uniformed policemen,

Rushing

all

armed, attacked the village.

As

began shooting. few minutes.

straight to the Turkish sector, they

Three Turks were seriously wounded the other

Turks rushed from

in the first

their small, white,

matchbox

houses, the mob, cursing abuse and shrieking with laughter, kicked

and punched them along the

As from

rifle

butts,

street.

Turks shuffled along, cowering from the blows the mob rushed into the houses, dragged the

the terrified

The Genocide Files

72

blazing logs from the fireplaces and threw them

The wooden roof beams,

beds.

dried out over

at

many

curtains and on years,

smoked,

then crackled into flames.

Along

the blazing street the

wounded, women,

many

in

Turks were driven, dragging and

nightdresses

their

bare

their feet,

sobbing, clutching babies awakened by the noise and starting to wail, children old

pyjama

enough

The youngsters themselves hoarse caught

fully

to

walk holding

tightly to trouser

and

legs.

fire,

hysterically

fired

frenzy. Before

in their

houses,

the

into

some of

yelling

the buildings had

groups of them dashed inside, smashing furniture

and dishware, grabbing valuables and stuffing them into

their

pockets.

drew

Terrified noises from behind the houses

the attention of

the attackers to the Turkish livestock.

Breaking into the barns, they machinegunncd milk cows, goats and sheep. Hens were thrown into the

air

and blasted by bullets as

squawked and fluttered, their pathetic bodies exploding feathered puffs. The mob roared in blood-crazed delirium.

they

The Turks were driven out of open road. Near the next tormented victims were

While

the

Turks

in

the village, along the freezing

village, Kochatis, an all-Turkish area, the

left.

of

Kochatis

neighbours, the mob, teenagers and

rushed

men

in

out

to

help

their

their early twenties,

returned to Mathiatis to continue their orgy of shooting, burning

and pillaging. It

was

a night

from Nazi Germany.

At Omorphita, shooting had been going on since dawn. to the in a

to

Turks - and the

rest

of the

world -

at that

Unknown

time, but revealed

Greek language newspaper years later, the Greek plan had been in three hours, Omorphita in six.

occupy Nicosia

The same newspaper

also revealed that

some 800 Greeks had to Hamit Koy in

surrounded Omorphita, except for the escape route

Harry Scott Gibbons the north.

The Turks waited

73

for the frontal attack, and

when

it

did

not materialise, their morale soared.

At noon, three bulldozers trundled up

They had been crudely armoured with

to the

Turkish positions.

and converted

steel plates

into makeshift tanks.

The

six

riflemen,

their

ammunition already perilously low,

gathered quickly to meet the attack. They waited

until the "tanks"

were within range. Then they opened up, carefully picking off the men partially concealed behind the steel plates. A few minutes of the deadly fire

and the tank crews panicked, turned

around and ground back

to safety, their

wounded white-faced with

A ragged cheer went As

the sun

their vehicles

dead sprawled inside,

their

the shock of the bullets.

up from the Turks.

went down on Monday

night,

allowing the icy

darkness to spread over the island, the Turks of Omorphita counted not a single casualty.

On Monday, station

the cable office near

Paphos Gate copied the police

on the other side of the empty moat and

positions.

Men armed

with machineguns and

roof and began shooting

When

at

set

rifles

up sandbagged took over the

passing cars.

Jacko generously offered us the use of one of

teleprinter connections to the cable office,

we

his

accepted gladly.

All around us the shooting went on. The crackle of automatic weapons mingled with the echoing roar of rifles. It is odd, but when a mixture of weapons is being fired simultaneously, the rifle seems to capture all the echo, leaving the machinegun only a crackle, a rattle or its own peculiar ominous zing-zing. At least, that is how it has always seemed to me.

The

streets

were busy with armed reinforcements. On the roof

of the Cyprus Mail they called to each other excitedly.

Every so often

in the street

shadows

one knee and

fire

young man, the would suddenly drop to

outside, a

pale fuzz on his cheeks betraying his age,

several bursts in the general direction of the

Turkish quarter, apparently

in

an attempt to prove that he was doing

The Genocide Files

74

Many Greek casualties resulted from this misguided enthusiasm. The Americans have invented an official military term for this behaviour - "friendly fire." The Greeks suffered a lot from it. his share of the fighting.

By

reporters had arrived from

this time, several

other parts of the Middle East. the

newspaper

office,

Somehow

Europe and

way

they found their

to

where Jacko welcomed each one and offered

him the run of the place.

My

newspaper had sent a colleague and photographer from

London.

About nine o'clock that night, the main news story dispatched, from London read and answered, the three of us decided try to visit the Turkish quarter. had told them of my experience

the cables to

I

the night before or, to be precise, early that morning, in getting

through undamaged. All the narrow streets leading towards the

Turks were crammed with armed Greeks, so

We

were close

we began

Turkish zone when

to the

we were

to

walk.

stopped by a

group of heavily armed men.

"You can go no to the

further,"

one

We

said.

told

him we were going

Turkish zone.

"We

are British,"

Englishman

said, feeling

I

remarking

casually

embarrassingly like a colonial

that

"the

natives

arc

restless

tonight" as he sipped his pink gin on the assegai riddled verandah.

"The Turks

My

will let us through."

colleague asked one

man what

his status

was. "Are you a

student?" he enquired.

The man shouldered

his gun,

and from inside a battered wallet

produced a faded picture stapled on

am

"I

light

a policeman," he said, as

of a faded street lamp: "This

The man was dressed his tielcss shirt.

The

identity card

Turks.

card.

squinted

card

my

card."

in civilian clothes, a

at the

in

the

heavy sweater over

Black grease from the gun covered his hands.

shrugged and started to the

is

Greek inscribed

we

to a

was to

quite literally

continue

down

all

Greek to us, so we few hundred yards

the last

Harry Scott Gibbons

The man I

"You

called.

stopped.

I

am

75

The Turks

will get shot!

will shoot you!"

No successful why only a very

not insensitive to atmosphere.

foreign correspondent can afford to be, which

is

percentage die while covering war stories.

small

Besides,

the

newspaper home offices always took an exceedingly dim view of losing a reporter. They may have to rely on news agencies while another

man

is

despatched

to the scene.

Cynical perhaps, but a

practical viewpoint. I

looked back. Five Greeks stood across the lane, their guns

pointing towards us.

I

heard a click above

me

and, looking up,

saw

we

stood

against, faintly silhouetted against the stars, the pale street

lamp

another

man

standing on the roof of the single story house

glinting dully on his sub-machinegun.

It

was pointing down

There have been occasions when

I

at us.

have walked under the

pointing guns of one side or the other of fighting factions. Then, a sixth sense

- or perhaps merely experience - has

one would shoot provided

On

other occasions,

out, carelessly,

behind

it,

I

I

told

me

that

no

acted nonchalantly and confidently.

have decided

that a bullet

would seek me

impartially, with no feeling, hate, anger or fear

and then

I

have retreated.

There was little need for that sixth sense here, nor any knowledge or the emotions of the young Greeks on that Monday night. I

v

knew

instinctively

that

the

moment we

view of the Turks, we would would come from behind. stretch into the

"Let's go back and have a drink,"

nothing, and

said.

My

And

the shots

colleagues said

we walked away.

British families throughout British

I

crossed that final die.

soldiers

in

the

Cyprus were advised

to stay at

home.

Sovereign bases and those quartered

in

Nicosia were ordered to wear uniform outside their houses.

At 10 pm, Makarios and Kutchuk again broadcast appeals for a ceasefire.

Makarios,

in his

statement, said

:

The Genocide Files

76

"It is with satisfaction that have found that the appeal which have made jointly with the Vice-President at noon today has already met with a response." I

I

It was a slippery remark, to say the least, and Makarios must have had his tongue firmly in his check when he made it. There most certainly had been a response - an upsurge in the murder of

Turks.

By midnight on Monday,

the

Greeks were

final

onslaught against the Turks. All

side

overlooking Nicosia were occupied:

tall

position for the

in

buildings

the

in

The cold

Greek

store,

the

Cornaro Hotel, the Nicosia Club (known locally as the English Club) and the Severis flour mill, all northwest of the walled city near the Turkish village of Ortakoy on the Kyrenia Road, had been taken over by armed men. The Cornaro had already been occupied before the first killings early Saturday morning sparked off the "Christmas War."

Sometime after Wally and left the Lcdra Palace Hotel on Sunday night, a group of armed youngsters had moved into the Ledra. They took over the flat roof. From there, they overlooked the empty moat and a row of Turkish houses on the far side of Tanzimat Street, and all Monday they kept up a steady fire on the I

closed green doors and shuttered

The marbled

windows of the

red roofed houses.

front hall of the Ledra carried for days afterwards

gunmen as they paced around There was no point in trying to return to Kyrenia that night as the road could be scaled off at any moment, and it was impossible, because of the trigger happy gunmen at the Post Office, to return to the Ledra Palace to sleep there.

the oil-stained fingerprints of the restlessly.

We

found the Regina Palace Hotel

prepared to accommodate guests, so I

Regina Street

in all

still

think Jacko, with his proverbial helpfulness, arranged I

my

had brought

I

shaving

kit,

my

but nothing else.

I

in.

it.

was freezing

in

and underwear were getting was wearing a pair of socks I had picked off a barrow in

lightweight

grubby.

my

open and

moved

the foreign press

Damascus

suit,

and

in the Street

shirt

Called Straight

should have been destroyed ages ago.

I

some

years before.

They

did not bring them along for

sentimental reasons but simply because they were the

first

pair

I

Harry Scott Gibbons grabbed when

77

was not until Boxing Day, three commit them to the flames in my large fireplace in Kyrenia. Until then had to wash them by hand each night and dry them on a radiator. Odd that, in the midst of war, little things like that stick in the mind ever afterwards days

Kyrenia.

left

I

later, that

was

I

It

finally able to

I

The female Greek owner of

the hotel, looking extremely sour as

pressmen descended on her bar and began

the horde of noisy

- although without our custom she wouldn't have had a single client - served a partially cooked meal which we

calling for food

gulped down.

Word came

Greeks had

the

that

shooting up of Omorphita.

While

there,

We trudged

heard for the

I

bazookas. The only people to

first

started

back

time

the

to the in

long distance

Cyprus Mail.

Cyprus the boom of

my knowledge

time to hold

at that

such weapons were the Greek and Turkish mainland contingents.

As it

the Turkish

meant

taking part in the

Greek It

army would not be shooting at their own people, 950-man Greek mainland contingent was battle, or they had handed over their weapons to

that either the

civilians.

was only

that

later

mainland soldiers had ghetto on part

in

Monday

I

in fact

night.

learned for certain that the Greek

joined in the attack on the Turkish

From then

until

Christmas Day they took

massacres which must surely have made every decent

mainland Greek squirm with shame.. I

retired to the

Regina Palace where

bedroom with Wally. At five a

heavy I

in the

shell

I

fell

morning,

I

shared a small twin

asleep immediately. I

was awakened

violently by the crash of

smashing into the room.

threw myself out of the bed, collided with the night table and

brought

it

and the lamp crashing

the blankets, and

I

to the floor.

My

legs tangled with

could only wriggle the upper part of

my body

beneath the bed. I

waited for the explosion but none came. Instead

murmuring something

in the corner.

He was

I

heard Wally

not in his bed.

78

The Genocide Files Cursing,

clicked

fumbled on the

I

floor,

Wally was standing facing the wall

smashed wall telephone.

lay the

feet

went

to

the telephone,

He was

just

half asleep.

still

wanted

to

go

I

I

the phone,

Wally rolled

It

shook

of his bed. At his

I

unscrambled myself and

was obvious with what he had

you

his arm.

asked gently, as one docs

left

in

my

him

sleepwalkers.

You walked

into the

wall.

You

nut."

his eyes in

my

direction.

Gary Cooper turned down by the ranch "But

to

for a pee," he replied.

"But the door's over there.

smashed

I

at the foot

switch and

and what had caused the crash.

"What's up; Wall?" "I

light

him.

His nose was bleeding slightly. hit

found the

on.

it

They

held the hurt look of

girl.

house the door's here," he said plaintively.

to

pee his head off wherever he liked, and went back

to bed.

For Monday, the casualty

two

British subjects.

All the

roll

was

:

Dead - nine Turks, one Greek,

Wounded - seven

Turks, 13 Greeks.

Greek information media - government information

department statements, radio news bulletins and commentaries, statements by police and politicians - made one point in common. The Cyprus Turkish community had staged an open rebellion and the state security forces

were restoring law and order.

The Greek propaganda was

unrelenting.

7V

Harry Scott Gibbons

CHAPTER EIGHT Polycarpos Yorgadjis was born in the

1930, the son of a Greek farmer,

in

Palechori district of Nicosia.

The

official

Cypriot

government-issued

on the

reticent about his education

worked

that he

He

left

his

underground

George Grivas

When

as a clerk in the

He was,

until 1955.

in fact, a

biography

It

is

very

mentions, however,

Cyprus Chamber of Commerce

messenger.

employment

organisation

island.

to

then

ranks of

the

join

being

set

up

by

EOKA,

the

Cypriot-born

to fight the British colonial administration.

Yorgadjis'

name became

linked with the terrorist wave,

were surprised. At work, he had been a quiet young man, unemotional to the point of sullenness. His thoughts were his friends

hidden behind his thick glasses, his dark face inscrutable, his thin

body revealing none of the emotions up and surging through

When mundane

Yorgadjis

that

must have been penned

it.

left

his

work, he exchanged the

life

of a

clerk at the beck and call of those of higher education,

if

not talents, for that of the terrorist leader.

of

When the world's attention became focussed on Cyprus because EOKA's activities, the name of Yorgadjis, former clerk and

farmer's son, a lieutenant to Grivas himself,

Cyprus.

When EOKA

declared

its

final

became

aim

union of Greece and Cyprus - he became a hero

When

the

name took on

EOKA a

to in

who

byword

in

the mainland.

assassination squads started operations, his

new meaning.

It

struck fear into those Greeks

"collaborated" with the British administration, that servants

a

be Enosis - the

is,

who

the civil

preferred to stay out of politics and did not join

EOKA. It had a different meaning for Greek schoolchildren. To them it meant adventure, an escape from stifling pubescent restrictions. With Yorgadjis manipulating the terrorist campaign from his

80

The Genocide Files

hideouts

in

Troodos mountains, they eagerly joined

the

youth movements and found an outlet for self-expression

militant in

slogan

writing, pamphleteering and intimidation of classmates.

When

the death

penalty

and

Yorgadjis

applied,

school-children,

now

for

terrorist

gangs

his

teenagers but

still

back

Yorgadjis, the

bomb

messenger, knew for the

little

power of

the

gun

that

be

to

while

young enough

hanging, carried on the work of assassination and

feeling of power, the

began

activities sat

to

the

escape

throwing.

first

evoked both

time the terror

and

respect.

He

him when he entered

carried that feeling with

Byron

Avenue,

Nicosia,

as

the

first

his office in

Minister

Interior

of

an

independent Cyprus. Yorgadjis was captured three times during the

EOKA

campaign

by British troops.

He was always extremely activities

and

his

three

reserved regarding both his terrorist

of captivity, but

spells

it

was widely

rumoured that he had been subjected to the type of torture that would greatly reduce his chances of marriage and children. Whatever the truth about this, he confounded the gossips and got met one of the British Special married and became a father. I

Len Ellis, who had seen Yorgadjis in prison. He said that far from there being any need for recourse to torture to obtain information from him, he had acted in a rather grovelling Branch

officers,

manner. This pose - and effect

him.

on the

it

British,

He escaped

after

may have been only that - had the desired who apparently relaxed their vigilance over each capture.

Besides the fear of the gun, the the

Greeks of Cyprus against the

call for

representing almost a quarter of the

main block

to this end.

To

Enosis did most

to unite

The Turkish community, island's population, was the

British.

the Turks, Enosis

meant subjugation

to

another culture and their extirpation as an ethnic group.

Their protests against Enosis found, through

plenty of support

in

the

efforts

of

Western Europe, and Britain had getting Makarios to sign the independence

Turkey, sympathetic ears

in

Harry Scott Gibbons agreements

that

81

precluded union with Greece and banned Grivas,

Yorgadjis' boss, from the island for ever.

When Makarios became

president, one of the

first

appointees to

was Yorgadjis who, with Grivas now out of the picture, took control of EOKA and the Enosis movement. It was not long, his cabinet

however, before Makarios announced

that he

had signed the terms

of the independence agreements under coercion. Enosis was the final solution, he said.

The

call for

still

union with Greece again

swept the island.

And

Yorgadjis was given the task of organising that end, the

"final solution" that, in

mean

order to be achieved, would of necessity

the extermination of the Turks.

And

so,

some time

Makarios, the saintly president, Yorgadjis, the

EOKA

in

Glafkos Clerides, wartime Royal Air Force hero turned

propaganda

chief,

at

that

and

EOKA

time leader of the Cyprus House of

Representatives and today President of Greek Cyprus, sat

worked out

1963,

killer,

down and

a plan for genocide.

When the shooting started in December, 1963, the Turkish leaders me later they were aware the Greeks were out to remove all

told

Turkish rights that would allow them to veto Enosis. But they were

completely ignorant of any definite Greek plans for the actual

removal of the Turks themselves as the obstacle Greece.

As were

the hordes of foreign pressmen

to

union with

who descended on

the island. It

was

not until April, 1966, long after the foreign press had

gone and the world believed, mistakenly as

Cyprus had

down,

it

turned out, that

Greek Cypriot newspaper, "Patris," published details of the plan for genocide that was drawn up at that unholy meeting in 1963. It was on the publication of that astounding document, described by the paper as the secret plan for settled

that a

Enosis, that the events of Christmas, 1963, Patris, at that

fell into

perspective.

time politically against Makarios, claimed

that, in

preparing the "organisation" necessary to achieve the union with

Greece, Makarios

made

the decision alone and took

military preparation himself.

up the task of

82

The Genocide Files Patris said:

name of

"Makarios entrusted Yorgadjis,

who

took the code

The was appointed deputy and Glafkos Clcridcs became the Chief of

Akritas, with the task of establishing the organisation.

Minister of Labour, Tassos Papadopoulos, chief of the organisation,

Operations.

"Makarios himself undertook the work of overall supervision." Patris, in

publishing the plan - a top secret circular signed "The

- said

Akritas"

Chief,

it

appeared

to

have been

distributed "with the approval of Makarios" several the

December The

and

prior to

flareup.

was revealing. It showed some muddled thinking.

circular

naivety and

written

months

The methods

obtain

to

cleverness, a great deal of

Enosis were to be by "internal and

international tactics." Internationally, "the creation of the following impressions has been accepted as the primary objective." The list which followed was excellent fare for the anti-imperialist section of the U.N. General Assembly. It stated that the agreements which formed the basis for independence were "not satisfactory and just" nor "the result

of the free will of the contending parties."

The demand

for a revision of the agreements

was

"not because

of any desire on the part of the Greeks to dishonour their signature, an imperative necessity of survival." Coexistence between Greeks and Turks on the island was "possible." but

The

last

point carried an air of wishful thinking. "The Greek

majority, and not the Turks, constitute the strong element on

which

foreigners must rely."

The document

stated that the approval of the

Agreements was

form of a referendum, and described this as "an important trump card in our hands. Otherwise, the people would have definitely approved the Agreements in the not to be put to the people in the

atmosphere

that prevailed in 1959."

Claiming some international success, the document said that, speaking, it has been shown that so far the administration of Cyprus has been carried out by the Greeks and that the Turks played only a negative part, acting as a brake." "Generally

The matter of

the

Turks as a problem ran through the

circular.

Harry Scott Gibbons

The second stage of Greeks

not

is

show

to

and

provisions

unjust

aim of remove

the

that "the

oppress the Turks, but only

to

unreasonable

was

the plan

S3

of

to

the

administrative

the

was necessary to remove those provisions "immediately because tomorrow may be too late."

mechanism," and

that

The question of issue

the revision of the constitution

Cyprus

for

it

and

does

was

give

therefore

not

"a domestic

the

of

right

intervention by force or otherwise."

The proposed amendments were just,

to

be shown as "reasonable and

and safeguard the reasonable rights of the minority." What

were these "reasonable detailed.

is

It

rights"

Turks? They were never

for the

worthwhile noting

that today,

33 years

later at the

time of writing, those weasel words, "reasonable rights," have

now

been subtly altered by Glafkos Clerides, the only surviving member of the 1963 unholy trinity for genocide, to "protected minority."

This is

is

supposed

somehow

persuade the Turks that a "protected minority"

to

better than being equals, as stipulated in the

Constitution, and, of course, infinitely

now

democracy

they

expression

"protected

enjoy

as

minority"

international circles determined

independent

an is

1960

more advantageous than gaining

ground

in

the

The

people.

those

on a "solution" for Cyprus which

rules out the Turkish Cypriot right to life so taken for granted in

those

same

For they appear determined not

circles.

to

minority needs to be protected against, simply that unconditionally to

The

its

ask it

who

Greek persecutors.

plan, stating that international opinion

would not accept

oppression of a minority, and that the Turks had succeeded

making the point abroad their

the

surrender

that

the in

union with Greece would amount to

enslavement, suggested that "we stand a good chance of

success

in

influencing world opinion

if

we

base our struggle not on

Enosis but on self-determination."

To achieve intervention

Britain) had to go.

remain

to

plebiscite."

end, the Treaty of Guarantee (the right of

this

by the Guaranteeing powers Turkey, Greece and

When

obstruct

us

removed, "no in

determining

legal or

our

moral force will

future

through

a

84

The Genocide Files

Today, the abrogation of the right to intervene is still one of the main Greek Cypriot and Greek demands for a "solution" of the Cyprus "problem" being put forward by Cleridcs. As the other main

demand

is that Turkey first remove its troops from the Northern Cyprus Republic, the Greek ploy is almost pathetically obvious. To deprive the Turks of Cyprus of any outside protection or assistance while the rights they now enjoy, including the God-given right to live, are stripped from them.

The

was

stage

first

to

amend

"the negative elements of the

Agreements," which would, reasoned the document, mean "the dc "

facto nullification of the Treaties

The plan began

become

to

rather naive here.

It

assumed

that

once these "negative elements" were deleted from the Constitution, the Treaty of Guarantee

would become

"legally

inapplicable." Enosis could be proclaimed, and

it

and substantially

would be possible

for the "forces of the state and, in addition, friendly military forces, to resist legitimately

because

we

The forces of the

police,

5,000

any intervention internally or from outside,

will then be

completely independent."

the state were, presumably, the

Greek sections of

gendarmerie and Cyprus army, reinforced by some

EOKA

fighters

absolute secrecy

in

whose

training had already been started in

the early days of 1963.

The

friendly military

forces referred to obviously meant those of mainland Greece.

The whole plan

to gain this

"independence" and create a union

with Greece appeared to have been based solely on the

amendment

of "negative elements" of the Agreements on which the constitution

was based.

The plan to deal with the situation internally was given in detail. The most noticeable point is that the hand of Grivas, the terrorist, was indelibly stamped on the document, at least in my opinion. His memoirs of his years as the EOKA leader were a monument of involved phraseology which, when deciphered, and especially when translated into English, signified little. But all who came into contact with Grivas appear to have been infected with this mania for complicated expression of ideas.

The document

stated

:

"Our

activities in the internal field will

be regulated according to their repercussions, and to interpretations

Harry Scott Gibbons given to them,

85

world, and according to the effect of our

in the

actions on our national cause."

On

mean

analysis of the rest of the plan, this appears to

that

Greek behaviour towards the Turks would depend on outside reaction.

The plan then went back reckoned

that

insurmountable

"the is

only

to

the

danger

Treaty of Guarantee and

be

can

that

described

as

the possibility of intervention by force from

outside," although this, according to the document, should have

been disposed of through the amendment of the "negative" clauses.

The plan came down

to earth again

and reasoned

two things

that

could bring intervention - the declaration of Enosis before the

amendment procedure had succeeded, and "serious intcrcommunal unrest which may be shown as a massacre of Turks." The

plan then detailed the tactics to be followed

in

taking care

of Turkish objections to the constitution amendments. The details are worth giving in full. to

They began reasonably

engage, without provocation,

in

:

"We do

not intend

massacre or attack against the

Turks." After an omitted section,

it

strongly and incite incidents and

bomb

clashes or the

explosions

in

went on, "The Turks can strife,

react

or falsely stage massacres,

order to create the impression that

Greeks attacked the Turks and

that intervention

is

imperative

for their protection."

Therefore, Greek actions were not to take any provocative or

"Any

violent form.

beginning, to a plan.

So

it

incidents that

in a legal

Our

may

take place will be met, at the

fashion by the legal security forces, according

actions will have a legal form."

was believed

that

a massacre of the Turks

acceptable to world opinion provided

example an

official

announcement

course of suppressing of an

it

insurrection

restoring order.

This had to be planned

that

for, too.

would be

had a legal form, for

it

had happened

in

the

against the State and

The Genocide Files

86 "It

however, naive

is,

proceed

to

to believe that

actions

substantial

it

is

amending

for

possible for us to the

Constitution

without expecting the Turks to create or stage incidents or clashes. For

reason

this

Organisation

The methods "If,

the

existence

and

the

strengthening

of

our

imperative."

is

for dealing with the

Turks followed.

as in the case of spontaneous resistance by the Turks, our

counter attack

is

not immediate,

we

run the risk of having a panic

in particular. We will then be danger of losing vast areas of vital importance to the Turks, while if we show our strength to the Turks, immediately and forcefully, then they will probably be brought to their senses and

created

among

the Greeks, in

towns

in

restrict their activities to insignificant isolated incidents."

The document muddled "In the case of a

whether

this

along, with

much

repetition.

planned or unplanned attack by the Turks,

be staged or

not,

it

is

necessary to suppress this

if we manage to become masters of the situation within a day or two, outside intervention would not be possible, probable or justifiable."

forcefully

in

the shortest possible time since,

know how it would have been possible to suppress an was not actually staged. The only conclusion here is that the Greeks would make the attack against the Turks and then claim they were suppressing an attack made by the Turks. Which is, of I

don't

attack that

course, exactly what they did at Christmas, 1963.

The

instructions continued

:-

"The forceful and decisive suppression of any Turkish effort further actions for greatly facilitate our subsequent Constitutional amendments, and it should then be possible to apply these without the Turks being able to show any reaction, because

will

they will learn that

it

is

impossible for them to show any reaction

without serious consequences for their community."

- "We do not intend to engage, without massacre or attack against the Turks" - was completely overturned out by this paragraph.

The

original statement

provocation,

in

The plan now made it clear that the Greeks had made up their that the Turks would react to any attempt to change the Constitution - it would be naive to believe otherwise, the authors minds

Harry Scott Gibbons had stated - and

Turks had

that the

oppose the planned further

The

instructions

be suppressed forcefully and

would be "impossible" amendments.

decisively to such an extent that to

to

87

it

on dealing with the Turks ended

"In the event of the clashes

for

them

:-

becoming widespread, we must be

ready to proceed through actions (a) to (d)" - these merely covered of the "negative elements" of the Constitution -

amendment

the

"including the immediate declaration of Enosis, because then there will

be no need

to wait or

engage

There followed some

in

diplomatic activity."

who

of fellow Greeks

vitriolic criticism

These were described in language that read like a communist manifesto and irresponsible demagogues, false patriotic "reactionaries apparently could be counted on not to join

and

manifestations

They

provocations."

demagogues

irresponsible

and

mad

were

opportunists

negative and anti-progressive elements like

in the plan.

who

attack our leadership

They were "clamorous slogan

dogs..."

and

"petty

unsuccessful,

and

writers"

"unwilling weaklings."

The

rest

of the document dealt with the necessity of passing on verbally, and destroying the

the instructions only

burning "under the personal sub-headquarters and within ten days of

One copy published

A

in the

presence of

all

document by

of the chief of the

members of

the staff

being received."

its

of the document

in Patris

responsibility

was

at least,

not burned, and

was

it

newspaper.

cold and brutal plan,

this,

worthy of Adolf Hitler and

his

Nazis.

And

today one of the

action as

president of

Cyprus and

all

Organisation and

claim

that

men who conceived

Chief of Operations

its

he

its

would

its

is

it

and put

into

it

recognised as the legitimate

people by the United Nations

members who accepted without demur "safeguard

the

reasonable

rights

his

of the

minority," and never asked Glafkos Clerides to explain in detail just

what he meant by "reasonable the past 20-odd years, he rights appear

some

is

special,

rights."

Reading

his statements

quite obviously trying to

some

make

over these

extra, concession to the Turks.

88

The Genocide Files

The West may have bearing It

gifts.

Volume

is in

forgotten the warning to beware of Greeks

But the Turks haven't. 3 of his recent autobiography,

"My

that Clerides introduces his disinformation tactic to

explain "reasonable."

He

Deposition,"

avoid having to

wrote, concerning the breakdown of the

Constitution in 1963: "Just

Greek Cypriot preoccupation was

as the

should be a Greek Cypriot minority,

the

Turkish

state,

that

Cyprus

with a protected Turkish Cypriot

preoccupation

was

to

defeat

any

such

effort..."

This

the

is

first

mention of a "protected Turkish Cypriot

minority" by the Greek Cypriot side and high ideal

the

into

is

intended to inject

Greek position and back date

it

to

some

before

December, 1963.

He goes on, "The conflict, therefore, was a conflict of principle and for that principle both sides were prepared to go on arguing and, if need be, to fight, rather than compromise." This must be one of the most barefaced examples of whitewashing

have read. There was no conflict of I Turks were never given the opportunity to express their principle or discuss a compromise. And the fight, as these pages show, was completely one-sided. The Greeks Pearl Harboured the so-called "protected minority" on December 21, 1963, and have never since expressed any form of regret for the

a loathsome crime that principle, for the

attack.

The

So much

for

Greek "protection."

authenticity of the Akritas Plan has never been denied by the

Greek Cypriot authorities. Author Richard A. Patrick, in his "Political Geography and the Cyprus Conflict," published in 1976, said that Clerides confirmed the Patris story as genuine when he interviewed him in 1971. While the organisation to carry out the Akritas Plan was being Greeks began to put the first part of their plan - to amend the negative part of the Constitution - into action.

built up, the

At the end of October, Glafkos Clerides put out the In

first feeler.

an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he

Harry Scott Gibbons

89

and London Agreements had been accepted

stated that the Zurich

only "as a necessary step to bring about the independence of

Cyprus.

To

look on the Agreements as unalterable would be to

decide that the constitutional and political growth of Cyprus has

been arrested

in its infancy."

October 29, 1963, was the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.

Near the Kyrenia Gate, the Turks unveiled a gift from Ankara a bronze statue of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Speeches were made praising the mainland, and some enthusiasts hauled the blood red flag of Turkey with

its

white crescent and star

up over the Paphos Gate Post Office. It

was pulled down quickly by Greek

staff.

The Akritas organisation noted this, and two days later the Greek language newspaper "Philelefteros" ridiculed the Turkish "threats," and said Greek Cypriots were ready to meet "any attempt against their independence."

The path was being prepared

for the

onslaught.

The plan switched to the United Nations. On November I, Zenon Rossides, the short, voluble, permanent delegate of Cyprus at the U.N., addressed the General Assembly Third Committee on the subject of a declaration that had been passed some time before, the declaration against

all

forms of

racial discrimination.

Referring to Article 7 regarding equal justice for said that separate courts based in

Rossides

all,

on different national descent resulted

unequal justice before the law. Quite blatantly attempting to use the U.N. declaration as a

means

to deprive the

Turks of Cyprus of their 4, which called on

Rossides quoted article

judicial guarantees, all

states

to

take

measures for the revision of their government or other public policy and the annulment of laws and regulations which "effective

have

as

a

result

the

creation

and

perpetuation

of

racial

discrimination, wherever these continue to exist."

His attempt to manipulate this excellent and humane declaration into a legal justification for the

community's guarantee against

removal of the Cypriot Turkish

racial discrimination

was

not lost

)

90 on

The Genocide Files his

and

listeners,

accompaniment of

Rossidcs'

went

speech

the embarrassed shuffling of

down,

many

to

the

feet, like the

proverbial lead balloon.

On November Athens,

Prime

23, the plan received another external blow. In

George

Minister

government and

Papandrcou

stated

that

the

Centre of the Union Party had "no intention of

his

overturning the Zurich and London Agreements on Cyprus."

The Agreements were

"unfortunate," he said, but added, "These

Agreements, however, have created a de facto situation

which should be faced with absolute These two setbacks appear then on matters

moved

to

in

Cyprus

care."

have affected the plan, for from

swiftly to a head, even though the

first and - the amendment of

essential prerequisites for the plan's success

'negative' clauses of the Constitution and the consequent removal of the threat of intervention - were far from being

the

achieved.

On November

30,

proposed amendments

He and

Makarios delivered

his triumvirate possibly

and naive

set

be

to

be abolished. But

of proposals

from the Turkish

Dr.

Kutchuk

his

reasoned that this was disposing

of the "negative" parts of the Constitution,

proposed something

to

to the Constitution, a 13-point paper.

in that

it

in

so far as each point

was

a singularly crude

everything to be removed was

rights.

The separate Greek and Turkish Communal Chambers were to House of abolished, leaving one joint parliament, the

The separate municipalities were to be abolished. The combination of these two could easily have paved the way, depending on the geographic manner the new, joint municipalities were mapped out, to a complete absence of Turkish M.P.s in parliament. Even under the 70/30 ratio, a single parliament would mean the Turks in a permanent minority, which was why the Representatives.

separate

Communal

Constitution in the

Separate

first

Chambers

had

been

drafted

into

the

place.

law courts were to be abolished and the Justice

administration unified. Here, Turks stood a very good chance of

being tried mainly by judges of a different race and religion, a

Harry Scott Gibbons

9/

matter extremely important to the Turks which the Constitution had

foreseen and catered for.

Also

be

to

abolished

were

provisions

Constitutional

the

regarding separate Greek and Turkish majorities for the enactment

of certain laws by the House of Representatives. This meant that

new

laws, or the abolition of existing ones,

simple majority,

The army,

it

in

would be

carried

all

by a

other words, the Greeks.

proportion of Greeks and Turks

was proposed, was

to

in

be altered

public service and the

to the actual population

ratio.

The Constitution allowed 30 per be reserved for Turks, although

cent of public service jobs to

most cases, due

in

qualified persons, the Turks had not attempted to

The Cyprus army Makarios

ratio

and

to the lack fill

of

this quota.

was 60/40.

the

Greek

ministers

claimed

the

Cyprus

population ratio was 82 per cent Greek and 18 per cent Turk. This

amendment would have placed

the

whole Cyprus administration

and the security forces overwhelmingly Furthermore,

it

was proposed

in the

that the

hands of the Greeks.

Greek president and

Turkish vice-president of the House of Representatives be elected

by the house as a whole, and not by the separate communities. The

Turk amenable mind of Makarios.

vision of voting in favour of a "tame"

viewpoint was plainly

in the

to the

Greek

These amendments would have disposed of the Turks as a partner and a legal force of any consequence. the right of veto

But

this

One

point remained,

by the island's Turkish Vice-President.

was not overlooked. An amendment proposed

the vetos

of both the president and vice-president be abolished. With the other

own

amendments

in place,

Makarios could well afford

to lose his

veto.

What had happened to the Makarios plan sent out by Yorgadjis, The amendments, according to that plan, were to be shown as "reasonable and just and safeguard the reasonable rights alias Akritas ?

of the minority."

.

92

The Genocide Files But these amendments proposed the removal of every Turkish so hard won from the British in the years preceding

right

Kutchuk had played

independence. Dr. Fazil

gaining these rights. For fifteen years he had

a

leading role

demanded

in

that the

hand over to the Turkish community the administration of Evcaf - religious Moslem trusts and endowments which later British

played an

important part

in

the

economic development of

the

Cypriot Turks. Legal proceedings were instituted against Kutchuk 47 times by the British, but he

won

his points.

Evcaf and Turkish secondary

schools were handed over gradually, the religious

Moslem

courts

were replaced by the Turkish Family Courts and the office of Mufti, the religious head of the Turks, was revived and eventually put under the control of the Turks.

Greeks had already been enjoying the equivalent of these 57

since the Turkish occupation of the island in

Under

the British administration, the

these rights

- the Turks had

to fight for

1

rights

1

Greeks continued

to

enjoy

them.

When

Enosis became the claim of the Greeks in 1954, Kutchuk Turks fought both the British (non-violently) and the Greeks against it, and again, in the Zurich and London Agreements, won.

and

his

The Cypriot Turks gained no concessions at Zurich and London. The "special" rights given to them as a community had already been won and the Agreements simply confirmed them.

Now Makarios and his gang of three, by pretending these rights were indeed the special gifts of the independence agreements, intended to take them away. For months the proposed amendments, although actual details had been the subject of discussion

had not been spelled out,

between the two sides. The Turks had made it plain that their "rights" were not something Makarios had been forced to agree to in London, and that under no circumstances would they allow to them to be removed.

The subject was still under discussion when Makarios sent the amendments to Kutchuk, submitting copies also to the governments of Britain, Greece and Turkey.

Harry Scott Gibbons

The copy not

to the

Turkish government, he hastened to add, was

purpose of a "positive reply," but merely for

the

for

93

its

information.

Then, on December

Greek plan received a healthy boost. The government collapsed. Ismet Inonu, the 80-year-old premier and avowed supporter of the Turkish Cypriot cause, handed in his resignation. coalition

2, the

Turkish

The Treaty of Guarantee

specified that intervention could take

place only after consultation between Britain, Turkey and Greece, the three guaranteeing powers.

With one of the three powers now

virtually ineffective regarding this consultation,

Makarios probably

concluded the threat of intervention had receded.

The next day, an explosion damaged the base of the statue of Marcos Drakos, an EOKA terrorist killed by the British, which stands in the gardened roundabout at Paphos Gate, just without the Nicosia wall.

Greek reaction was

swift.

The Nicosia Union of ex-EOKA Fighters described the bombing as "a barbarous provocation by the Turkish minority," and told

Greeks

to rely

on

their "national leadership,"

presumably for

revenge.

The

Interior Minister, Yorgadjis, talked equally forcefully.

"The placing of a bomb at the statue of hero Marcos Drakos," he stated, "is a cowardly and barbarous act to be condemned by every civilised and free man."

This was his reaction to the damaging of a

was

shortly to

show

lives, at least not

the

He human

lifeless statue.

that his sentiments did not extend to

those of Turks.

Thousands of Greek students demonstrated bombing.

in

Nicosia against

Twice since independence in 1960, the Bayraktar Mosque in the Greek sector of Nicosia had been damaged by time bombs. The Greek side had accused the Turks of carrying out these bombings in order to raise Turkish feelings against the Greeks.

94

The Genocide Files

Now

it

was

They looked up briefly from amendment proposals to say the Greeks must

the turn of the Turks.

their study of the

have bombed the statue themselves

in

order to

incite

feelings

against the Turks.

The bomb

layer

was never found.

On December

16, the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia passed on to Makarios an outright rejection of his proposals by the interim Turkish government.

But by then, the President's confidence had begun to show. Within hours the Turkish objection was returned as "unacceptable both in wording and content" since it constituted "an interference in the country's internal affairs."

Makarios was well aware

his

proposed amendments would not

be accepted by the Turks, that they would not view them as "reasonable and just"!

The Turks knew that Makarios knew this and wondered at his What they were unaware of, of course, was the "Plan"

motives.

prepared by the Greek side to deal with the Turkish objections.

And

there appears no doubt whatsoever that the President fully believed that his

amendments would appeal

to the outside

world as perfectly

"reasonable and just" and "safeguarding the reasonable rights of the minority" as stipulated in the plan. In his letter to Kutchuk along with the proposed amendments, Makarios demanded that he must have a reply within two weeks. On Thursday, December 19, at the last full, mixed cabinet meeting, the Turkish ministers explained that they did not have their answers ready. They offered to send their reply on Monday December 23.

Makarios, to their surprise, told them, with a smile, not to is plenty of time," he said. "There's no hurry."

worry. "There

The Turks sat down to answer each proposed amendment in what they later said were detailed explanations of why they were forced to repudiate them.

But the Greek side was not worried about the delay in the Turkish reply. They had no intention of waiting for it. Genocide had been planned to begin before December 23.

The following day, December 20, Makarios declared that Greek Cypriots had never ceased to look to Greece as their "mother

Harry Scott Gibbons

95

country," and their links with Greece were "sacred and eternal"

because they were "bonds of blood."

Greek preparations

for the suppression of Turkish objections

were already well underway. Yorgadjis had set up his sub-headquarters throughout the island, the police had received their instructions, and

arms were being

distributed. In addition to the police,

the

tiny

gendarmerie, the Greek elements of

Cyprus army and the expected assistance from the

mainland Greek contingent, Yorgadjis had resurrected the private armies that had operated during

Only hours

after

EOKA

days.

Makarios spoke of the "bonds of blood" with

Greece, without even the pretence of waiting for the Turkish reply

amendment proposals, this volatile, ill-assorted gunmen was unleashed on the unsuspecting Turks. to his

collection of

96

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER NINE During the night of Monday/Tuesday, December 23/24, units of the 950-man mainland Greek army contingent based in Cyprus moved up

to

Omorphita.

They advanced up

to the stretch of

open ground

Turkish defenders. There, only 60 yards away

in front

of the

from the

first

Turkish positions, the mainland Greeks set up their firing posts.

They brought up

When at that

light antiaircraft

machineguns.

dawn came, their uniforms were easily distance. The voices of the officers, calling out the

recognisable their orders,

BBC

were as different from the Greek Cypriot accent as a announcer from London Cockney. The Turks knew now

was

this

realise

though they

part of a well organised plan,

its

that that

did not

still

Greek contingent, Athens government of George

ultimate aim. Seeing the mainland

however, convinced them that the

Papandreou was colluding with Makarios.

The Greeks opened in panic,

The success of

fire.

now. This was no rabble

to

was

limited

while a sniper could take his time and choose his target.

The mainland Greeks were marksmanship was good. It

the Fighters

watch spraying the sky and each other

was

the

turn

trained

and

Their

disciplined.

of the Turks to be pinned down. Turkish

casualties began.

The

first to

die

was Muzaffer Selim,

28, a vegetable seller.

He

had served as an auxiliary policeman with the British colonial administration

during

the

EOKA

terrorist

mainland Greeks grew closer, he was hallway, thinking that

was

As

campaign.

sitting

in

a chair

in

the safest place to avoid the bullets.

the his

He

Ozer Jambaz swears today that EOKA had the names and addresses of all the Turks who had fought against them during the pre-independence terrorist years, whether serving with the British or the TMT, and that they were

was

shot dead through the front door.

now

taking their revenge.

97

Harry Scott Gibbons Turks nearest the attackers were beginning and seek safety

in the heart

to leave their

homes

of Omorphita's Turkish quarter. Ozcr

Jambaz was making his way to safety and Hassan Ruso, a well-known schoolteacher, had just left his house and was some ten yards behind Jambaz when a bullet struck him. He died instantly.

The

idea of small

mainland Greek and Turk army contingents

stationed on the island

was

to

ensure stability by representing two

of the guarantor powers (British troops were already stationed on the island).

There was no question of

their

going into action against

one side or the other except under the the clause which allowed the three guarantor powers to intervene if law and order and the constitution broke

down.

The government of Cyprus had not said this had happened, Greece had not declared it was intervening to put things to right. So it was not legal intervention by one of the guarantor powers. Was it invasion? It could be argued it was not because the Greek mainland contingent was there legally. But the contingent's full-scale military action against the Turkish civilian population was most definitely illegal and, because it was carried out with the knowledge and approval of the Cyprus republic, it was most breach - of the constitution. intents

legally elected president of the

definitely a breach

-

a

most serious

In fact, the constitution had, to all

and purposes from a legal point of view, been overthrown.

Therefore, it is my view that the moment the Greek mainland army contingent fired the shot that killed its first Turkish victim, Turkey was empowered to intervene in Cyprus, send in its army,

and

I

set matters to right.

was up and around

socks

in the

insipid

early

on Tuesday.

I

had washed

my

ancient

handbasin the night before, but the central heating was

and they were only half dry when

I

put

them

on.

I

squelched

downstairs, swallowed a cup of lukewarm coffee provided by a surly waiter

and wandered outside.

The shooting had warmed up with everywhere.

I

the dawn.

Armed men

walked through the narrow lanes and stopped

rushed to look

98 at

The Genocide Files the galvanised tin spire of a minaret in the Turkish quarter, the

only sight of a Turkish building from where

An arm grabbed me and

ground accidentally but painfully voice grated

in

my

me

pulled

stood.

A

doorway.

into a

my

into

I

A

side.

rifle butt

heavily accented

ear.

"Don't stand out there! They are shooting!" I

am

never

at

my

best in the early morning.

I

was

my

feet

under

fire!

cold,

were soggy.

"Who's shooting?" "The Turks! From

They

are rebelling,

I

asked

we

"Oh, for God's sake!"

burst out, and

I

I

this street

are trying to defend...."

wrenching myself away

stepped back into the

street, into the full

silent minaret.

There was no bravado about thin spire.

They have

that minaret.

and

from the restraining arm,

view of the

testily.

There was an iron

this.

railing

I

had carefully studied the

tall

around the muezzin's platform.

Sandbags could have converted it into a sniper's nest, but there were no sandbags. In full view of the Greeks, no sniper could have lasted a

minute exposed there. The

street

Voices called out warnings as

was

not under

At

away.

strode

I

fire.

least

I

attempted to stride away purposefully. But the effect was mitigated

somewhat by my appearance. The collar of my thin jacket was turned up, my head was buried in it, my hands were deep in my trouser pockets and inside

in,

my

my

feet,

encased

wet socks, slithered around

in

lightweight shoes.

The Cyprus Mail offices were silent. A sleepy watchman let me I examined the news agency material that had come over the

and

teleprinters during the night.

World

attention

had

focussed

on

Cyprus.

There

were

consultations taking place in London, Athens and Ankara, but details of the fighting itself

were sparse, and there was

a

vagueness

about what was really happening. I

sat

down

to try to

work

it

all

out.

three days there had been shooting,'

sporadic.

What

I

knew was

that for

sometimes heavy, sometimes

Harry Scott Gibbons

99

There had been an unknown number of deaths and an unknown

number of

injured.

The Greek version was that the Turks had rebelled against the government and were attacking the police and innocent bystanders. This

knew was

I

untrue.

The Turks were besieged

quarter of the walled city by several thousand

armed

in

civilians.

their

The

Greeks maintained the rebellion was being countered by the "security forces." These civilians were not members of the security forces. If

the Turks had rebelled, they

would have moved out of

their

quarter and attempted to take over the rest of the city. This they had not done.

The

trouble

was over

the proposed Constitutional

amendments.

That was obvious. But there was no evidence whatsoever that the

Turks had gone on a shooting rampage or begun the violence protest.

the

Even the Greek

Turkish

in

authorities gave no specific indication of

crimes that could

have justified such a massive

retaliation.

The conclusion

was

the Greeks had tried them an excuse to clamp down on the minority and presumably deprive them of any opportunity to oppose the amendments. But had the Turks taken the bait and allowed themselves to be provoked? From what had seen

therefore

that

deliberately to provoke the Turks to give

I

What did appear to be happening, if my provocation theory were true, was that the Greeks had a plan and they were going ahead with it whether or not it was

and heard so

working out After

in

my

from exile

far, this

proper sequence.

first

in

hadn't been the case.

meeting with Makarios

the Seychelles

I

in

Athens

had decided

that

after his return

he was not a

man, but a cunning one, a man who was using the weaknesses of others against them.

particularly intelligent skillful at

But why the amount of firepower directed against a vastly outnumbered foe? Considering that the Greeks were presenting

and their actions as "preserving the peace," why were they so obviously carrying the fight into the other camp and their case as "just,"

blatantly ignoring the ceasefire calls?

WO

The Genocide Files

Did the Greeks believe that their claims they were saving the from rebellion would outweigh the facts as presented

island

through the eyewitness accounts of foreign journalists, and that could

they

secure

the

amendments through,

surrender

the matter

Turks and

of the

would quickly

push

if

the

lose the world's

and the Turkish plight would be forgotten? This would be typical of the Makarios cunning. attention

Or the matter had got completely out of hand and Makarios was genuine in his ceasefire calls, but Yorgadjis and his police were allowing the young gunmen to slake their thirst for blood oblivious doubted this, for Makarios was any need for justification? always the man in charge and the spilling of innocent blood had never upset him in the past.

to

I

third possibility was that this was all a prearranged plan and Greeks were actually bent on exterminating the Turks and establishing a de facto one hundred per cent Greek nation.

The

the

The

was

possibility

last

intriguing.

If

actions similar to the Nicosia onslaught

were the case, then it would surely be taking

place throughout the island.

But so

far the

Greeks were maintaining

fighting within the Nicosia walls, the island

returned to the Regina Palace

I

around the

island.

I

tried

that,

apart

from the

was calm.

and started phoning Famagusta, Kyrenia and

Hotel

Limassol,

Paphos, the main towns outside the capital.

1

spoke

to the

main

police stations and municipal offices. I

was informed by Greeks

that all

was

quiet and peaceful in

their areas. In Limassol,

agreements

in

Famagusta and Kyrenia,

I

was

told,

there

were

operation between the two sides that neither would

molest the other. Larnaca, a ceasefire had been arranged. In Paphos, the police

In

said, there I

had been no trouble.

attempted to speak to Lefka, a mainly Turkish town

northwest, but

was

told

by the operator

that the line

in

the

was out of

order.

The other correspondents were phoning with the same results. seem that the fighting was confined to Nicosia.

certainly did

It

Harry Scott Gibbons

The Turkish were as much

J 01

leaders in the beleaguered part of the walled city

in the

dark as

we

were.

Cut off completely by phone, they had no idea what was happening in the rest of the country. Just outside the city to the

Omorphita was being blasted by an army of civilians and was sealed off. There was no communication from the other suburbs. north,

regular troops, but the road to Nicosia

The

foreign press were not only cut off from the Turkish quarter

of Nicosia by the shooting, but were prevented from visiting the

suburbs by gangs of armed men.

seems odd now, looking back,

It

that several

journalists failed to find out exactly

we were cooped up by

time. But

of the

part

city,

our only link

menacing guns

the to

night.

in

at the

one small

the outside world being the

teleprinter in Jacko's office to the Post Office,

CYTA

dozen experienced

what was happening

CYTA.

had already been taken over by Greek gunmen on Sunday

Some

of

its

Turkish personnel on duty then are

still

missing.

Our only sources of information were Greek, and they all said same thing - a rebellion was being put down by the legal forces of the state, the rest of the island was quiet. the

I

It

still

was

had not figured just what the Greek plan was.

at

some

point

during the

morning of Christmas Eve,

Tuesday, December 24, 1963, that Nahide Oden, born and raised

Omorphita, remembers hearing the yelling and screaming. of Greeks

was on

the

She went outside

way to

to

massacre them

in

An army

all.

look for her parents and saw people running

past her house, carrying babies and small children and whatever

possessions they had grabbed as they fled their homes.

"Run, run!" they shouted

at

her as she stood there dazed. "The

Greeks are here!" "I

knew killed

was absolutely terrified," she told me over 30 years later. "I the fighting was getting worse and that people were being and many were wounded, but we kept hearing about

102

The Genocide Files

ceasefires and

we were hoping

time. But instead of ending,

that the shooting I

was suddenly

would stop

in

at

any

the middle of a

There was shooting all around us. People were running past me, heading for the centre of Omorphita. The noise was awful. battle.

When

people saw

me

standing there, paralysed with fear, they kept

shouting, 'Hurry, run! You'll be killed.'

1958,

"In

EOKA

shot

to

my

death

uncle,

Mustapha

Ali

wounded his wife. Their small son was blinded by the gunshots. That was five years earlier, and now they were coming back to kill me, too. Yorganji, and

"I saw a neighbour's daughter, Sibel, two and a half, wandering around helplessly, and, without thinking what was doing, grabbed her, slung her under my arm, and started to run with the crowds. The shooting never stopped. I ran blindly. had no idea I

I

I

where where

was going, where the crowds were going. didn't know my parents were. was in a blind panic, just trying to outrun I

I

I

the bullets."

Somewhere along

that terror-stricken

photograph of her and, carrying the child

girl

like

Nahide Oden,

in the

route,

someone took

has survived. She

it

is

a

the

centre of the photo on the front of the

dust cover of this book. "I

never saw anyone taking pictures.

I

know

don't even

the

other people in the picture."

That

photograph,

many

like

taken

during

massacres, has been published around the world. writer

who managed

to track

down Nahide Oden and

Christmas

the I

am

the only

get her story.

She remembers arriving at a big house round which the crowds were gathering, and there she found her parents.

They

man called home with the others. An eyewitness The old man was saying his prayers.

told her that a neighbour of theirs, an old

Hajjidede, refused to leave his

saw

the

Greeks

arrive.

"They shot him, then hacked off

Today Nahide Oden

is

a

his

head with a machete!"

widow and

a grandmother.

son and two daughters, the son and one daughter living

Nahide

is

she ran from the Greek guns.

England.

Chamber of Commerce. She day before Christmas, 1963, when

the tea lady at the Nicosia

will never forget that day, the

She has a

in

Harry Scott Gibbons

"How birthday.

I

can

I

was

15."

ever forget.

At the Greek flour

mill, the

It

J 03

was December

Greek

militias

24.

It

had cut off the western

suburbs of Ortakoy and Gonyeli from Nicosia with their

"A group of

was my

firing.

TMT men were ordered to get the Greeks

five of us

out and open the road," Vural Turkmen, an engineer aged 29 time, told me.

"Unknown

to us, the

at the

Greeks had actually taken the

itself. So on the way to the Greek force which had come to

area between the flour mill and Nicosia

we were ambushed by

mill

Kumsal from

the racecourse area."

Three of the five were remembers their names.

"The

a

dead

were

schoolteacher - his

and two wounded. Turkmen

killed

Aziz,

name was

a

bookshop

later

owner,

Tunjay,

a

given to his school to honour

him - and Muhip, an ironmonger. Yilmaz Bora, a I were wounded."

civil

The next morning, Christmas Day, the Greeks The Turks recovered their dead and wounded.

servant and

fled

their

positions.

In

Omorphita, the Greek shooting intensified.

"We

heard a mainland Greek, presumably an officer, shouting,

Advance, you bunch of faggot!'" Jambaz

was obvious

recalls. "It

they had Greek Cypriots with them and were trying to get them to fight.

These certainly had

a reputation for shooting

unarmed and

defenceless people, but they were less than enthusiastic about a frontal attack against

armed men,

as these mainland

Greeks were

discovering."

One

of

the

private

armies

Himmler-like Minister of the

controlled

Interior,

was

by led

Yorgadjis,

the

by a young

EOKA

man

in the

man, Nicos Sampson.

Sampson was twenty-one when he back.

shot his

first

The Genocide Files

104

He was born Nicos Georghiades, in

Famagusta

1956 was

to

commission agent

the son of a

1935.

1953, he took a course

In

1954

in

journalism

in

London, and from

in

language "Times

a correspondent of the English

of Cyprus," which ceased operations after independence. Sampson, a

name

had

he

given

was

himself,

ostensibly

EOKA

photographer/reporter. In fact, he joined

freelance

a

and became the

head of the "Nicosia Assassination squad."

EOKA,

memoirs, Grivas, the head of

In his

with

credits this

squad

around 20 killings of Britons and Greek "collaborators."

Attributed to

Sampson himself were

six or seven murders, all his

Sampson boasted

victims being shot in the back. Later,

in his

own

newspaper, Makhi, that he had killed 27 people. Efficient and cold-blooded though he

was

endowed with an overdose of

not

When bar

where Sampson was

were wondering how he managed so often

visitor,

the scene of a killing with his camera.

himself. that

as a killer,

was

The

was

It

his

this desire to gain glory in

British Special at

being

first

on

course, the killer

a hotshot

Branch watched him, and

tommygun

newsman

to

January, 1957,

a technicality

and a half years

which

because

later,

of

he

the

10 miles

was

sent for

his

lawyer seized upon, he

escaped the death penalty, and was sent to prison

given

in

beside him.

Arrested, he confessed readily, and

amnesty

frequent

a

be the

night in a house at Dhali village

outside Nicosia, with a

But due

He was, of

to

undoing.

he was surprised

Two

Sampson

visited Nicosia in late 1956, the correspondents in the

I

the Ledra Palace Hotel,

at

was

intelligence.

was

trial.

in Britain.

released under a general

independence

agreement,

and

returned to Cyprus a hero.

When the

now

the former

EOKA

men were

receiving their prizes from

President Makarios, most of them, like Yorgadjis, settled

plum government jobs. Sampson chose to be rewarded with a newspaper of his own. He called it Makhi (meaning combat), and

for

in the

beginning, with

circulation

competed

its

anti-western slant,

with

the

it

Communist

was so popular daily,

its

Haravghi.

Harry Scott Gibbons Sampson's murder reminiscences sold

105

well, but by

December

1963,

the circulation had dropped.

Although quite a success

Makhi

relied

in whipping up Greek emotions, on sensational, highly inaccurate "scoops." was one I

of these.

When was expelled from Lebanon, wanted to fly to Cyprus phone my office in London to explain the situation out of earshot of the Lebanese telephone censor (whose existence was officially denied, of course). But it was only when had boarded at Beirut I

I

to

I

that

I

learned the plane had only pickup and no unloading (of

passengers) rights

From

at

Nicosia airport, so

the airport transit lounge

asked them,

my

if

I

had

to continue to Athens.

office called me, to

tell

them where

I

learned of this - presumably through

Sampson

contact - and the following day his

I

phoned the Ledra Palace Hotel and

I

was.

some

hotel

received a nice "spy" headline

in

newspaper.

According

to

Sovereign Bases

Makhi, in the

I

was

From there, had crossed was not revealed. I

I

a spy operating out of the British

south of the island. secretly to

was apparently captured by

deported.

I

had then

tried

me

entry.

authorities refused

When

to

told this later to the

I

Espionage

in

Lebanon

to

spy - on what

the Lebanese security police and

land

in

Nicosia but the Cyprus

Lebanese security, they chuckled.

Lebanon could well have meant

the death penalty.

After the Christmas War, Sampson, true to form, published his

memoirs doubt

it

Makhi. They may have read well

in

- but

in

Greek - though

I

translated into English, they appeared the boastings

of an essentially juvenile mind. The literary style was appalling and the facts

were never allowed

to get in the

way

of the story.

Another Greek newspaper -

member of

the

"Agon" (struggle), run by a House of Representatives promptly called Sampson

a liar and published

its

own

version of his narcissistic "heroism."

But Sampson's stories produced some interesting revelations.

One was

that

Sampson was

a psychopathic murderer.

106

The Genocide Files

Another was that the Greek mainland army contingent based in Cyprus not only took active part in the attack against the Turks - a fact at the time known only to the Turks - but helped to direct it, and trained the private armies of Sampson and others.

On

Christmas Eve, Sampson was ordered

despite

memoirs

vainglorious

his

to

describing

conqueror of Omorphita, he never got there. At the Fighters had gone.

Omorphita. But himself

as

the

least not until all

Carloads of Greek reinforcements were pouring into Nicosia. This did

seem

to

prove that the

rest

of the island was quiet.

What had happened was that the Greek plan had started to go in his war memoirs, admits that by Tuesday "the situation was going against the Greeks."

haywire. Sampson,

The

story

was making headlines throughout

the world, Britain,

Greece and Turkey were demanding a ceasefire, and Turkey was reported to be preparing her fleet for sea. In

fact,

during the

Monday

night,

the

reported just off Kyrenia on the north coast. lights

the

It

invasion

fleet

was

turned out to be the

of a passing freighter.

The Greeks were throwing everything they had at the Turks, but main resistance centres of Nicosia and Omorphita still stood

firm.

The only successes in the

to date had been murder, looting and arson suburbs and outlying villages. The Turks were far from being

crushed.

Time was running

In the other

political

out.

main towns, Greek

police, municipal chiefs

and

leaders met, on instructions from Yorgadjis, with their

Turkish counterparts. They proposed non-aggression pacts. The Turks, not knowing what was happening to their people in and

around Nicosia, accepted. No-man's lands were agreed upon. a

Greek

It

was

gift.

The Greek

private armies

were then

free to rush to Nicosia to

take part in the genocide.

During the morning, a Bren gun opened up from the roof of the Cyprus Mail. Facing it across the office car park was the side of a

Harry Scott Gibbons

107

two-storey house sporting a large metal advertisement

of clear

for,

if

I

Coca Cola. Above the plaque was a vast expanse blue sky. The wall of that house took an awful beating.

remember

rightly,

Because the

letter

C

in

American

Turkish

is

pronounced

The Turks laughed,

that drink Joja Jola.

J,

often used to call

I

Greeks

the

The

didn't.

my humour

journalists smiled, the English ones thought

rather beneath them.

Armed men paced Jacko.

I

asked him

the

rooms of

was an embarrassment to him, strongly criticising Greek actions.

He wouldn't admit try to

CYTA

use the

the Mail.

especially

was

but

this,

had a chat with

foreign journalists

most of us were

as

when

relieved

my

and not have

for cabling

I

many

the presence of so

if

said

I

would

I

stories sent via

onward transmission

his teleprinter to the Post Office for

to

my

London paper. I

gathered

my

typewriter and camera, reversed the car out of the

park - under the bullets that were pulverizing Joja Jola - and drove

over the empty moat I

came

along

to the

Egypt

Petrol

man

roundabout

Homer Avenue. The

at

where

Street

Telegraph Office

Metaxas Square.

at

(CYTA) was

from

one of the drums. The barrel of

a

his

window and waved. The gun

the road.

I

gun poked out

still

I

me

stared at

at

me.

want

to

I

stopped.

put a hand out of

from

thirty feet.

Two

I

other

and dropped to one knee, sighting along submachine guns. raised my hands and called

into sight

the barrels of their out, "I

An armed

slowed.

opened the car door, stepped out and walked forward.

gunmen sprang

and

shop doorway and leapt behind

For a few minutes there was silence. Finally the

Cable

situated.

drums were parked across

in a dirty raincoat ran

right fork led

main

sandbagged

the

go

From behind

I

to the

CYTA."

his

oildrum,

the

answered, "You cannot go there. There

Before he could "Okay," and keeping

man is

in

the

dirty

raincoat

fighting!"

tell

me

my

hands well clear of

about the Turkish rebellion,

the car and drove back to the Regina hotel.

my

I

said,

sides, returned to

108

The Genocide Files

From

phoned the Ledra Palace Hotel and asked for When he came on the line, explained the and asked him to do something. there

situation

"Don't

thanked

I

I

Mr.

worry,

everything. Call

and

I

barman.

Stelios, the

me back

God

for

set out for a tour

Gibbons," in half

he

said,

shall

"I

arrange

an hour."

one cool, calm and collected Greek Cypriot,

of the

battle.

Ledra Street was Nicosia's main shopping centre.

runs

It

in

a

from Metaxas Square to almost the centre of the city. It ends at the junction of Paphos Street and Arasta Street where the Turkish sector begins. Because the end of Ledra Street is an angled T, no one standing in the street could actually see into the Turkish area. straight line for nearly half a mile

Ledra Street was known as "Murder Mile" during

EOKA

days

because of the numbers of Britons killed while shopping there. For cannot understand why these Britons, mostly the life of me I

servicemen, continued to go there, or for that matter, authorities.

was

not put out of

why

the street, the

bounds by the

But they kept going, and kept getting

whole area

British military

killed.

became a bustling, friendly place. Narrow - it was one-way - and crowded on each side with shops large and small, traffic had to pick its way painfully through the dawdling shoppers and window gazers who preferred In the

years after independence, Ledra Street

centre of the

the

road to the bicycle

strips

littered

of raised

pavements.

With

preferential

predominate

in

Commonwealth import

Cyprus.

tariffs,

Some Lebanese and

cheaper to pay the return fare to Nicosia and shop than

in their

own

ultra-expensive countries.

British

Israelis

And

in

goods

found

it

Ledra Street

the Ledra Street

merchants liked to bargain. never cared for Despite my many years in the Middle East, market haggling. All the tourist brochures tell you it's great fun, and you can beat the tradesmen down, and besides, they enjoy it, I

too.

Well, of course they enjoy it, fleecing the stupid foreigner. If they ask, say, ten pounds, dollars, whatever, and the cost to a local

Harry Scott Gibbons

109

is one, and you beat them down to five, you arc supposed to go away delighted you only paid half. And the salesman is delighted,

you have just paid five times the value. Inglcezc stoopid, American stoopid, he tells his wife as he buys her a new condominium. could never see any fun for me in that. And, with for

1

his is

Levantine colouring, features and mentality, the Greek Cypriot

very

much

a full cousin of the Mediterranean Arab.

Ledra Street enjoyed a brief few years of affluence. Then the

gunmen moved

in again,

Christmas Eve, in the

and when

gazed down

I

length that

its

could see were twin rows of closed shops with

I

houses above, old

their shuttered

wafting

all

of discarded wrapping paper

bits

pale winter breeze, and dust motes from the unswept

street sparkling in the late

morning sun.

White messages sprayed on the insides of shop windows wished

me

a

Happy Christmas.

Little

Christmas trees from the government

plantations gazed out forlornly, toy trains and trucks received no

excited pawings, and red-haired dolls with blue eyes and frilly

dresses stared blankly at the

Then

I

saw

the

empty

human

street.

They stood huddled

inhabitants.

doorways, whispering, an occasional head darting out direction of the Turkish quarter

and snatched back

to

in

look in the

to shelter,

black

haired hands caressing triggers, the brief flare of a nervous puff at a cigarette; eyes glittering with adrenalin, darting

everywhere

like

trapped foxes. I

walked slowly down the middle of the

round

my

neck. Slowly, for

I

street,

my

camera

didn't like the look of those nervous

trigger fingers.

The doorway occupants watched me turnoff at Alexander the Great Street,

English, I

"Look

leapt

into

out!

the

silently.

then

I

reached the

someone

yelled

in

Get under cover!" nearest shop doorway, colliding with three

young men holding automatic rifles. pushed behind the guns and stood with my back to the glass door, where a sign hung inside saying "Closed" in Greek and English. 1

110

The Genocide Files I

waited for the shooting,

one does when faced with

my

eyes screwing up instinctively as

camera, or a gun

a flash

flash,

but

nothing happened.

my

examined

I

dressed

lounge

in

Automatically,

companions. They were

glanced

I

their

in

teens,

two

the third wearing a sweater and slacks.

suits,

at

They wore pointed shoes

their feet.

with raised heels. Their hair was carefully groomed, thick

at the

neck, the hairline an inch above the eyebrows.

Country boys they

at

look alike

all

school

in the

big city, or merely big city spivs,

Eastern Mediterranean.

in the

They were panting with what

took to be eagerness. Then

I

smelt them —the acrid stench of fear. These young

I

gunmen were

terrified!

Holding them called

my

breath

after

me,

I

pushed past them out

"It's

dangerous!

Come

At the next junction, Pygmalion

into the street.

One

of

back!"

squad of toughs

a

Street,

stepped out and stopped me. The leader, standing about five foot

was

ten,

T-shirt,

incredibly broad shouldered. In his late twenties, he

massive

his

biceps

rippling

as

toyed

he

wore

a

with

his

my

job,

submachinegun. I

faced a barrage of questions.

why was I

I

answered carefully, keeping

Then he Turks.

I

Who was

I,

what was

there.

told

me

I

my

eyes on his hard brutal face.

could go no further.

I

was

danger from the

in

pointed out that the Turks couldn't even see

positions. In reply,

I

me from

their

received a lecture about the iniquities of the

Turks, chanted like a child's newly learned nursery rhyme.

The

Terrible

Turks were

rebelling,

they

were

massacring

innocent civilians, the Greek people of Cyprus had united to put

down

this threat to their

sovereignty and independence.

more, the Turks had always lived

who

in

What was

peace with their Greek brothers

had always shown them love and affection and wanted to help

them because they were backward and the Greeks were Christian and wanted

to fulfil their Christian duty to their neighbours, but the

Turks did not appreciate rebelled and

wanted

this

to take

magnificent gesture and instead had

over the whole island and

1

Harry Scott Gibbons I

was glassy-eyed by

now and

then as though

this time, but

in

agreement.

I

1 1

took pains to nod every

If that

man were

to smell,

he

would smell nasty and vicious. Eventually, he ended so

him and

pictures of

The

wrestler's

and the

asked him

arm suddenly stopped

black eye

evil

I

if

I

could take some

his fighters.

in

its

fiddling with the

puny gun

snout peered unwinkingly

at

my

stomach.

"No photographs," he commanded. looked around him and said, "You can

He

turned on his heel and walked

I

reslung

my

camera.

He

come with me." down Ledra

Street, his

gang

of six tough youths following, lengthening their strides to keep up

with their leader, pistols on hips, guns swinging

in their

glancing from side to side, tight-faced and tight-lipped

hands, in

best

Hollywood fashion. Just before the crossing at Iphaestos Street and Hermes Street where the Turkish sector began, the muscle man stopped and shouted instructions to a group of armed men sheltering in the

shuttered entrance to a small covered market.

Then he turned photographs!"

to

And

me. "You can stay here

he stalked back up the

if

you wish. But no

street, his

admiring band

dancing attendance. I

stood on the pavement watching them depart and had a

grandstand view of the pantomime.

About

fifty

of the street,

yards away, they

some

suddenly dashed to either side

all

flattening themselves against the shop

windows,

others dropping to one knee, their guns raised, pinched faces hard against the butts, eyes squinting along the barrels, facing back over

my

head towards the invisible Turks.

They held this pose for several minutes, then, at a spoken command, they relaxed and walked back into the centre of the street and continued away from the battle. It reminded me agony on the pitch until

This act was repeated several times on the way. of the injured footballer

who

threshes

the medical attendant rushed up.

in

A moment

later

he

is

up and

The Genocide Files

112

leaping back to his position to the accompaniment of the cheers of the admiring crowd.

There were no admiring crowds

there.

Only

me. I

tried to

walk the

Hermes

Street,

past

refused to allow

So

me

after a cigarette,

Back

at the

me

told

to I

few yards

last

but

my

move anywhere

Regina Hotel,

I

CYTA

his

my

to the Ledra.

car number, and

I

who

He The armed men would be safe.

ignored me, then up to

slowed down, stopped opposite the sandbags on the porch and got out.

filled

merry apes.

working hard.

drove past the oildrum attendants,

CYTA.

the

except back up Ledra Street.

called Stelios at the Ledra Palace.

I

en route had been notified of Stelios had been

Turkish positions just

man and

followed muscle

could cross past the

I

to the

fellow occupants of the doorway

I

An armed policeman

stood

the

at

door

six foot wall of

sheltered

sandbags. Half a dozen civilians raised their guns as

I

by

They had several days of blue jowl on their faces. smiled and "Good morning, gentlemen," but no one answered. I

I

walked past them

One of

the civilians

counter to send a cable to

to the

came up

me, laying

to

his rifle

quite deliberately across part of the cable pad

"You had

better

move your

I

my

said,

office.

on the counter,

was working

car," he said. "It is

the

approached.

on.

dangerous out

in

front." I

smiled again.

I

finished

my

I

would move

At the doorway,

out.

in a

it

telegram, handed I

I

it.

I

had asked for money

to

it

minute.

over to the clerk and walked

turned round.

snatched the cable and was reading out of

it

The

gunman had hope he got a kick me.

talkative

avidly.

be cabled to

I

turned into the Ledra entrance and drove to the side of the

four-storey brownstone building to park. I

walked round

As war

I

pushed

?" four

in noisily,

dark young

shouting out cheerily, "Hi! How's the

men

near the elevator and sprang ballet

door and was almost shot.

to the front

dancers through the

in civilian

at

air,

dress whirled round from

me. The two leading ones leapt like landing one on either side, about six

Harry Scott Gibbons away, on one knee,

feet It

just like the

must have been part of

My

shot

morons,

me

doubled

my

had seen

it's

moment he saw

sentence

in

air

me!" or something

that

in

Ledra

street.

An

awful spasm of

up.

hands into the

When

At face.

I

their basic training.

smile vanished as bolts clicked loudly.

fear almost I

ones

113

and yelled "Don't shoot, you bloody like that.

Stelios appeared, a

me

welcoming smile on

his

transfixed in the doorway, he snapped a

Greek, and the

again, and reluctantly the

gunmen

He

relaxed.

two near me rose

them They just

talked to

to their feet.

hated to give up that pose. Stelios

shook

my

hand and

who

and small boys

led

me

into the bar.

I

cursed

all

guns

played with them. Stelios chuckled like a

vampire as he poured a drink. "Don't worry, don't worry," he said.

"I'll

see they don't shoot

you."

He explained

the hotel

was on

the front line and that the roof

was occupied. Across the moat,

a

couple of hundred yards away, the row of

shuttered houses in Tanzimat Street stood silently. I

booked myself

a

room, ordered a club sandwich and

sat in the

bar to eat.

On my I

little

tour that morning, and in entering the Ledra Hotel,

had learned something about the Greek gunmen. They were

absolutely terrified of the Turks.

Some

time

that

afternoon,

Christmas

Eve,

the

21

Turkish

in-patients in Nicosia General Hospital disappeared.

An

eye-witness, a non-Cypriot nurse, said later that a group of

armed Greeks went through the wards asking

for

the Turkish

patients.

Many were

recovering from surgical operations. The

gunmen

pulled back the blankets and sheets and ripped off the bandages.

114

The Genocide Files

While the patients screamed or fainted, the newcomers blandly remarked that they were acting on information that the patients were concealing weapons beneath their bandages.

The 21 were taken away and never seen their fate until

A

again.

I

did not learn of

later.

Turkish matron Turkan Aziz was called to the

later,

little

phone

25 years

home.

in the nurses'

Makarios spoke

to her.

have you sent to the Ledra Palace Hotel," he said without preliminaries. "You will be safe there." "I

will

The matron refused. "Take us to the Turkish High Commission" she countered.

quarter, or to the

British

The President

A

little later

cajoled, the matron refused. Makarios

is

a

up.

shooting broke out

The nurses rushed "There

hung

to the

in the grounds of the hospital. door of the home. A gunman told them,

Turk on the hospital roof!"

The men on the ground fired upwards. Whoever was on the roof It was some time before the truth was discovered. There

fired back.

were Greeks on the

roof, not Turks.

But several Greeks had been

seriously injured in the shooting.

Turkish families began moving from the suburbs into the protection of Nicosia's ancient walls. In the

suburb of Chaglayan, just northeast of the walls, where were squeezed into the few houses by the

over 600 Turks

Famagusta Road and cornered by rifle fire from the block of police word went round that the mainland Greek army contingent

flats,

was moving

in their direction.

They gathered

all

the cars they could and piled

in,

leaving

all

convoy, they slowly moved round the north of the wall, ragged lines of men women and children walking on either side of the cars, and reached the Kyrenia their

possessions behind. Then,

in

Gate safely. Passing by the newly erected statue of Ataturk, the taken to shelter, the erecting barricades.

men were

put to

work

filling

women were

sandbags and

Harry Scott Gibbons

J

Their flight to safety was ignored by the mainland Greeks,

were

at

time

that

heading

into

Omorphita,

to

the

15

who

north

of

Chaglayan, on their way to reinforce their advance units there and to help extricate

Nicos Sampson,

army had managed lines there. Or so he Brigadier

later

General

commander of

the

who

with

some of

his private

to get himself trapped just inside the

Turkish

claimed.

George

tripartite

Perides,

the

mainland

Greek

headquarters which controlled the

Greek and Turkish mainland contingents and the Cyprus army (the in the Cyprus Army

Turkish contingent and Turkish Cypriots

having already quit) was by that time co-ordinating the Greek attacks.

The Turks of Chaglayan were lucky

to escape.

116

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER TEN At 2.30 pm, a ceasefire meeting was held

at

the

Paphos Gate police

station. It

was attended on

the

Greek

side by Makarios, Yorgadjis and

Clerides.

On the Turkish side, Dr. Kutchuk, the Vice-President, was accompanied by Osman Orek and the other two Turkish Ministers. The U.S. Ambassador and the acting British High Commissioner were also there, with their respective military attaches. The bargaining was intense. Finally Makarios agreed The communique read

call for a ceasefire.

to a joint

:

"The President and Vice-President appeal to Greeks and Turks an end to the violence now taking place and to cease fire

to put

immediately. "At 4 p.m. today, the President of the House of Representatives,

Mr. Glafkos Clerides, and the Minister of Defence, Mr.

Osman

Orek, accompanied by police units composed of Greek and Turkish Cypriots

equal numbers, will

in

visit the

areas in Nicosia where

make arrangements on the spot and wounded and for relief provisions.

fighting has been taking place to the removal of the sick

"They

will also install police units of

Cypriots in equal numbers

at

for

armed Greek and Turkish

each point from where firing has been

taking place. "In the meantime, the President and Vice-President are setting up a committee of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in equal numbers, together with independent experts to advise the committee, for the

purpose of securing fully the observance of the ceasefire and the return to normality."

The agreement was never put into effect. While the statements were being rushed to the radio station to be broadcast in Greek and Turkish, the Greek commander of police, Charalambous Hassapis, was arms

called in to the meeting and asked to to

be

supplied

to

the

Turkish

make arrangements policemen

for

who would

Harry Scott Gibbons

1

accompany Clerides and Orek and take over positions from

17

the

civilians.

Hassapis replied that he was unable to do distributed

the

all

arms

at

this, as

his disposal to the

he had already

Greek police and

security forces.

The

"security forces,"

it

moment

were the thousands of young

transpired,

civilians recruited in the capital

and neighbouring towns and

at that

the ones launching the attack against the Turks.

How

could arrangements be

made

to

disarm civilians

who

were,

according to the Greek-run Ministry of the Interior, not civilians but special police?

Yorgadjis sat expressionless, his thoughts concealed behind his thick glasses and bland,

brown

visage.

His Beatitude slowly stroked his beard, watching the Turks

Then he

closely.

left

was

before the discussion

over, saying he had

other engagements.

Once

again, Makarios had

shown

ceasefire call by Makarios

The tour by was "postponed." The

his insincerity.

Clerides and Orek never took place -

it

was broadcast only once and then by an

announcer. Kutchuk's message was broadcast every half hour

in

Turkish.

The Turks, knowing they were outmanoeuvercd, shrugged and left.

,

On

the roof of the Cornaro Hotel, from the Nicosia Club and

from the Severis flour

mill,

Greeks opened

fire

on the Turkish

quarter of Kumsal, northwest of the walls and prepared for the

evening attack on foot.

between the two factions in Nicosia, the young Greek men with guns indulged in a new frenzy of shooting. All along the dividing line

The Turkish hopes day

that

were

Commander to his

that the ceasefire

finally

dashed

when

might somehow be applied the

Nicosia

Divisional

of Police, Michalakis Pantelides, spoke on the phone

Turkish deputy, Kazim Nami.

According

to

Nami, Pantelides

told

him

:

118

The Genocide Files

"Archbishop Makarios has directed

that

we

should take police

cars through the capital and

Turks

announce over loudspeakers to the Greek police cars would soon be going round the

that

Turkish quarter asking the people

to surrender unconditionally.

you do not" he added, "an 20,000 Turks will be annihilated!" "If

all-out attack will follow

The census population of Turks

in

Nicosia

that time

at

and

was

20,000.

The Makarios

interpretation of "ceasefire" appeared to be

mass

murder!

As

happened, Greek police cars did not tour the Turkish

it

quarter, but the attempt to carry out the death threat

was

certainly

made.

Dr. Fazil Kutchuk

He

was born

studied medicine

at

in

Nicosia

Istanbul

in

1906, the son of a farmer.

University and completed his

studies at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Later he

specialised in pathology in Lausanne and Paris and returned to

Nicosia

in

1938.

Kutchuk started his political career when still a 1946 established the first Turkish trade union on organised

various

associations.

professional

He had been

establishments

publishing his

student, and in

the island and into

own newspaper,

separate

"Halkin

Sesi" (Voice of the People), since 1941. In 1959, he signed the

independence Agreements on behalf of the Turkish community, and was elected unopposed as the first Vice-President of Cyprus.

Back

in the

Turkish quarter on Christmas Eve, Kutchuk drove

Kyrenia Gate and up Kyrenia Avenue into At the office of his newspaper, above which private house, the Vice-President turned left down a narrow

into Nicosia through the

the centre of the city.

was

his

lane to the large

The

first

empty

lot

behind.

The fresh clean smell of newly As Kutchuk watched, the sound stones rang out as another grave was dug.

mounds were

there.

turned earth hung on the crisp

of spades striking

He turned and began men cradling shotguns in

air.

his rounds.

Men

their arms.

Women

saluted him, unshaven

clutched his sleeve,

9

Harry Scott Gibbons

11

asking for news of their husbands, sons and relatives, asking for

news of

their children.

Kutchuk,

burrowed

head bowed,

his

his

way through

the

crowds, shaking a hand here, patting a shoulder there.

He had no news of relatives, he had He had no food to distribute.

little

news of

the fighting

elsewhere.

Wounded men were

He followed them

carried past.

into

a

makeshift hospital, an empty house on Kyrenia Avenue.

Chemist shops had handed over their supplies, but the General in the Greek quarter was the only place in Nicosia equipped to handle gunshot wounds properly. Hospital

it

There was no blood for the injured, and no equipment to obtain from volunteers. The seriously wounded died on the bare tiles

beneath the peeling ceiling of the old house.

While Kutchuk and Orek kept up their efforts to arrange an end to hopeless though their task seemed, another figure

the fighting,

supervised the Turkish back-to-the-wall resistance.

He

was

Rauf

Denktash,

the

President

of

the

Turkish

Commmunal Chamber. During the Christmas War, His burly figure, dressed

his red mini toured the barricades.

in a lined

hunting jacket and baseball cap,

mingled with the Fighters as he encouraged them, the

Greeks must never be allowed

When

telling

them

that

to cross the roadblocks.

he appeared, the Fighters waved and called to him.

When

he

them, they smiled and laughed and returned to their positions. To them, Denktash was the epitome of the fighting Turk.

spoke

During

to

that bloodthirsty Christmas, he

was

the

backbone of Turkish

resistance.

At Omorphita,

at

3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Nicos Sampson,

own

memoirs, gave the order to his men, is ours!" He added, "The courageous heroes of freedom shouted my name as they advanced."

according to his

later

"Forward, brothers! Victory

Earlier,

headquarters

he in

wrote,

while

Nicosia,

he

waiting

for

ammunition at his up by Colonel

had been phoned

120

The Genocide Files

commander of

Greek contingent, who go to the fighting at Omorphita - the first time it was admitted by a Greek Cypriot that the mainland Greeks were involved. Djuvelekis, the

called

him

coward

a

the mainland

for refusing to

Sampson denied this and said he was only waiting for ammunition. Then followed an amazing conversation. According to Sampson, Djuvelekis stated that the British had sent hydrogen bombs to Cyprus, discussed the imminent destruction of the island and concluded, "We must launch a world-wide and lightning campaign in order to secure international support," adding that "we" were tired of reminding the Makarios government of its obligations in that respect.

What

he expected

Sampson

the charge of cowardice the

Greek mainland With

to do about must have stung.

it

is

not

Was

clear, but

officers called "faggots?"

their leader standing

by the phone

Regis ice cream

at the

men made

according to his memoirs, Sampson's

factory,

made

Sampson's men

it

their

them by Interior Minister Yorgadjis had been sabotaged, their firing pins removed. Sampson thus "discovered the plot against us by our HQ." His men retreated. guns issued

attack. Unfortunately the

to

how he and his who were unaware he was

This appears to be Sampson's explanation of

men came in the

to

be trapped by the Turks -

area - and called on the mainland Greek reinforcements to

cover his

retreat.

Undaunted, attack

supposed

With

4.30 p.m. he gave the order for "a lightning

at

destroy

to

to

be

in

the

Turkish

ceasefire

was

men advanced, but the Turks made and they were pinned down. Sampson

their useless guns, his

a "terrible counterattack"

shouted again, "Forward, boys, victory

Two

The

positions."

operation by that time.

of the Greeks charged

is

"like

ours!" giants"

Turkish guns with hand grenades, killing

all

and silenced the

the defenders.

When

found panic among the - apparently dead - Turks, but they regrouped - the

the other eight ran

up

to the destroyed position, they

dead men - and counterattacked!

Sampson's men were low on ammunition - shot from guns with no firing pins - so he called them to retreat again.

Harry Scott Gibbons

121

He rang up his HQ to tell them his first attack had been "crowned with success." He asked for more weapons, ammunition and reinforcements. At the ice cream factory, Sampson decided that he and his men were better trained and experienced for night fighting, so he gathered about fifteen men and arranged them into five groups for a night attack.

The Turkish defenders

recalled no Greeks coming close enough to throw hand grenades. The Greek HQ received

their positions to

Sampson's report

At

6

in silence.

the

p.m.,

Commissioner

Kyrenia

called

the

Turkish

community

leaders for peace talks to the police station, next to the

castle built

by the Byzantines, enlarged by the Lusignans and

rebuilt

Up

by the Venetians.

to then

Kyrenia had been completely

quiet.

Seven Turks answered the call and learned the idea was non-aggression pact between the two communities.

Among owner of

the Greeks present

the

tourist season.

scheme.

Dome

was Andreas

Katsellis,

to sign a

son of the

Hotel to which Britons flocked during the

Assured by

his presence, the

Turks agreed

to the

,

Then

the police produced Sten guns, and the Turks were They were handcuffed to each other and taken in a truck to Karavas, a village a few miles west of Kyrenia and imprisoned in the municipality building. Later they were joined by Kyrenia's arrested.

Turkish

policemen,

commander,

including

the

gendarmerie's

district

also a Turk.

The Turkish quarter of Kyrenia was surrounded, the Post Office was heavily sandbagged, and Land Rovers filled with armed Greek police patrolled the silent Turkish area.

building

I

had a phone

that the

call that

Greeks had

their

day from someone eye on

my

in

Kyrenia

house. Not only

to

was

warn me it

owned

Turk with whom had signed a long lease, it was acknowledged as the finest house in the area. Built by an ex-RAF

by

a

I

The Genocide Files

122 officer in the 1930's, It

had

its

summer

I

own

it

had acres of lawn and rose garden

apparently

in front.

inexhaustible water supply

had grown 30,000 zinnias

and

the foot of the garden.

at

that

On

one side was a stand of spruce, on the other magnificent fig trees. There were lavender hedges, mimosa and jasmine. There were lemon trees, date palm trees and quince.

Behind the house there were acres of olive and carob

trees

and a

huge vegetable garden.

From the tiled verandas on either was a splendid view of Hilarion

there

side of the upstairs lounge

Castle behind, and in front

spread the Mediterranean. Sometimes,

in the winter,

waterspouts reaching up into the clouds.

On

see the Turkish coast and, with field glasses,

roads leading to villages on the beach.

It

could see

I

a clear day I

imagined

was

I

I

used to

could see

called "The Blue

House." It

On

was

a house to be coveted.

Christmas Eve, 1963, there were 120 Turks living

in

the

mixed

hamlet of Ayios Vasilios straddling the road between Nicosia and

Myrtou

in the

Some

northwest.

time that evening, cars and trucks drove into the village

from the direction of Nicosia. Armed men poured out of the vehicles. They had a brief discussion at the coffee shop at one end of the village, then they

moved

purposefully towards the Turkish

quarter.

Shots rang out,

were dragged

A

rifle butts

smashed against locked doors, people

into the streets.

70-yr-old Turk

was awakened by

splintering. Tottering out of his

the sounds of his front door bedroom, he found several young

armed men inside the house. "Have you any children," they asked. Bewildered, he

replied,

"Yes."

"Send them outside," he was ordered. His two sons, 19 and 17 years old, and his granddaughter, aged 10, hastily dressed

and followed the gunmen outside.

8

J

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73

Dr. Fazil

Kutchuk

Archbishop Makarios

III

(1913-1977), President of Cyprus 1960-77

Osman Orek

Rauf Raif Denktash, now President of the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus

Glafkos Clerides, now President of Greek Cyprus

r) si

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Ayios Vasilios exhumation

Turkish fighter and son, 1963

Women

and children fleeing

in

truck during 1963 Greek attacks

Refugee trucks queue up, awaiting signal

to

escape

u C

s 1 c3 t/i

O

Greek Cypriot slogan.

EOKA ELLAS (Greece) ENOSIS (Union -

with Greece)

-

"¥• ;.-

Kokkina. The Turks lived

in

caves 1964

- 7-

?*

Kokkina

Htf

-

U i—

3

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fly.

m,

&

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•A

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i

Village

in

Greece

after

Nazi attack 1944

> °G

u jc 12

Turkish Cypriot

woman mourns murder of her 4-month-old child by Greek police March 13, 1975

Harry Scott Gibbons

They were

lined

123

up outside the cottage wall. The gunmen,

without another word, coolly machincgunncd them to death. In another house, a 13-yr-old boy had his hands tied behind his knees and was thrown on the floor. While the house was being

ransacked, his captors kicked and abused him.

placed

at

the back of his head and he

was

Then

a pistol

12 Turks were massacred that evening

Altogether,

was

shot. in

Ayios

Vasilios.

The other were rounded up and kicked and punched along the to Skylloura, a few miles further in the direction of

highway

Myrtou, to seek refuge with Turks there. feet,

they stumbled along

them

in the

in

and bare Greeks shooting after

In night attire

the cold, the

darkness.

Then the gunmen turned their attention to the Turkish houses. They looted and destroyed and finally, exhausted, they set the houses on fire. The Greek inhabitants of the village, roused by the noise, stood

watching the orgy of destruction. None protested.

gunmen had gone, they rushed to the Turkish houses and began to loot the remaining possessions of their neighbours After the

before the flames took too firm a hold. In

isolated

farmhouses

in

the

same

region, nine

more Turks

were murdered.

When

the

Turks of Skylloura saw the flames of Ayios Vasilios, women and children across the fields to Phota and

they sent their

Krini in the north.

As

the Vasilios refugees arrived, they too

midnight, Skylloura was also evacuated.

were taken

Left behind

north.

By

were the

Turkish houses, their possessions and their Greek neighbours. The long, ragged lines plodded wearily north, seeking safety, sanctuary, respite

from

this terrifying

stumbling along

in the

savagery that had descended on them,

darkness of the cruel, cold, Christmas morn.

At the same time, over 150 armed Greeks descended on the Turkish suburb of Kumsal, northwest of the Nicosia walls near the Turkish village of Ortakoy which straddled the road to Kyrenia. That landlord,

evening,

was

Hasan Yusuf Gudum, an elderly one of his clients in Kumsal.

visiting

Turkish

124

The Genocide Files

With him was

Mora with

his wife,

Ferideh, his neighbour Mrs.

her one-year-old daughter, Ishin, and her married

Ayshc sister,

Novber.

They were paying

a call

on the family of Major Nihat

chief medical officer with the mainland Turkish

Ilhan, the

army contingent.

The major was on duty that night with his unit. His wife, Muruvvet, was with their three children, Murat, Kutsi and Hakan, aged seven, four and six months.

The nine were having supper in the diningroom when one of the Greek private armies, augmented by workers from the Severis flour mill who had - willingly or under coercion - joined their ranks, crossed the dry Pedieos river bed.

The conversation around bullets

began

the dining table cut off abruptly

to spatter the outside walls,

sounding

like

The group rose hurriedly, the women dragging the ushered them to the back part of the house.

heavy

when rain.

children, and

Gudum

They

all,

four

women,

four children and one man, went into the

bathroom and closed the door.

The landlord's wife suddenly changed bathroom and went

into the separate toilet

mind,

her

the

left

where she locked herself

in.

Mrs. Ilhan, the major's wife, stepped into the bath, and holding her baby stood facing the door, her other two children clinging onto her legs.

The two other women and Gudum crawled terrified into Mora held her baby close.

the

corners beside the door. Mrs. Ayshe

There was a crash as the front door burst open and machinegun bullets spewed through the house.

a continuous

roar as

Footsteps

came

to

the

locked bathroom, an unknown

impatiently rattled the knob, and a voice called

would you

Then

her children, caught directly in

The the

Greek,

hand

"How

like Enosis?."

a hail of bullets tore through the

dumped on

in

to the

killers

its

path,

wood and

were

Mrs. Ilhan and

lifted off their feet

and

bottom of the bath.

smashed the door lock and jumped inside. One of moaned and was scolded into permanent

major's children

Harry Scott Gibbons silence by a short peremptory burst.

huddled on the

floor.

They played

Then

their

the raiders

guns on them

children forced to water the garden flowers. all

wounded, some

seriously.

A

125

The

saw

the others

like impatient

three

Turks were baby

bullet struck the foot of the

The locked door of the toilet drew the gunmen's attention to The door was beaten in by machinegun butts and the woman was dragged out whimpering. A pistol was placed to her head, one shot was fired, and she slumped to the floor, dead. The killers whooping and jeering, charged through the house, Ishin.

the landlord's wife.

machinegunning cupboards, smashing furniture, slipping on the dark red blood that crept out of the bathroom.

and

sliding

Mora, the baby, survived, and

Ishin

after several operations her

was saved. Today, aged 35, Ishin is married with a young son. She owns the supermarket Can (pronounced Jan) Kan on Shakespeare Avenue in Nicosia. Her limp reminds her of the atrocity she was too young to understand.

foot

In

Omorphita, the Fighters ran out of ammunition. Only shotgun

cartridges

remained.

When

darkness

evacuate the Turkish quarter.

On

fell,

they

made

plans

to

Christmas morning the great

exodus of over 5,000 people began.

The plan was to escape north to the all-Turkish hamlet of Mandres, now renamed Hamit Koy. It was a collection of 30 to 40 mud shacks, many of which were used as sheep pens, a school and a mosque. It was a long way, a very long way, but the route south was blocked by the Greek mainland contingent and Sampson's army of killers, and that was the route to the Turkish, north part of the walled city. Thousands of people on foot would never have been able

to pass

through any concentrated Greek

fire.

The wounded were an urgent problem. There were no medical They were carried on makeshift stretchers through the holes in the house walls until, hidden from the Greek guns, they could be brought out to the streets. It was decided that the most seriously wounded would be taken in the cars and trucks and a dash made for Nicosia.

supplies.

The

crammed tight with families and the wounded, ran Greek guns into Nicosia. They went in groups while dark. Amazingly, all got through. The beleaguered

vehicles,

the gauntlet of it

was

still

126

The Genocide Files

Turkish quarter of the capital,

days of fighting, took

food stores almost gone group of new refugees.

its

in a vast

after four

The wounded were taken to the Ardath cigarette factory which was turned into a makeshift hospital. Dr. Nairn Adiloglu's clinic was also made into a hospital. On the left of the Kyrcnia Gate was the "Shahin" (Falcon) cinema, into

which over

a

thousand refugees

were now squeezed. It

was only then

that the

Turks of Nicosia, cut off from the

rest

of the world, learned what was happening to the Omorphita Turks. Left behind, the great escape of thousands began.

To escape way through

faced another problem, a serious one.

Koy, they would have

presumably now

to

make

hostile, part of

their

But they

north to Hamit the Greek,

and

Omorphita.

Carrying only their most personal belongings, they started through

Greek

the

A

quarter.

rearguard

of Fighters took the

remaining shotgun cartridges. They called out "Hurry, hurry!" as

men,

bitter

and angry, herded

their families

from

their

homes,

chastising one child, consoling another. Grandparents clutched tiny children,

women

necessities

pushed perambulators filled only with the bare - blankets, clothes, shoes. There was no food to take

with them.

Ozer Jambaz was one of

the Fighters

who went

with the retreat

through the Greek quarter.

"As the long column straggled past," he told me, "the Greeks went up to their lofts and removed some of the red roof tiles, not enough for themselves to be seen, just enough to stick a gun through. people.

And

We

then they began shooting

had no ammunition

left

down on

and had

those defenceless

to take the

punishment.

was like shooting fish in a barrel. They were our neighbours, the same ones who say today that they had always lived peacefully with us. They were bastards, absolute bastards! For the Greeks,

it

There were many injured. But all

"If

could have been worse.

We

could

army had had the courage to attack us - as memoirs - he could have killed the 5,000 of were completely defenceless by this time. We would have

Sampson and

he alleged he did us.

it

have died.

We

his

in his

Harry Scott Gibbons been

their

at

mercy.

And we were

127

finding out, through those

neighbours of ours, that the Greeks had no mercy. "But we thought that the mainland Greeks and the Cypriot Greek armies were coming behind us, and we were sure that we were all going to die. But Sampson and his killers never appeared."

The column,

half carrying,

half dragging the

wounded,

the

rearguard Fighters catching up and sending the Omorphita Greeks scuttling

down from

their attics with their

remaining

shells,

was

Greek quarter and its deadly gauntlet and crossed into the fields beyond and started on the long walk to Hamit Koy. It seemed to go on forever. If a film had been taken of the exodus from Omorphita, it would have looked like the ones taken 30 years later when the Serbs of Yugoslavia turned their savagery on their defenceless, and innocent, neighbours and fellow clear of the

finally

countrymen, the Moslems of Bosnia.

"We

crossed the north bypass road to Famagusta," Jambaz went

Hamit Koy, where the old people and mosque to sit and lie on the bare floors. The rest of us huddled where we could, in the mud pens with the donkeys and sheep or on the open ground. But we were exhausted, so anywhere we could find to collapse was acceptable."

on, "and staggered on to

children were taken to the school and

"There were 10 to 15 people to a sheep shed," Nahide Oden remembers. "For days there was no food, no milk for the babies. It

was

a nightmare."

Some 500 could not escape from Omorphita that Christmas Day. They were the ones close to the Greek front line and were unable to leave their houses.

In

Kumsal

the destruction continued.

Gunmen smashed down

doors

and charged into Turkish houses, clubbing and beating, cursing and punching.

The

retreat

from Kumsal began. Once again,

like

Europe reeling

under the onslaught of the Nazis, the families were dragged from their homes into the cold streets, bewildered, terrified, the crash of rifles,

the rattle of automatic fire echoing loudly in their ears.

They

ran, slipping, falling,

the cry of a

woman was

heard.

grabbing each other.

In the streets,

128

The Genocide Files "Will

nobody help

us, please?"

159 of the Turkish inhabitants of Kumsal did not escape that night. Four others besides the four in the bath and the landlady, died. 150 were taken hostage. Some of the hostages were never seen again.

At Omorphita, Nicos Sampson was having difficulty with his HQ. At 9 p.m. when he phoned them for more ammunition and reinforcements, he was told that the ceasefire talks were under way. A little later he phoned again to say the Turks were attacking. "Did you start it?" he was asked.

Then Sampson in his memoirs, gave an epic - and fictitious, according to other Greek newspapers - description of an attack on the Turkish positions, in

which he unaccountably did not take

part

himself.

His men went in twos. Their guns didn't work, of course, having no firing pins, so they used knives, axes and jiu-jitsu. With Sampson's men chasing the Turks, "unprecedented" fighting took place on the rooftops.

The Turks were

phoned his HQ operation." But his HQ refused

Sampson

fire.

"Reluctantly"

routed.

again

to

report

a

"successful

He was ordered to cease he agreed and withdrew his men. Ten were to listen.

wounded, one was missing.

The missing man turned up

member into the

later

with an astonishing

tale.

A

of the editorial staff of Makhi, he had penetrated so far

Turkish quarter that he had got

panic stricken Turks

who were

lost.

shouting,

Fed up with chasing

"Sampson

is

here!" he

was on his way back when he came to a house. Shouting in Turkish - he spoke fluent Turkish - he called, "The Greeks have gone. Come out!" When two Turks opened the door he shot them. The Turks, busy with their evacuation, had no knowledge of Sampson's attack. Nor, for that matter, did any of Sampson's co-commanders. But Sampson's role - the one to make him the Conqueror of Omorphita - was yet to be played.

From the windows of the British High Commission, the staff watched an old man being pursued across a field by several armed men.

129

Harry Scott Gibbons

The old man was near

Cornaro

the

a Turkish shepherd

Hotel.

daughters asked him to

rounded up away, but

his

still

When

move

the

named Kose who

shooting

into a Turkish area.

began,

He

his

refused.

lived

two

They

mixed flock of sheep and goats and drove them

he stayed, making up a

little

campsite

in a

dry river

bed.

"The Greeks know me," he told them. "They will not harm me."

Now

the watchers at the

man stumbled onto The old man fell, examined the body

On

High Commission looked on as the old

The gunmen ran up shooting. The young Greeks turned away talking excitedly.

the road panting.

riddled with rifle bullets. briefly, then

Christmas Eve, 1963, 59 Turks were

killed. 21

were murdered

in

Ayios Vasilios and the neighbouring hamlets. The 21 in-patients

at

Nicosia General Hospital were missing, presumed dead. Nine

were massacred

in

parts of the island.

As

six in other

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem pealed message of peace, the Turks of Cyprus mourned dead. But there was worse to come. Genocide was just the bells of the

their Christian their

Kumsal, two shot in Omorphita and Hundreds were wounded.

beginning.

130

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER ELEVEN In the in

very early hours of Christmas morning, the Turkish Embassy

Nicosia tried to pass a message to Makarios. Turkey had warned

that unless a cease-fire

was implemented immediately, she would

take action on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots.

Makarios could not be found but the message was

finally

delivered, through Mrs. Souliotis, the Justice Minister, to Glafkos

Clerides

house

his

at

in

Kykkos

Street,

near the headquarters

directing the Nicosia fighting. In reply, the

Greek forces increased

Refugees from

the shooting.

Kumsal had begun staggering into Nicosia When their story was heard, a group of to try to escort the rest of the Kumsal Turks to

through the Kyrenia Gate. Fighters were sent safety.

When

they reached the area, the armed Greeks on the roofs of

the Severis flour mill and the cold store fire

on the

cowering

doorway

streets.

in

to

their

The

Fighters

opened up with withering

managed

to

encourage the Turks

houses to go into the streets and crawl from

doorway southeast

to the city walls.

But the Fighters could not reach the tragic scene of the family the bath, nor the others

wounded

Nor were they

in that house.

in in

time to prevent the abduction of the 150 hostages.

At Omorphita, Nicos Sampson, according

engaged all

in battle

pulled out to

to his

memoirs, was

still

with the Turkish Fighters, even though they had

Hamit Koy.

The Turks, he wrote, "launched a terrible attack, using every type of weapon - bombs were exploding around us!" His "invincible commandos counterattacked and the Turks ran away in panic."

Harry Scott

some

Far

131

did not follow up this success -

Sampson

reason,

G ibbons

which went unnoticed by the other Greek units - but instead planned a general attack for

As dawn

later.

was running low among

broke, ammunition

inside the walled

city.

mouths

night, bringing

Refugees had been pouring to feed,

wounds

There was only one Brcn gun Fighters carried

it

from position

of a well armed enclave.

Communal Chamber, The simple spraying

the

A

Turks

quarter.

The

impression

few shots from the roof of the Turkish

a burst

and

the

during the

no ammunition.

whole of the

to position to give the

from the top of the Saray Hotel.

strategy worked. air

to tend, but

in the

in

the

The Greeks

deserted

streets

kept their distance, that

were

visible,

massacring the walls and windows of empty buildings. They made

no attempt to rush the Turks.

me what

was like in the besieged Turkish it was becoming desperate. Omorphita was almost evacuated. The Greek ring around the area was tightening. Food supplies were being fast used up, and thousands of refugees Survivors told

quarter.

The

were jammed

situation

into public buildings.

Few had brought

blankets or

even overcoats with them. There was no milk for the babies. Clinics had been converted into hospitals, but the

wounded

lay

without drugs, the tourniquets being tightened and loosened as they

waited for medical supplies - from where no one knew - while the sheets and other rags used for bandages turned a disheartening red

again and again. the

In

houses, children wailed

in

hunger and

fear,

women

sobbed.

The men, shivering from reaction and the icy morning breeze, wandered disconsolately in the side streets, stopping in groups to discuss the situation, to ask for news of missing relatives, friends and neighbours, drinking water

to ease the

cramps

in their

empty

bellies. In

a

groups they would move

moment

to the nearest barricades to stand for

or two, feeling inadequate.

The Genocide Files

132

Then one would snatch

women

the frontline

a tray of tiny coffee cups from

and pass

it

to the Fighters,

one of

smiling and talking

overmuch, encouraging the men with the guns.

The

would push aside

others, self-consciously gruff,

who had been

the

at

firing

line

the

and step up

night

all

men

to

the

barricades. First, a pat at a sandbag here and there, then a stronger

push, testing the strength of the barrier.

judicious air

at the

mad

A

step back to look with a

contraption of sandbags,

oil

drums, wooden

doors and the bodies of abandoned, cannibalised cars that sealed the narrow lane.

Then using

their bare hands, spades, car tyre levers, every loose

section in the barrier

would be strengthened,

the sandbags

wedged

tighter.

The frowns would slowly feeling of inadequacy,

clear, the

stomach cramps ease, the

of uselessness, vanish. This was work,

something they understood better than the whistle and thresh of bullets overhead.

The

nightshift

Two

would nod understandingly,

Turks stepped

into the hail of fire that

step back and watch.

morning and

empty lot behind Halkin Sesi newspaper Kyrenia Avenue, the spades began again. In

Osman in

the

Nuri Orek, short, stocky,

Nicosia

in

in

of nervous energy, was born

1925.

He continued

his

Cyprus education

he received a law degree at

full

died.

office

in 1949. In

at Istanbul

1952, he was

University where called to the Bar

London's Middle Temple. At 26, he was chairman of the Cyprus Turkish Association in to found, and which at that time looked

London, which he helped after the interests

Today

their

Back

in

of the 30,000 Britons of Turkish Cypriot descent.

number

is

estimated

at

120,000.

Cyprus, he joined the Turkish National Union Party and

was its secretary-general. In 1955, the Cyprus Government offered him the post of judge. He refused, saying he preferred to be free to work for his community.

within two years

Harry Scott Gibbons Stepping up his political

activities,

133

he became deputy chairman

of the High Council of Evcaf and chairman of the Turkish Schools

Committee.

He attended

London conference on Cyprus Independence

the

and became defence minister of the new

While

appointment

the

of

a

was probably accepted

vice-president

state.

Turk

the

to

as inevitable

position

Orek's key post had been greedily sought after by the leaders.

A

of

by the Greeks,

EOK.A

Greek with the defence portfolio would have simplified

matters regarding the Enosis plan through collaboration with the Interior Ministry It

says

much

Orek was kept

Orek

which controlled the

internal security forces.

for the tightness of Yorgadjis' organisation that

in the

tried all that

dark regarding Greek intentions.

morning

to contact Clcridcs

by phone but could

not locate him.

The

part played

by Clerides had become much clearer

in

those

few days. At the Tuesday meeting suggested a physical officers to see

at

Paphos Gate police

ceasefire

line

to

station,

which side was guilty of breaking the

While Makarios appeared argued violently against

it.

It

to

ponder

Orek had

be patrolled by

neutral

ceasefire.

this suggestion, Clerides

could not be accepted because the

sovereignty of the state would be impugned.

At the end of the meeting, when the ceasefire agreement was nevertheless reached, Clerides and

evening

to

work out

Orek arranged to meet later that High Commission's

the details at the British

residence.

When Orek

called

Clerides

in

the

evening,

the

latter

had

mind about meeting. The Turks had broken the ceasefire, he said, and were firing on Greeks from the golf course, which backed onto the Kumsal area. Orek said there were no Turks

changed

his

in that area.

Clerides then complained that Turks were shooting from the

minaret

in the

Tahtelkale district

at the

Archbishopric. Orek said

134

The Genocide Files

that all

Turks had been evacuated from

day

the

shooting

the

that area

When

started.

he

on the Saturday,

had

gathered

this

information, Cleridcs said their meeting had better be postponed until the

following morning.

That night the attack was made including two

more armoured

Kumsal and reinforcements,

at

bulldozers,

moved

Clcrides' accusations had produced two results.

way,

from

propaganda

the

announcement

the

that

against Turkish attacks.

would encounter no Orek had been

view,

for

the

Greeks had only defended themselves also informed the Greeks that they

They

tricked,

and Clerides was proving

that he

was

Makarios.

Orek managed

to

contact

Makarios by phone. He

complained of having had no word from Clerides regarding planned meeting. The president upbraided Orek.

You Turks broke

the

eventual

resistance.

just as sly as his master,

Finally,

of

point

into Tahtelkalc.

They paved

"It's all

your

their fault!

the cease-fire!"

It never seems to have occurred to the President, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Cyprus, man of God, to have wanted a

ceasefire purely for the sake of ending the bloodshed. Instead he

during those tragic Christmas days, to show that

tried constantly,

the

Turks were

his

Greeks.

to

blame and thus

He was, of course, simply

justify the continued attacks

by

carrying out his Akritas Plan.

But Orek brushed aside the criticisms by Makarios and pressed his

demand

for a

meeting with Clcrides. Orek seems

only man, apart from Duncan Sandys, the British

to

Affairs Secretary, ever to be able to pin the elusive

down

to a definite reply.

barrister, in that

Perhaps his success lay

be about the

Commonwealth churchman

in his training as a

he paid scant attention to the soft brown eyes that

betrayed no hint of the thoughts behind, to the smooth, suave voice

brimming with silky,

He facts,

hurt innocence, the

manicured fingers stroking the

greying beard. listened to the

and

capitulated.

words

continued

He promised

to

uttered,

press

his

measured them against the The Archbishop points.

to contact Clerides.

Harry Scott Gibbons

The reason

was

35

Orck had been unable to contact Clcridcs that word had been received via the British and U.S. Ankara of Turkey's intention to act if the cease-fire

morning was embassies

J

that

that

in

not heeded by the Greeks.

A

message was sent

frantic

High Commissioner

London,

in

Greek Cypriot

to Sotcriadcs, the

to contact

Duncan Sandys. But

Sandys was on holiday. At

11 a.m., Clerides

phoned Orek. "Your suggestion yesterday

about a ceasefire line patrolled by independent officers

Commission

he promised to have the British High

make arrangements The Greek

him

for

to

threat of intervention

side, but

a

good

it."

And

is

one," he stated without preamble. "Let us meet and discuss call

Orek

to

be escorted there.

by mainland Turkey had shaken the

although he permitted himself a grin of satisfaction,

Orek was careful not

become

to

the

prey

overconfidence.

to

Previous cease-fire talks and agreements had served only to give the

Greeks breathing space

to bring

up reinforcements and occupy

advance positions, and now the situation for the Turks inside Nicosia was becoming desperate.

At a few minutes past last

men

1 1

a.m., the Fighters

out of Omorphita.

On

began

to

withdraw

the front line opposite the

their

Greek

positions several hundred Turks huddled in their houses, unable to

escape through the steady

hail

of bullets spattering the streets and

cowered behind mattresses

buildings. Elderly people and the sick

and

in attics

beneath the

tiled roofs.

Their families stayed beside

them.

As

the Fighters departed singly and in small groups, firing last

defiant bursts from their shotguns, the the silence

At

Greeks opened up anew, so

from the deserted Turkish quarter went unnoticed.

11.15,

Nicos

Sampson made

his

He

attack.

attacked,

according to his memoirs, with bulldozers converted into tanks.

The Turks put up detail.

a strong resistance.

The

fight

is

described

in

136

The Genocide Files Unfortunately for the veracity of Sampson's hindsight, the tank

attack had already taken place

on Monday, heavy Greek losses by six Turkish riflemen.

be beaten off with

to

But the story of the Turkish resistance on Christmas Day was cover. the

Sampson

Greek

did attack.

He

mainland contingent's guns

inhabitants had been pinned

a

attacked the undefended houses near

down by

the

where the unfortunate heavy firing and were

unable escape north. In

one of the houses lived the Imam (Moslem religious leader)

of Omorphita with his crippled son.

Sampson's men smashed the Imam, Hussein

stood

in the

door. In the centre of the

Igncji,

bent

by

his

70

grey-bearded chin jutting forward, his eyes flashing.

room

years,

In his

his

hand he

held a table knife.

Behind him on a couch

The gunmen laughed stepped forward, a pistol

lay his 18-ycar-old crippled son. at the sight in his

One

of the knife.

of them

hand. Almost contemptuously he

knocked the knife arm away and spun The pistol was rammed into the back of The old man died.

the wrinkled

body around.

his head, the trigger pulled.

Another gunman walked up to the couch. For a moment there was silence as the boy gazed back. Then the crack of gunshot fire. The crippled body leapt upwards in a contortion it could not have achieved

in life,

then subsided, motionless.

Keeping carefully

to the area

Greeks moved from house out the inhabitants.

covered by their

own

to house, ordering, kicking

Two men

guns, the

and dragging

found alone were shot out of hand.

550 people were rounded up, mostly old and women with children. They were herded behind the Greek lines. Later,

Greek

some of them described how

mainland

contingent

jeeps

they were taken

driven

by

Greek

away

in

mainland

officers.

But beyond the range of the Greek guns, dozens of Turkish families

still

Sampson and

sheltered his

with their infirm. The determination of

fellow Greeks to keep a safe distance from

Harry Scott (iibbons

137

marksmen (Sampson apparently did not Omorphita had been evacuated) saved them.

possible Turkish

almost

all

The 550 were driven to Kykkos school on far away was the home of Glafkos headquarters of the Greek gunmen.

Not

realise

the airport bypass.

Clcridcs,

At the school, the 550 met the 150 taken hostage

at

and

Kumsal

the

the

night before.

Fatma Danish

lived in

Tanzimat

She was 60. Across the home was the old moat of

Street.

road from her green-shuttered terraced Nicosia,

now empty and converted

where sweet peas bloomed

in

into

mini-market garden

a

spring and

sweet corn grew

in

summer. Fatma lived with her 15-ycar-old daughter, and son, Sadi, who was a policeman and one of the Vice-President's drivers. She would sit outside her house, sunning herself, while the neighbours called to her and their children toddled over to cling to her long skirts

and watch her hands while her knitting needles flashed.

For days

away since

now

the shooting had bothered her. Her son had been

the weekend.

they had told her

in

She knew her neighbours had

the back garden that they

left,

for

were going and had

pleaded with her to leave.

But she preferred to stay

in

her

careful of their admonitions not to

own home, go

although she was

into the street outside the

front door.

But she and her daughter were lonely now. For four days she had stayed inside the house. Their food - they didn't need much -

was gone. She knew she shouldn't go out of the front door, but anyway the shooting seemed to have died down, and she was hungry and she would find her neighbours and they would look after both of them. She told her daughter to stay inside the house until

she returned.

She opened the front door. Silence. She returned and dressed outdoors and went again to the front.

for

138

The Genocide Files

She opened the door

Murmuring, perhaps,

further. Still silence.

about the young people nowadays

who were

scared of their

own

shadows, she picked up her handbag from the carved marriage chest beside the door and stepped outside. Turning, she carefully locked the door behind her.

On a

the rooftop of the Ledra Palace Hotel, only 150 yards away,

young Greek sighted along Fatma was

lifted

his rifle.

He

pressed the trigger.

off her feet by the force of the blow and

shuddered to the ground. Her handbag slipped from her fingers.

On

the Ledra Palace roof, a cheer

gunman's

first

Not so the birth

far

proven

away

went up.

the

young

in the

Holy Land the

bells pealed to

announce

on earth of Christ the King, the Son of God who preached and forgiveness. But the worshipers

charity

was

It

"kill."

in

Holy Land

the

churches were more concerned with the forgiveness of their

own

sins than with Fatma. In a million

homes

in the

Christian world, Bing Grosby sang

"White Christmas," and brought maudlin

tears

and plans for good

intentions to his listeners.

Thirty years

later,

German's attempts officer

sit

on

to

his

I

saw

the film "Schindlcr's List" about one

balcony

and

test

coldbloodedly shooting Jewish prisoners

When saw I

many

that,

it

saw a Nazi new rifle by

save Jews from the death camps. out in

his

the yard

brought back instantly the story

I

I

below him.

had written so

years earlier about Fatma Danish.

On Tanzimat

Street,

on Christmas Day, 1963, Fatma Danish

lay

alone.

She

lay for a

few hours. Then she

died.

At Kykkos School, 150 Turks were sorted out of the 700 hostages. tell, it will never be known why these particular 150 Turks were selected - whether because of their age, their sex,

Unless the Greeks

or just for their looks.

Harry Scott Gibbons any event, they were taken

In

139

groups away from the view of

in

and lined up. Then they were shot.

the other hostages

was

It

Christmas Day.

An English woman teacher Somehow she made her way to

She was put on the

told her story.

woman was was

sent

the school

at

first

saw

the shootings.

High Commission and

the British

plane for London. That

probably the only eyewitness besides the Greeks. She

home

for her

own

and her story was never made

safety,

public.

Because there no eyewitnesses, and of course the Greeks have never admitted

the

massacre,

declared missing, and for in

many

Cyprus awaited news of

the

murdered Turks had

be

to

years hundreds of Turkish families

convinced they would

their loved ones,

one day return home. Perhaps some

still

do. But they are dead,

murdered on Christmas Day. Their graves were never revealed.

Somewhere still

there

is

a report of

alive today, perhaps she

what

that

woman

might come forward and

saw. tell

If

she

is

her story

again.

Colonel Sales, the British military attache, called Orek and said he

would

collect

him

Orek asked

at

2 p.m.

at the

Ledra Palace Hotel.

some He should have asked

for a safe conduct guarantee to the hotel. After

managed

difficulty,

Sales

Stelios, the

barman.

to

At 2 p.m., Orek drove up

arrange

it.

to the hotel.

He drove up Drakos

Avenue from the Turkish barricades, in the Vice-President's two armed Turkish policemen sitting in front.

As

they

swung

into the hotel grounds, the

car,

guns of the men on

the roof swivelled to follow them.

They parked at the front door, in the shadow of The car was flying the little used pennant of

porch.

Republic, a white flag with the island

Orek

to his

style."

bodyguards,

"If they're

in

yellow

going

the arched the

Cyprus

in the centre.

to kill us, let us

Joked

go

in

140

The Genocide Files

Colonel Sales was not there. The two police armed with Sterling left the car and took up position on either side of the entrance,

guns their

backs

brown sandstone. Orek, unperturbed, remained

to the

inside the car.

At

Rover

moment

that at

returned from my morning tour, parked my empty rank, and walked up to the hotel front, intent on

the

I

lunch. I

spoke

to

and was about

one of the Turkish policeman to say hello to

was an old

Sales

go places"

country

But

in

"Lay

recognised,

he could

tell

up.

man

in

an

described as "He's really with

the

name of

day Sales had bigger things

to

it.

the president of the St.

do than

James.

to give

me

a

story.

off,"

armed men. I

member was

which he served on behalf of the Court of

that

newspaper

if

I

friend of mine, a genuinely efficient

organisation where a He'll

whom

Orek when Colonel Sales drove

me

he admonished

Come

around

brusquely. "The roof's

High Commission

to the

stepped aside. Orek got into Sales' car, and they drove

They turned

right out of the

as U.N. Square, on their

way

Ledra to what

to the

full

of

later!"

later

off.

became known

Pedieos Bridge and the High

Commission. At U.N. Square stood Major General Pantelidcs, the mainland

Greek Commander of the minuscule Cyprus Army. carrying a submachincgun.

He glowered

at

Orek

He was

as he passed, but

did not salute. In the

yard of the High Commission,

at the

juncture of Iroon

Osman Pasha Avenue, two military armoured cars were parked. British soldiers stood around. Unknown to Orek at the time, Major General Peter Young, British Army Commander in the Street and

Sovereign bases, was

in the building.

Cleridcs had already arrived

Orek nodded

room of

the

to

at the

High Commission. He and

one another and followed Sales upstairs

High Commissioner,

returned to Cyprus from London.

Sir Arthur Clark,

who

to the

had just

Harry Scott Gibbons

141

As he ushered them into the room, Sales told them the High Commissioner was with the President and would shortly be back. As they prepared to sit down, Sales, with a grin, said. "First

of

gentlemen, your guns, please."

all,

Silently the

two

visitors pulled pistols

handed them over. Sales

still

stood

from

their

waiting.

waistbands and

After a

moment

Clerides pulled a second gun from a shouider holster.

Orek and Clerides at

sat at

opposite ends of the room, not looking

each other or speaking.

Orek was worried. Just before he had left the Turkish quarter, word had come through that the evacuated police station at Omorphita had been taken over by the Greeks. Shooting had already begun from there and bullets crossing over the northern city wall and that hitherto relatively safe part of the quarter was now threatened. The noose around Turkish Nicosia, the nerve centre of resistance, was tightening. Clerides chainsmoked, his hand trembling.

When Orek

left

with Sales, and the Vice-President's car with

guards had returned to the Turkish quarter,

met the same panic stricken reaction as on

A man

rammed

a

its

entered the hotel - and

my

first visit.

tommy gun

into

my

chest,

trembling on the trigger, his face twisting with emotion.

his finger

just

rushed forward and

I

opened

my mouth

I

and yelled "Stelios!"

Stelios appeared on cue, and after an argument with the gunman, was allowed into the bar. told Stelios to invite some of the young thugs in for a drink. Three followed me, unsmiling, I

I

unshaven and

dirty.

They ordered beers and when said, "Well, Happy Christmas," They finished their beer, picked up their weapons and left the bar. I

they did not look up.

A

few moments

rushed into the front

madly

all

upstairs.

later hall.

over the place.

Two armed men

came the muffled roar of a gunshot. The downstairs gunmen were rushing Someone said the shot had come from I

rushed up the staircase

in

Hollywood

142

The Genocide Files

fashion, dropping to one knee at the

landing then leaping up

first

the next flight of stairs. a young Greek came down, chattering gunmen had been climbing the last narrow flat roof when one had slipped and fallen on his

Five minutes

later,

Several

excitedly.

staircase to the face.

He was

carrying a loaded shotgun with the safety catch

finger on the trigger. the backside of the I

if

I

The gun had gone

man

in front.

wide grin and ambled

hid a

off, his

scoring a bullseye on

off,

into the

empty diningroom

to see

could get something to eat before driving round to the British

High Commission.

The Swiss manager of the fridge

As

tucked

I

in,

he told

had no alternative but

At

the hotel, his staff vanished, had raided

and produced a cold meat dish.

that

moment Then

instinctively.

Swiss across the

"A plane" he

me

would have

1

down

to close

to leave

my room

as he

the hotel.

was a terrific roar. We both ducked was silence. My eyes met those of the

there

there

table.

said,

and

we

both dashed through the front

hall

and outside.

We hundred

saw them before we heard them, three jets flying at two feet. As they sliced the air overhead, the Turkish markings

were clearly

In

visible.

The ear-splitting crash of their passing followed a second later. moments, they had buzzed over the city and were banking at the

Kyrcnia mountain range for another run.

One of the

front hall staff spoke excitedly at

my

elbow.

"Are they British?" "No, Turkish!"

He

disappeared back inside.

A

minute

later,

scrambling and

snarling at each other in their eagerness to leave, the roof occupants

came down

the stairs. Their

bar to the side entrance, tore

weapons it

clattering, they ran past the

open and vanished outside.

Harry Scott Gibbons

A

143

chorus of stutters as engines started up and out through the

front gates, engines racing, gears grating, tyres screaming,

young

the

The

poured

killers.

did

not

come back

to

the

Ledra

until

they

had

UN

protection.

As

the

to

the

war jets flew overhead, Clcrides leapt to his window. He knew without seeing them

feet

and rushed they

that

were

Turkish.

His face ashen, he turned to pace the room.

Orek

sat still, his bright

sight of the fear friend,

eyes watching Clcrides, savouring the

sweat on the face of his one-time colleague and

now deadly enemy. It gave him more satisfaction than trying he knew had saved the Turks of Cyprus from

to see the planes that

extermination.

In

Omorphita, Nicos Sampson, according

to

his

memoirs, was

receiving congratulations by phone on his victory.

Colonel Djuvelekis, the

Commander

of the Greek mainland

Sampson he had "greatly contributed to the Cyprus Sampson replied modestly that, although his troops were

contingent, told struggle."

few

in

number, they were crushing the enemy.

One of

Djuvelekis' officers, Costas Sengas, also phoned to

congratulate him. Sengas, according to Sampson,

who made

was "one of those

a valuable contribution to the struggle."

who congratulated him was Major who had also given "valuable service."

Another mainland officer Dimitrios

Ioannidcs,

loannides, then aged 40, had struck up a friendship with the psycho,

and had worked out a plan

Turks. Makarios, however, turned

own

Akritas plan which he

loannides

never forgave

Sampson. The climax of

was

it

Sampson,

to exterminate the

down. After

all,

Cyprus

he had his

putting into operation. Apparently

Makarios,

but

their friendship

he

came

ties

with

ten years later,

when

kept

his

made the world's headlines together. Two other Greek mainland officers - a Major Zervas and a Captain Marios Gasparis

they

The Genocide Files

144 - came train

in for

my

This

praise

from Sampson. They had "worked very hard

groups secretly." They had trained a

no doubt

left

that the

commando

to

unit.

Greek mainland contingent

officers

helped to plan the onslaught against the Turks and took actual part in

it.

And

there

to deliver the

is

no doubt

that the

Omorphita hostages

Greek contingent to

Kykkos

officers helped

some of

school, where

them were executed.

One Greek very prominent in the planning and carrying out of on the Turks was Brigadier General George Perides, commander of the Tripartite Headquarters. the attacks

The

object of the Tripartite H.Q.

island

and the Cyprus army. The

control of the Cyprus,

way was

Command was

to supervise the

Greek and Turkish mainland contingents on

activities of the

related to

Command

H.Q. came under the

Greek and Turkish governments and

NATO

proceeded

to the private

in this

activities.

But on the night of Sunday, December 22, Perides next door to the Cyprus

the

left his

office

army H.Q. in the Wolseley Barracks and army headquarters in Kykkos Street where

he appears to have taken over the switchboard and directed the

Greek

units fighting in the Nicosia area.

Sampson

in

his

memoirs, constantly referred

to

the role of

Perides.

"Greek Cyprus owes everything

to Perides

and

his officers," he

wrote.

Perides

told

Sampson,

in

one of

their

frequent

conversations, "The Greek army will always be

telephone

at the side

of the

Greek Cypriots."

When, on

the

Sunday

night,

Orek managed

to contact

him by

complain of the shooting from the Wolseley Barracks, can do Perides told him bluntly, "Your people opened fire first.

phone

to

I

nothing."

But he had done something. He had deserted his post and quite blatantly betrayed his

command.

Harry Scott Gibbons

but

The name of Pcrides was heard of more sensational circumstances.

When

145

again, under rather similar

he returned to Greece from Cyprus, Pcrides, promoted to

was given

Lieutenant General,

a

command

in

Salonika,

in

northern

Greece. In

December, 1967, when King Constantinc made

his abortive

attempt to overthrow the regime of the colonels, he flew north

where Pcrides with

his

command was supposed

to

support him.

Cyprus may have made him and corrupt government of Greece, the colonels obviously had him pigeonholed. With almost But although Pcrides'

activities in

the darling of the then Left-inclined

careless ease, they stepped on Perides the

move

troops,

his

moment he began

and the rendezvous with the

to

King did not

materialise.

At the British High Commission, Sir Arthur Clark had arrived with Makarios. Orek took one look

at

the anxiety

on His Beatitude's

face and suggested he arrange for Vice-President

Clark brushed this aside, "There

present.

straighten this out Sir Arthur,

succumbed

between

unknown

to throat

to those present,

cancer a few years

"You Turks broke sat

Kutchuk

no need.

was

a

dying man. He

to berate

Orek.

the cease-fire!" he raged. at a loss,

the tables rapidly turning against them, the almost proverbial

were

in

desperate

at last,

straits.

He

Archbishop would supervise

Finally, the

the British

be can

later.

complacently. Seeing the Greeks obviously

of Makarios shattered

to

We

us," he said in his raspy whisper.

Immediately Makarios began

Orek

is

calm

he forcbore to mention that the Turks

let

Makarios

said he it.

talk himself out.

would agree

to a cease-fire if

This was on the lines of what Orek

had already proposed and failed to achieve. With the sound of the Turkish jets to accept.

still

ringing

in his ears,

"We'll agree," he said,

he was no longer

"if the

in

any hurry

Greeks move back

to the

positions they occupied yesterday, so the Turks can return to their

homes."

146

The Genocide Files

Makarios and Cleridcs looked at each other. Inside the walled Greeks had not advanced one inch since the shooting had begun. But Orck's stipulation meant they would have to withdraw from Omorphita, Kumsal and other areas outside the walls that they city, the

had invaded.

Makarios

became his old suave self. This was one of the most fluent procrastinators in

immediately

smooth-tongued

priest

the world.

A

quick stroke of the beard and he countered -

"1

can arrange a

cease-fire in half an hour."

Orek was almost shaken out of his complacency and he just managed to bite back the retort that only the day before, Makarios, when discussing the cease-fire, had insisted that it would take some considerable time for the orders to reach the lower echelons.

Seeing Orek undecided, the Archbishop pressed

"You and Clerides go and Orek had

a ready

answer

call the cease-fire,"

to that. "We'll

his case.

he suggested.

be shot!"

Clark, the High Commissioner, spoke up.

"We have armoured Orek thought about

cars ready," he offered. this carefully.

He

told

me

later

he had to

decide on the spot exactly what Makarios was planning, for he

could not bring himself to believe fighting, the

the killing. in

to

Greeks were prepared

He decided His

that, after

to call

it

a

four days of brutal

day and simply stop

Beatitude wanted British soldiers to step

give Turkey no reason to intervene by landing troops to

protect the Turks, and at the their enclaves to

same time keep

be dealt with

Greek mainland troops.

later

the

Turks sealed

in

with the continued help of

In this deduction, he

proved more astute

than the British government.

Orek refused. He said that unless definite terms for a cease-fire were agreed upon, there was no use in going about in British armoured cars to call off the combatants. The argument went on. Finally Makarios and Clerides gave in and agreed to a physical cease-fire line to be held by the British, exactly

asked for the day previously.

what Orek had

Harry Scott Gibbons

made

having

But

attempted to dilute

it.

time,

so

that

immediately

long would such a cease-fire line be

necessary, he wanted to know.

some

Makarios

concession,

the

How

147

Orck thought

tempers

could

would have

it

and

cool

the

to

be for

atmosphere

necessary for talks for a permanent solution develop.

Makarios suggested a few days would be enough, and the bickering started. Just then Colonel Sales burst into the

"The Turkish contingent has

left

room.

its

he reported.

barracks,"

"They are moving towards Ortakoy on the Kyrcnia Road."

He

strode over to the

window and opened

it.

"Look, you can see them from here."

Makarios rose and went to the window. The contingent was moving from the Myrtou road - where it had been stationed in Waynes Keep camp near the Greek mainland contingent - past the British

cemetery to the bypass connecting

all-Turkish village out of Nicosia on the

The contingent went

in battle

contingent were chosen,

formation, the

among

Ortakoy, the

to

first

main Kyrcnia road.

- almost

tall

all

the

other things, for their height -

stecl-helmeted troops sitting rigidly

at attention in

jeeps and trucks,

motor cycle outriders roaring along the grass verges. Makarios turned white, then turned swiftly "I

agree to a cease-fire," he said, "and

He walked over "But

to

where the Turk

anything happens now,

if

it

Until the world press headlines

I

to

shall

Orck.

keep

my

word."

still sat.

could lead to a world war!"

on Cyprus dwindled,

this streak

of self-importance ran through the Greek Cypriot attitude to the

problem

they

had

created.

In

their

official

statements

and

propaganda, they constantly reminded their listeners that a third

world war was more or

less inevitable

their national aspirations." In other

bidden by million

indeed!

this tiny

people, they

if

they could not "achieve

words, unless the world did as

Greek-Cypriot grouping of

would destroy

the

world.

less than

A

half a

monster ego

148

The Genocide Files

A was

nasty conflict between two

brewing up

NATO

Greece and Turkey,

allies,

was to avoid this Cyprus coming to a head between them, and not to world war, that the rest of the NATO countries were

certainly

at

that time, but

it

conflict over

prevent a

using their diplomatic pressure. Later, a

a third

Greek Cypriot newspaper announced,

world war over Cyprus, then

let

"If there is to

be

there be one!"

Unfortunately for Greek Cypriot narcissism, the question did not arise.

Orek, aroused by this remark from Makarios, snapped back,

"You should have thought of

The knock

that before."

was about to start again when there was a hearty High Commissioner's door. Sales opened it, and in

quarrel

at

the

marched

a

deputation

of the

Red Cross,

Checkley, the attractive and quite fearless

Corps

resplendent

representative,

Irene

John's Ambulance

uniform

black

her

in

Miss

by

led

St.

and

quivering with indignation.

As

men

the

rose to their feet, she

marched

into the

middle of the

room and addressed Makarios.

"We have

just seen

Turkish

women

and children dragged

Kykkos school. Will your Beatitude take

steps

to

into

have them

released?"

Makarios wilted

slightly

under the onslaught of the redoubtable

Englishwoman. Clcrides remained

He

about the hostages.

silent.

Orek had not known

leapt to the attack.

"What have these people done?" he stormed

"Why

reply, he

went on,

"I

cease-fire and at the

cannot go back to

same time

tell

immediately, and

I

want a

relatives can be informed.

the

cease-fire!"

threats

-

"it

list

people announcing a

that

be

-it

most

1

they will be released

of their names

Otherwise" will

my

them you have taken hostages.

must have an undertaking from you

make

at the President.

are they being treated like animals?" Before Makarios could

now

was Orek's difficult

to

so that their turn

now

arrange

to

the

Harry Scott Gibbons Sir Arthur Clark supported

and

returned,

no

receiving

Orck and

must be

said the hostages

from

help

149

though

tongue-tied,

a

normally eloquent Clcridcs, the President, buffeted by a ring of accusing eyes, quickly agreed to supply the

of names and to

list

have the hostages released as soon as he could.

The indignant Red Cross delegation and the irate Miss Chccklcy humphed out of the room. The ceasefire talks got under way again. Makarios was subdued. The High Commissioner suggested that would meet that evening and work out the

British military experts

details of the ceasefire line.

Makarios agreed without demur. The

combination of the buzzing by Turkish Turkish contingent from

camp and

its

move

the

jets,

of the

the unexpected assault by the

humanitarian organisation had turned him into a worried looking

man.

In

comparison

was now eager

to

Orek refused insisted

to his

go-slow attitude

at

previous meetings, he

have a ceasefire. to

commit

He

the Turkish side to the agreement.

on getting the approval of Dr. Kutchuk, the Vice-President,

adding that

it

would probably only be forthcoming when

the

list

of

hostages was supplied.

With the ceasefire to

still

to the

line

agreed upon

High Commission

at

principle but with details

nine the next morning.

combatants down

Sir Arthur Clark escorted the

Makarios and Clerides drove

armoured cars I

in

be worked out, the meeting broke up. Orek agreed to return

was

allowed

to

in the

go

to

Orek climbed

off.

to the yard.

into

one of the

be driven back to his sector.

yard by that time.

into the

I

grabbed Sales and asked

Turkish quarter with the armoured

foreign journalists had yet been allowed to get past the

Greek

"There's no room," he said, "I'm going and there's no

me

inside. I

told

words

in

I

have

him

to

car.

be

No

lines.

room

for

to sit outside."

I'd sit outside, too.

Then Sales spewed out

Foreign Office jargon to the effect that

if

I

a lot of

were seen with

Orek's escort the whole ceasefire plan would collapse.

As he drove

off,

I

shouted after him that

a drink again. Sales grinned

and waved.

I

would never buy him

150

The Genocide Files

Peter Bostock walked up to me. Peter

was

the R.A.F. information

During the Christmas fighting, had made full unusual attribute - for an information officer, that is. He

officer in Nicosia.

use of his

1

actually delighted in giving reporters information.

From

Nicosia where

to

he

lived,

I

had been kept up

the part of

date

on the

movements of the Greek private armies, the police, the Cyprus army and the mainland contingent, as well as what the RAF was doing. Peter gave

me

a photograph.

showed

It

woman

a

children in a bath, blood splashed over the white

tiles.

and three

was

It

the

scene of the Kumsal massacre.

How

Peter got

it

he refused to say. All he

happened somewhere inside the Turkish I

in

suspect that the photo

was taken by one of

whom

the area, several of

knew was

that

had

it

quarter.

the

RAF

residents

stated later they had seen

Greeks

entering the house and had heard the shots.

But with nothing I

could not send

it

to identify the picture

to

my

caption and the story to go with anything.

Two

days

by names, time or place,

newspaper. They would have demanded

later

my

it,

and Peter

just didn't

Express

Daily

a

know Stan

colleague,

Meagher, photographed the death scene himself. His picture was syndicated around the world and did nothing to enhance the Greek

Cypriot cause.

When Orck was

principle,

returned to his sector, a meeting of the Turkish leaders

Although the ceasefire proposals were agreed

held. it

was decided they could

hostages were

released.

Turkish enclave

in

With the confusion raging

Nicosia and refugees

wall gates, the Turks had no idea

to

in

not be put into effect until the

still

filtering in

how many

inside

the

through the

hostages had been

taken.

At

that

"premature"

moment,

the

according to

Turkish the

government

Turkish

Cypriot

made

a

move,

leaders,

"most

welcome" according to the Greek Cypriot leaders. Ankara Radio announced a cease-fire in Cyprus, adding the details that the Turkish and Greek mainland army contingents would be placed

Harry Scot I Gibbons under

the

General

of

control

151

Young from

Peter

the

Sovereign Bases and would jointly supervise the cease-fire.

know how

the radio station got that report, but

from Cyprus so

it

British Broadcasting Corporation. fighting,

don't

I

must have come

was probably from a news agency, The BBC, during

it

British

or perhaps the the Christmas

had reported several ceasefires that no one else had heard

of.

NATO

The

world

At the nurses home

Aziz was called to

speak

sighed

in

to the

to her, she

was

Thinking

told.

walked

room.

down

Makarios

kept

the

it

was another phone

call,

be sent to the Ledra Palace Hotel, she

to greet her.

The matron,

in

her surprise, sat

abruptly on a chair.

The President began pacing "I

relief.

mind.

Nicosia General Hospital, Matron Turkan

to refuse to

Makarios rose

to

waiting room. Archbishop Makarios wished

and determined into the

with

West did not seem

hostages, but the

will take

the room.

you and the other Turkish nurses

to the Ledra,"

he

began.

She refused point blank. Perhaps Makarios was having of indomitable

women

that day, for he

became very

his

fill

agitated and

refused to meet the matron's eyes.

"There are a few irresponsible armed

men about -

"

"No!" said the matron.

The Archbishop

"We must

go,

sat

down and

we must go

spread out his hands appealingly.

immediately!"

"No!" said the matron.

Makarios paced the room again. Then he appeared decision.

"You get

He

will all

you back

to reach a

turned to the matron.

come

to the

with me.

You

will stay with

Turkish quarter."

"To the Presidential Palace?" she asked. "To the Archbishopric," said the President.

me

until

I

can

152

The Genocide Files

Without realising the barb she was shooting home, the matron countered, "So you're taking hostages now?"

Makarios blanched, but the reason lost on her.

for the effect of her

remark

was

She agreed

go

to his home, but insisted the British High be informed and that she must hear them acknowledging the Archbishop's promise to escort the nurses to to

Commission had

to

safety. It

must be noted here

that the matron, an attractive creature

was much more

nearing middle age,

fluent in colloquial English

than the Archbishop and she belonged to the one species the priest

seemed unable

to

cope with. She was a

She proceeded threats

to

woman -

calmly browbeat the

and very much

man who

could

so.

resist the

and cajolings of Western governments.

He phoned

the High Commission. The matron pushed her head She recognised the unmistakable British accent. When Makarios put the phone down and appealed to her with his eyes, she nodded primly and called her nurses.

close to his.

Half an hour

drove

in

later, led

by the Presidential Cadillac, the nurses

an ambulance into the Greek quarter of Nicosia to the

Archbishopric.

Matron Turkan Aziz, her white uniform crisply starched, beside the President

in

sat

the presidential car.

On Christmas night the Justice Minister, Mrs. Osman Orck by phone. She said the list of

Souliotou, spoke to

hostages would be

handed over the following day. The Turkish side

insisted the details

of the cease-fire be also discussed the following day.

With the Levantine mentality of the Greek Cypriot,

it

was

highly possible that the fact a cease-fire had been agreed upon

would be sufficient in itself - provided it was announced by the Greek publicity handouts - without any actual cessation of was quickly learning that the Greek Cypriot shooting. understanding of events was that what appeared in print was a fact I

Harry Scott Gibbons

153

not to be contradicted - provided of course, that

it

conformed

to the

Greek point of view.

my

In I

eighteen months on the island before the shooting started,

had been so taken

in

by the widespread use of the English way of life - to outward appearances

language, the almost British at

any

-

rate

that

I

had begun

to

regard the Greek Cypriot as

British.

During Lebanese.

that

Christmas war,

Lebanese

I

brochures would give you

tourist

and

fictitious tariffs for hotels

learned that basically they arc very

taxis,

entirely

and a complete rewrite of

Lebanon's history, but there was no good complaining, for you

would be

told, "It's there in print!"

The Turks were not satisfied with the verbal cease-fire agreement. They wanted to see it in operation. Mrs. Souliotou, who was also the Honorary President of the Red Cross Society of Cyprus, agreed to send the list to the British High Commission on Thursday morning. Orck demanded to know about the Turkish nurses

at

Nicosia General Hospital. There were already frightening

rumours circulating about they

that

and the

their fate.

hostages

Mrs. Souliotou assured him

were safe and

under

Red Cross

supervision.

Assuming it,

that

Mrs. Souliotou was telling the truth as she knew

she must have been unaware that 150 of the hostages had been

taken away, lined up, murdered and the bodies disposed of

smooth operation

swift,

that

would have had

the approval of

in a

Adolf

Hitler.

In the

mixed

villages surrounding Nicosia,

Greek gunmen began

terrorising the Turks. In

Lakatamia, several Turkish houses were set on

In

Nisou, Dhenia, Akaki, Deftera, Piroi and Pcristerona, armed

fire.

civilians patrolled the Turkish sectors, shouting insults their guns.

some their

They took over

and waving

the gendarmerie posts, disarming and, in

cases, abducting their Turkish personnel.

houses and barricaded themselves

in.

The Turks went

into

154

The Genocide Files

A

young Turk from Lcfka, the Turkish enclave in the northwest, way to work at the Cyprus Mines Corporation at Xeros, was ambushed and shot dead. The Greek gunmen sealed off Lcfka.

on

his

St.

Johns Ambulance station wagon got food

At

five o'clock that evening, according to

was

It

that

the

several days before the indomitable Irene Checkley in her to the hamlets.

Nicos Sampson, a report mainland Turkish army contingent was moving on to

Nicosia "paralysed" the Greek

GHQ. Greek

morale "sank low."

Only Makarios, General Perides and Andreas Azinas (an leader), wrote Sampson, kept their heads.

EOKA

There was quarrelling between the Cypriot and mainland Greek

The latter maintained the situation was "not so desperate." The former wanted the mainland Greek contingent to be called over to fight the mainland Turks. The Cypriots accused the mainland officers of having betrayed them. The mainland Turks, they said, were setting Nicosia on fire. officers.

Perides and Djuvelekis insisted that the mainland Turks had not fired a single shot

The expelled

quarrels

from

and had gone raged. the

to

Ortakoy.

Eventually, the

Greek

Cypriot

mainland officers were

GHQ

and

the

other

sub-headquarters.

At the glittering new Archbishopric, Makarios relaxed.

"We

are safe now," he told

Turkan Aziz. "No one can harm us

here."

The matron was surprised at this remark. The Archbishopric was within the city walls, not far from the firing line, whereas the Presidential Palace was well away from danger, practically in the countryside.

But the President obviously

felt

safer in his

own house

than

in

his official residence.

He ushered his guests into the huge chandclicred conference room and indicated where the nurses could sleep on the lush carpet. Matron Aziz was given a mattress.

Harry Scott Gibbons

155

Then Makarios gave her what she later described as a "Cook's The old Archbishopric close by had been

tour" of his residence.

converted into the "Struggle of Independence

"Museum

Museum" and

the

of Folk Art."

The new building, a lavish affair, was filled with excellent hung with crystal chandeliers and decorated with icons and paintings, many of them valuable presents from kings, furniture,

presidents and prelates.

The matron was impressed, but surprised almost boyish pride

in his

at

the Archbishop's

establishment.

She was introduced to his father and mother, the cook and other all of whom were either blood relatives or came from the village of his birth, Panayia, on the lower slopes of the Troodos mountains. Makarios apparently trusted the Greeks as little as he servants,

did the Turks.

This was the incredible behaviour of the President of Cyprus,

aware

fully

unless

that,

a

cease-fire

was arranged promptly,

mainland Turkey would land troops to protect the island's Turkish

community, aware also around his capital

most

evil

that several

whose hierarchy he was

helpless hostages, taken by his

He had if

few days, and

own

a

member,

in

and

something in

the

to innocent,

people.

said that very afternoon that there could be a third world

showing Cyprus and its

the situation continued. Yet here he was, proudly

off his icons to a bored guest, acting as though troubles

were

in

Matron Aziz said to

that

had happened that very day, the holiest day

Christian church of

war

hundred people had died

city within the past

me

another hemisphere. retired to her mattress in the

later, "I

couldn't believe

it.

I

conference room. She

just could not believe it!"

manager of the Ledra Palace Hotel that he had no reason down. A cease-fire was underway. He said could stay the night but he would close down the next day unless British troops I

told the

to close

1

took over the hotel. "I

must have two armoured cars outside," he said with Swiss

exactitude.

The Genocide Files

156 1

promised

he bought

me

to

pass on his request to the British authorities and

a drink,

my

one and only Christmas present.

The armed Greeks on the roof of the Sevcris flour mill and the cold store fled when the mainland Turkish contingent began moving in their direction. The Nicosia Turks were disappointed over this, for they had hoped to capture the gunmen, having had eyewitness reports that mainland Greek soldiers had been in action there, too.

The mainland Turks moved Kyrenia road, and

set

to

Ortakoy, straddling the main

up camp.

That night Makarios went into conference with the representatives of Britain, the U.S., Turkey and Greece.

The meeting went on

until

three in the morning.

Makarios capitulated completely. The British, relying too much on the justice of the old saw, "Never kick a man when he's down," or perhaps because the only British officials not on During

holiday

it,

were

too

inexperienced

allowed him to remain firmly

in

to

power.

foresee

the

opportunities,

Harry Scott Gibbons

157

CHAPTER TWELVE Thursday morning, Boxing Day, was clear and cold. The winter sun sparkled on the fronds of the palm trees

A bazooka

was

fired at the

in front

of the Lcdra hotel.

Selimiye Mosque,

known

Sophia, and landed in the grounds without exploding. the firing often referred to as sporadic

also as St.

A

spasm of

shook the peaceful

then

air,

subsided.

At breakfast, British

I

learned of the nine a.m. meeting to be held

High Commission.

ceasefire

was genuinely

in

It

had begun

the offing.

to

look as

decided

I

if

at the

a general

to drive

down

to

the Presidential Palace to try to see Makarios.

At U.N. Square next

to the hotel, the

Two

trenchcoats had disappeared.

dirty

roadside grass unattended.

armed gunmen

in their

carthorses cropped the

The Wolseley Barracks, Osman Orek's

Defence Ministry and the Tripartite H.Q. offices of General Perides

were

all

I

Street

from

suddenly saw the Archbishop's huge car cruising

Homer Avenue

along

Moving up Museum

apparently deserted.

Paphos Gate,

in front

of me. Behind the Cadillac was an

ambulance. accelerated

I

the

past

alone.

We

car.

passed the hospital, and

rear-view mirror

still

swung in front of He was sitting in the rear

roundabout,

ambulance and behind Makarios'

I

the seat

noticed the ambulance in the

following.

Makarios crossed the Pedicos Bridge and turned

right along

Iroon Street. I

followed him into the yard of the British High Commission,

parked hurriedly and jumped out as the ambulance drew up behind the President's car.

Makarios gave him.

He walked

the scented

a

He had

me

already emerged.

a cheery

good morning

few yards away from

morning

air

and asked

me

as

I

walked up

to

his car, breathed deeply at

with a kindly smile,

"How

158

The Genocide Files

are you?" and extended his hand.

I

shook

it

and asked the

latest

news.

He turned and extended an arm gracefully in the direction of the ambulance, where what appeared to be an unending stream of dark-haired uniformed nurses was pouring through the rear door from the

tiny interior.

Makarios safety,"

said,

They had been jammed

"I

tight inside.

have just brought some Turkish nurses

and favoured

me

with another benevolent smile.

I

to

was

almost captivated. I

said, "Well,

nodded

in

Happy Christmas." He folded

hands

his

acknowledgement, and gazed around

at

in front,

the trees and

buildings, looking positively enraptured with the scenery.

demeanour had thrown about saw then how effective his bearing was in dealing with those whose views differed from his. This was the I

me

shook off the

slight euphoria his

like a blanket.

I

kindly parish priest, cut off from the sordid facts of

life,

smiling on

his flock.

Few people them.

ever saw Makarios ruffled, and

asked again what was the

I

me and

latest

I

was not one of

news. He turned towards

without changing his posture, appeared to

manner of

conspiratorially in the

scandalous aside to the wives

at

settle

down

the minister telling a slightly

the church door after the

Sunday

service.

"The island belongs "I

to Britain!"

have asked the British I

he said.

to take over.

was astounded. This was an

I

Cyprus entirely

asked what he meant. is

once more

different

British."

story

from

began to stammer, a throwback to a severe Scottish schooling. Makarios went on complacently. "As from three o'clock this morning," he said, "I have handed over Cyprus completely to Britain. The island is no British troops supervising a ceasefire line.

longer

my

I

responsibility."

To emphasise

where the lapels between the thumb and forefinger of each hand and pulled the material outwards, an extremely Arab way of saying

would be

the point, he took his cassock

in a suit

"Nothing to do with me."

What would happen now,

I

asked.

G ibbons

Harry Scott

have asked the British troops

"I

1

59

over the island. They

to take

do so today."

will

This

is

what had obviously been agreed upon during the

all-night session.

I

asked

he would resign as president.

if

His eyes turned mournful. His beard twitched as the comers of his

mouth turned downwards. shall return to

"I

my

Archbishopric." So innocent and

looked, a touch of compassion penetrated

At

that

moment

building and

my

lost

he

thick reporter's skin.

High Commissioner came out of the

the

across the

He looked haggard,

yard.

checks

his

unshaven above the small imperial beard. "Ah," said the President,

comes

"here

Sir

and he

Arthur,"

stepped forward, a beatific smile on his face. Sir Arthur Clark came up, slightly discomfited. He had not known Makarios would turn up at the High Commission. Beside

him walked Osman Orek. Clark shook hands with Makarios. The news had

around a

that

crowd of

something was happening reporters had arrived.

Makarios, superbly "Is

at ease,

I

have

They gathered around

to

my

in a circle.

office?" asked Clark.

some nurses

just delivered

Clark glanced with some surprise cluster of nurses

got

waited.

Your Beatitude coming up

"No, no,

somehow

High Commission and

at the

now huddled by

at

a hedge.

to

your care."

ambulance and the was painfully obvious

the It

rid of his visitor. In view of what Makarios had just assumed Clark wanted to break the news himself to the press and not have the Archbishop giving any impromptu press was right, but not in conferences in the High Commission yard.

Clark wanted

me,

told

I

I

the

way

all

night

"I

I

thought.

must apologise for

working and

Makarios

took

I

the

discussions.. His right I

my

appearance," said Clark. "I've been up

haven't had time to shave." hint

not

to

refer

hand moved slowly up

knew what he was going

to say.

to

their

to his beard.

all-night

160

The Genocide Files "Please don't apologise. Neither have

While

gave

Clark

continued looking

at

embarrassed

a

him benignly,

Osman Orek was

I."

not

cough,

the

Archbishop

a twinkle in his eye.

embarrassed. Fixing the

the slightest

President with a barrister's glare, he demanded, "What about the

We

other hostages?

have hundreds missing. Where

Makarios' eyes changed when the tough at

little

is

the list?"

Turk's voice spat

him, but he answered calmly. will see to

"I

With

The

car. I

a slight

it."

bow

and walked back

to Clark, he turned

to his

gravel crunched as he drove off.

asked Clark when the press could have a statement. He said he

would

call the press shortly

In the

High Commissioner's

and returned

to his office

office, Clerides

the volubility that had deserted

him

had recovered some of

the

in

with Orek.

same room

the day

before.

when Orek sat down. He said the Turks morning from Ayios Kassianos school, a Greek school near the Famagusta Gate in Nicosia.

He

were

the

turned to the attack

firing that

Orek answered that no Turk could Greeks were shooting from it.

"You Turks

are shooting

get near the school and that

from Hilarion

into

Kyrenia," said

Clerides.

Orek

replied that this

there, that in fact there

seemed

was

untrue, for their

were no Turks

at all

were no armed Turks in the area.

Clerides

satisfied.

Orek asked

that British troops

be sent to Kumsal and Omorphita

so that, under their protection, the Turks could collect their dead

and wounded and evacuate those

Young, taking

still

in

Shortly afterwards, Orek and Clerides called

in.

hiding. General

Peter

part in the talks, agreed to this. left,

and the press were

1

Harry Scot Gibbons

16

I

When

room was

the

full

Clark

of journalists,

read

out

a

statement.

"The Government of Cyprus has accepted an offer British,

Greek and Turkish forces stationed

been placed under British command, help

the

that

Cyprus, which have

in

efforts

its

ensure

to

maintenance of the ceasefire and restoration of peace." I

was taken aback. yard with

the

I

told Clark of the conversation

according to him, Cyprus had been handed back

for several

"So what Makarios told agreed to word

it

in

that,

his

beard and

moments.

Then he told me, "Well, word the statement."

all

had had

to Britain.

looked decidedly embarrassed, pulled

Clark.

coughed

I

Makarios, that he had asked for help and

this

this is the

me was

way

way we have decided

true,"

1

to

pressed him, "but you

nevertheless?"

After a moment, Clark said, "Yes."

1

could get no more out of

him.

Back "I

am

at

the Presidential Palace,

not going to concern myself at present with the causes of,

and with those responsible

My

Makarios issued a statement.

for, the

repeated appeals for the

sad events of the past few days.

immediate cessation of

between Greeks and Turks led only eventual short-term recess

to

temporary results

was being followed by

a

hostilities in that

an

new outbreak

of hostilities.

"The police force fought very hard task that

was

all

the

more

difficult

to restore

law and order, a

because of their small numerical

strength.

"We have accepted an offer that British forces, having also under their command the Greek and Turkish contingents stationed in

Cyprus, help the government

in its efforts to

"The government, assisted also

in the

restore order.

above way,

will

do

all

it

can for the restoration of law and the speedy return to normality."

Here was yet another version of what the British troops were do.

to

162

The Genocide Files according to Makarios himself, he had asked tor the help

First,

of Britain whose troops he had specified should take over the whole island and restore peace.

Next came the

joint

statement that Britain had offered her

help the government to

troops to

maintenance of the

"ensure

ceasefire and restoration of peace."

Now

British troops

side

-

backed

Makarios,

statement, had

come

were going

in restoring

by Makarios

up

by

to assist the

Why

law and order.

to take

British-approved

the

joint

out to explain to the people of Cyprus that

government -

i.e.

the

Greek

had Britain refused the offer

over the whole country and stop the fighting?

had the feeling there was something odd going on between the

I

High Commission and Makarios. Since then, there have been published claims that Sir Arthur Clark supported and

several

Makarios

encouraged

with

was

Constitution. But there

plans

his

to

dismantle

the

1960

also the question of finding sufficient

troops.

At one of the meetings between the Greeks and Turks Gate police

station, the British

at

Paphos

observer team invited along had

expressed doubts that enough British troops to patrol a ceasefire line

made

could be

available.

Britain had just been confronted with the likelihood of heavy

commitments

in

High Commissioner

in

forces

Aden. Early

Aden was

in

December, 1963, the British London for talks with

flying to

ministers of the South Arabian Federation (later overthrown by the

Nasser and Soviet-backed National Liberation front which was handed the country - and a lot more territory than it had asked for -

on

by Britain's

a plate

December 1967) when

Two

airport.

socialist

Prime Minister Harold Wilson

a grenade

people died, 41

was thrown

at the

in

party at the

others were injured, the

London

conference was postponed and a state of emergency declared

in

Aden. It

was

blatantly

top of

the beginning of organised terrorism in

by Egypt and directed by

this,

Assembly,

its

the Afro-Asian and "neutral" bloc

backed

by

an

Aden, financed

president Colonel Nasser.

assortment

of

On

at the

U.N. General

other

anti-Western

Harry Scott Gibbons delegations, had

slammed through

163

a resolution describing the result

of the state of emergency to be "a critical and explosive situation"

which, to them, constituted a "denial of fundamental rights" to

Adeni grenade throwers.

The

flareup

meant more

earmarked

British troops being

Aden. The request for troops

in

Cyprus had come

at

for

one of the

worst possible moments.

The

Makarios request would have Turkey land troops to protect the Turkish

alternative to ignoring the

been to step aside and

let

Cypriots. Britain, strongly

backed by America, was anxious

this

should

war between Greece and Turkey and a collapse of NATO's southern front with Russia. The danger of such a war and the collapse of NATO is brought up regularly today by Britain, America and the European Union whenever there is a suggestion that the Turks of Cyprus should not happen. Both raised the spectre of

have an independent existence, or even any form of freedom that allows them to escape the Greek yoke.

On

was no longer any doubt that someone Cyprus Turks before their enclaves were overrun with the bloodthirsty Greek civilian gunmen let loose had

the other hand, there

go

to

to the aid of the

among them. Turkey could have succeeded what

I

learned later in Ankara,

agreed trustingly, and with

in

a landing at that time but, from

was very

relief, to the

reluctant to

do so and

placing of British troops

between the two factions.

To

avert the

war

threat within

NATO

and

at

the

same time bring

peace to Cyprus, but unwilling and unable to take on too large a

commitment, Britain had apparently decided on the compromise course of "offering" assistance. Britain was placing a great deal of trust in Greek Cypriot administration and was hoping that goodwill would be reciprocal. In turn, Turkey was trusting

In

doing

Makarios and the

this,

his

Britain to prevent further casualties

at

among Turkish

Cypriots.

Nevertheless, mainland Turks must have had

some misgivings

may

also have shared

the

wording of the

joint statement. Britain

The Genocide Files

164

some of

the alarm that

by Makarios It

in his

not difficult

is

qualms about

1

the subtle alteration of the

felt at

now

to sec, in retrospect,

me what

telling

session at Christmas.

If

why Makarios had no

had transpired during

through

encouraged

On to

mainland

to the British

Turks

and

been

had

to invade.

the other hand,

was going

the

actions,

their

that all-night

events had forced the Turks to land, he

could always reveal that he had offered the island that,

wording

statement.

to

if

things went according to his plan, no one

pay much attention

to an exclusive

confidence given

one newspaper.

He had

nothing to lose

wording of the

was

It

in telling

joint statement,

days

several

me. With the knowledge of the

Makarios was well ahead of me.

later

before

he

admitted,

at

conference, that he had actually asked for aid from Britain to prevent a

By

a

press

in

order

Turkish landing.

then the British were too hopelessly involved to extricate

themselves, even though they realised that they had been called

in

only to give the Archbishop a breathing space and that the goodwill

was completely one-sided.

I

had told General Young,

in

the

High Commissioner's

office,

about the request from the Ledra Palace that he use the hotel as his headquarters. "I

think that's a

of fact I

cars.

it

told

was

in

good

my mind

idea," he said with a smile.

from the moment

this thing

him about the Swiss manager's request said that would be arranged.

for

"As

came

a matter

up."

two armoured

He laughed and

photographs that went out to the world press day were those two armoured cars in the hotel forecourt and the British troops around them and on the roof of the hotel. In fact, the only

that

General

Young and

the British

government very quickly learned

Greek side understood that British troops, in helping the Cyprus government "to ensure maintenance of the ceasefire and restoration of peace," were expected to assist the "legal state that the

Harry Scott Gibbons forces"

in

enclaves.

165

the Turks and taking over the Turkish Greek eyes, the "legal forces" included the private

disarming

And

in

armies.

While General Young prepared

to

Sovereign Bases

in Akrotiri in the

the island, there

was

move

his troops

from the British

south and Dhekclia

a lull in the shooting. For a

in

the cast of

few hours

at

any

rate.

At

this,

the

first real

ceasefire since the shooting had

begun

six

days before, what were the reactions of the Greeks of Cyprus?

As

in

most countries, they

government statements But unlike

in

relied

Western countries, there was a complete, almost

abject acceptance of these media.

appeared unless

it

to exist

on newspapers, the radio and

for their information.

no curiosity

amounted

to criticism

Among Greek

to verify

Cypriots there

anything written or spoken

of themselves.

The Greek news channels exonerated them of any blame for the any responsibility for its results. Those who had witnessed atrocities were eager to accept this stand. Those who had taken part in them, if they were not hard enough to shrug them off, read the reports claiming that what they had done had been in fighting and

self-defence and, with that mystic Eastern Mediterranean mentality that

Westerners cannot comprehend, persuaded themselves that was

just

what had happened.

As

December

early as

13, a

Interior Minister Yorgadjis

week before

the shooting began,

gave an example of doublethink and

doubletalk.

Addressing a police parade inspection police mission the

was

framework of the

"No

may

in

Nicosia, he said the

"to protect everything lawful state

laws

and moral within

in force.

police force," he continued, "however well organised

be, can ever be successful

end unless

it

and carry

its

it

mission to a successful

enjoys public confidence and maintains good relations

with the public."

166

The Genocide Files But, he concluded, "All of you, irrespective of rank, race or

religion,

who would

should never hesitate to crush anybody

dare

stand up against anyone of your colleagues."

A week sinister

this parting

later,

instruction took

on a much more

meaning.

Then, on Christmas Eve, the killing of the British soldier

in

Larnaca provided Yorgadjis with a few comments against the Turks. "I

feel great joy,"

he went on, "seeing today the British families

shopping for the Christmas holidays under the protection of the Greeks."

This was a highly inaccurate statement, the only shopping the British

were doing was

British troops, but

it

in

NAAFI's, protected where necessary by instill in the minds of the Greeks that

served to

they were the island's protectors.

Yorgadjis continued: "The security forces are doing

armed Turkish groups, which have

to control the

every concept of the

state, killing indiscriminately

all

they can

tried to abolish

even subjects of

friendly countries."

There was no mention of the

killing of

Ogut Osman Nuri

the

naturalised British engineer in broad daylight in a busy street in

Nicosia before the eyes of his British wife. Nor of the slaughter of

Mrs. Ilhan and her three children

in the bath, all

Turkish mainland

subjects.

"The lawful it

is

state,"

he went on,

"is in

control of the situation and

believed that shortly law and order will be imposed and that

unlawfully acting persons will be brought before justice.

"The endurance, perseverance and courage of the officers and

men

of the police and gendarmerie

succeeded

in

armed Turks

is

unparalleled.

They have

keeping the situation under control and confining the to the positions they

started their orgy of lawlessness.

held from the

moment

they

At no point were the Turks able

move forward from their original now show signs of fatigue."

positions.

to

The Turks themselves

Harry Scot l Gibbons In

one sentence, Yorgadjis had managed

J

to

admit that the Turks

had not moved out of their area into any Greek quarter, but

same time imply

that they

67

at the

would have done had they not been

prevented.

The way

Greek

the

listeners

Turks had

interpreted this, the

stormed the Greeks and been beaten back.

The constant references to the police gave the impression to Greek Cypriots that police only were involved on the Greek side, and they were the defenders, while the Turks were purely lawless elements on the offensive. The fact that scores of foreign journalists

had seen thousands of young armed thugs surrounding a poorly

armed, poorly defended small section of the population, doing their best to shoot the other

them

Greek

into submission,

leaders.

meant

overrun that Christmas, and a

fait

to

little

They were confident

the

Yorgadjis and

Turks would be

accompli can always manage to

shrug off any criticisms of the methods used. The Greeks were confident that Christmas Eve. Yorgadjis himself had optimistically declared the Turks were showing signs of fatigue.

A

government statement continued the propaganda:

"For the fourth day running.... Turkish fanatics continued their

unprovoked attacks on security forces and on Greek police forces have the

This was one of

under control. it

It

whole area under

many

civilians....

control..."

allegations that police had the situation

showed confidence on

the one hand.

certainly did put the guilt for the atrocities

On

committed

the other

that

day on

the police.

The statement

also alleged that Turkish villages throughout the

island disapproved of "the criminal and irresponsible

the Turkish

On

community."

No

members of

proof was given to substantiate

this.

Christmas Eve, Kyrenia had stepped into the propaganda

battle.

A

few hours

after the

Turkish delegation had been taken off to

prison, the Kyrenia District officer issued a statement. It

said that leading

members of

the

two communities had met

discuss "harmonious inter-communal relations" in the town.

to

168

The Genocide Files "Representatives of both communities"

from any action tending

"retrain

it

said,

appealed

to all to

to lead to unpleasant events."

The statement omitted that the leading members of the Turkish community had been imprisoned and were not available to sign the statement.

As

the

stepped

in

main attack was launched on Omorphita, Cyprus Radio with a mixture of optimism and whitewash.

"Security

have launched

forces

mopping-up operation

a

in

Nicosia following the daylong heavy attacks on unarmed Greek families by Turks in Omorphita."

was enough

That

any

for

Greeks

conscience over the killings, any waverers that talks

would have been

As one broadcast,

intelligent "I

know

even

if

they

all

have

to

insisted,

"They have

was

that

there

the

after that

those Turks

we must

stop them,

were thousands of innocent

and children trapped to

if

be killed!."

He agreed with me

women

terrible things, then

me

to

sounds awful, Mr. Gibbons, but

it

Turkish

This

better than bullets.

and normally kind Greek said

do those

are determined to

who might have any who might have thought

in

the Nicosia enclave, but

be taught a lesson once and for

tone

of

Greek Cypriot

all."

popular

opinion

at

Christmas, 1963.

As

the

lull

occasional

descended on Nicosia on Boxing Day, interrupted by the burrrp

of machincgun

fire,

the

Greeks

in

Kyrenia

launched their offensive on the strategic pass leading over the

mountains

wide Mesarya

to the

plain below.

The capture of

the

pass would leave the northern, Turkish quarter of Nicosia exposed

and vulnerable

to the

Greek armies.

Clcrides' tactical accusation to

High Commission had

were

in

the area.

been negotiating the

a

Orek

that

morning

elicited the information that

And Osman Orek

at

the British

no armed Turks

had believed the Greek had

peace agreement. He had been tricked again by

cunninn Clcrides.

Harry Scoti Gibbons About two hundred armed men,

moved up up

to the

narrow pass.

to Hilarion Castle. Just

On

I6V

civilians supported by police,

the right side

was

the road leading

over the pass, and again on a narrow

road to the right, lay the Turkish village of Aghirda, and from there

was

a

complete view of the road winding into Nicosia.

highly strategic position

if

the Greeks could take

it.

The announcement from Kyrcnia two days before of between the two sides had

lulled

it

A

a truce

any fears the Turks of Aghirda

might have had regarding an attack from the seaside

came

eyes were on Nicosia. Behind them

resort.

armed Greeks

the

Their

in cars

and trucks.

Near the pass they stopped and advanced on

foot.

Before they

reached Aghirda, they were spotted and the alarm given. The

Greeks started shooting.

An 18-yr-old Turk fell dead at the first volley. At Aghirda there were three policemen, two Turkish and one Greek. The Greek was disarmed hurriedly and sent off

to

Dhikomo,

Turks took the three Greener guns

in

a

the tiny

nearby village. The

armoury and rushed

out to meet the invaders.

The Greener guns, augmented by villagers,

the the

a

few shotguns of the

opened up on the attackers from the rocks on the sides of

little

road.

The Turks

rock to rock, changing

ran from

positions between shots, to give the impression that a massive force

was

in wait.

The Kyrenia Greeks, caught within

a

few hundred yards of

capturing Aghirda and thus consolidating their hold on the pass, fled in panic.

the

They

retreated

winding road back

back

to their cars

and and sped down

to the coast.

Among the equipment they left behind were Dome Hotel, a welcome find for the defenders. Aghirda was the scene of a famous medieval that the

Lusignan boy king Henri

Roman Emperor

Frederick

Kyrenia tasted just as good attack

was

sent to Nicosia.

II.

1

The

blankets from the

battle.

It

was

there

defeated the army of the Holy victory over the warlords of

to the villagers

The Turkish

of Aghirda.

Word

of the

leaders informed General

/

70

The Genocide Files

Young and asked him

to take action against this blatant violation of

the ceasefire.

Young

replied, "I'm sorry.

have no authority outside Nicosia."

I

The limitations on the authority of the British truce force were becoming apparent even before the first British soldier had arrived from the Sovereign Bases. This was to set the trend for the effectiveness of the British initiative.

Maintaining the ceasefire, and holding the Greeks back from the Turks, became a matter for the personality, humour, discipline and sheer guts of the individual British soldier.

was

It

more than

to

make himself

official backing.

weary months, but he was

a rotten job, stretching into

respected, and rather

He had

knowing he had no

respected, and slightly feared,

slightly feared.

And

he never fired

a single shot to maintain his status. I

have seen British troops

democracy

their country, for

many

in

parts, serving for the glory

of

other people's countries, and for the

in

sheer love of fighting.

Cyprus,

In

saw

I

them

for

peacekeeping role where forms

the

time

first

in triplicate

in

a

purely

were required before

they could answer a bullet in kind. If

my

ever

my

in

British

life

heritage,

of travel they

I

had experienced any qualms about

vanished forever when

saw those

I

friendly faces take over Nicosia and carry out a thankless task

uncomplainingly.

That day,

I

was ordered by my newspaper

check on Greek reaction apparently solved,

rumours

in the

I

to the

thought

it

Cyprus

to fly to

situation.

With

Athens

to

the situation

were domain of

a bit late for that. But there

pubs of London's Fleet

Street, then the

newspaper empires, of Turkey planning to land troops and counter precautions, and when rumours were circulating in Fleet Street pubs, there was little the man on the Britain's

Greece

taking

scene could do to counter them.

That night off for

my

I

packed

house

in

my

shaving

kit, filled

up the Rover, and

Kyrenia for a change of clothes.

set

Harry Scott Gibbons

The

direct route along the Kyrenia road

midnight

was scaled

off,

1

71

so

at

drove out of Nicosia on to the Myrtou Road, past the

I

barracks of the mainland Greek contingent and evacuated the mainland Turkish contingent.

camp

of

got as far as Ycrolakkos, a few

I

miles before Ayios Vasilios and Skylloura.

There was a roadblock

at

Ycrolakkos. As

guns, a horde of young armed

shop and surrounded the

My

identity

I

drew up before

the

rushed out of the silent coffee

car.

"Put your lights out!"

"Get out of the car!"

men

I

put the lights out.

got out of the car.

I

was checked, my

why

destination, the reasons

of

everything.

"You cannot go asked

I

why

this

way

to

Kyrenia!"

not.

"The Turks are attacking!"

was

revealed that there

I

stopped, but

A

was

I

a ceasefire, that

all

the shooting had

cut short.

young man who looked

like a student

stepped forward.

He

pointed into the darkness.

"The Turks are attacking

at

cannot allow you to go this way. will

have

to

Ayios Vasilios," he It

is

said.

too dangerous for you.

go round by Morphou."

Morphou and Myrtou form

Nicosia,

a

rough triangle. The

detour would more than double the distance from where

Myrtou. roads, to

however,

would cut across reach the Morphou-Myrtou said

I

I

"We You

I

I

was

to

the triangle, using secondary road.

had intended cutting back

Once

past the roadblock,

to the direct

Nicosia-Myrtou

road.

The gunmen stopped "There

is

shooting

that plan.

all

over this area," the student said after a

conference with his colleagues. "You will have to go back to the

main Nicosia-Morphou road. The police you can proceed

further."

at

Morphou

will tell

you

if

172

The Genocide Files

The whole area was obviously tied up by the Greek private It was reasonable to suppose that my movements would be reported from town to town in advance. explained that was off to

armies.

1

I

Athens Kyrenia if,

as

I

morning, but

in the first.

I

that

Morphou

My

my movements would

I

I

me

my

clothes from

constant interrogations

be passed from roadblock

to

turned south along a narrow lane to

road.

suppositions about the phone calls proved correct. At each

town and village

waved

to collect

thought that might save

believed,

roadblock ahead of me. Then the

had

I

was flagged down, my

I

car

number checked, and

on.

drove through Akaki, Pcristerona, Astromeritis and Zodia

to

Morphou. At the

first

holdup,

it

was

carefully explained to

my lights repeatedly when approaching down, open my window to hear instructions to halt. should blink

They

forgot to

warn me of roadblocks

Near Morphou,

I

in

me

that

a village,

I

slow

between towns.

turned a sharp bend and ten yards

in front

I

saw a large truck blocking the road. slammed on the brake as armed figures leapt to the ground. switched off the headlights and opened the door to let on the overhead light. I

I

A man

down

knelt

submachinegun

at

six

feet

me. Fear made

away and squinted along

me

lose

"Don't panic, you stupid bastards!"

I

my

his

temper.

yelled.

"No one's going

to

shoot you!"

A

dark figure stepped forward.

"We

It

was an

are not panicking," he said quietly.

elderly policeman.

He appeared

as

shaken

sudden encounter. The gunmen must have been having a quiet snooze when roared around the corner.

as

I

was

at the

I

was still upset. "Then tell him to point somewhere else!" realised was still shouting. I

wiped the sweat from

I

1

I

my

bloody gun

that

got out of the car,

face and explained where

I

was going.

had turned off the main road and It seemed that in the darkness would have to retrace a few miles. With great relief left behind that sulky nest of young thugs. I

I

Harry Scott Gibbons At Morphou

1

173

was held up for some time while phone calls to Myrtou was eerie, the silent trees lining

were made. The drive

swishing past, each corner taken with

the road

my

foot on the

brake, dreading another surprise meeting with those carelessly held

guns.

At Myrtou, another student pleaded with

me

not to continue to

Kyrcnia.

"The coast road I

under

is

fire

didn't argue with him.

I

from the Turks," he

said

I

said.

would take my chances, and

drove on.

was not getting propaganda from those nervous They really believed the Turks were everywhere. Even those at Yerolakkos, where had been first stopped. doubt if even they knew the ghastly scene that was taking place in Ayios Vasilios, just a few miles away that night. realised

I

I

triggermen.

I

I

I

reached

my home

in

Kyrenia

at

three in the morning, set the

alarm and tumbled into bed. It

was weeks before

I

learned

why

the direct Nicosia-Myrtou road an

I

had not been allowed

the Turkish graveyard a quarter of a mile out of

In

Vasilios 21 people, men,

They were

women

the twelve villagers

to use

Boxing Day. Ayios

and children were being buried.

murdered

in

Ayios Vasilios two

nights before and nine others captured and shot nearby.

A

small bulldozer dug several holes

wired-off cemetery. their

hands

tied

still

bulldozer filled

The frozen

in the

red soil of the small,

behind their knees, were

in the holes,

some with dumped in. The

bodies, fully clothed,

then ran back and forth levelling the

earth.

When

I

drove back to Nicosia, shaved and changed,

at eight

o'clock on Friday morning, the road through Ayios Vasilios

was

once more open.

As

I

passed the village,

the corner coffee

I

noticed a group of sullen

shop and the burnt

rafters of the

young men

Turkish houses.

at

174

The Genocide Files drove

I

past

graveyard

the

without

a

glance.

I

saw

the

earth-ridged caterpillar tracks leading through the open gate, but

me

they meant nothing to

At Nicosia

airport,

my

at the time.

ticket

was taken care of by

cheery Cyprus Airways ground hostess. in

and out of Cyprus,

come

had

I

As

to look

a pert, young,

travelled continuously

I

forward

to her

ready smile

and cheerful chattering.

That day she lapsed into glumness

She began talking about the Turks, "They should I

was

all

be

after a brief smile of

criticising

killed," she said.

rather taken aback.

"What about

the

women

"The children must be

and children?"

I

asked.

killed too!," she spat. "In ten years they

marry and breed again, and we

will

welcome.

them vehemently.

will

have

them once

to kill

more!" Little did I

still

I

realise

how

felt slightly

prophetic her words were.

sick as

hotel in Athens's Constitution

I

booked

into the

King George IV

Square and went out on

my

reporting

rounds.

During the

night, the

Cyprus delegation

at the

United Nations

accused Turkey of committing aggression and asked the Security Council to take measures to "territorial integrity,

Zenon

Rossides,

prevent

further

violations

of

its

sovereignty and independence."

the

permanent

delegate,

made

a

puzzling

statement.

"Aggressive actions by Turkish military units," he said, had resulted in clashes with

Greek troops

in

Cyprus with "grave and

threatening consequences to international peace."

There had been no clashes between the Greek and Turkish contingents in Cyprus. Nor had any been alleged by the Greek

government.

Harry Scott Gibbons This was only the statements by Rossides.

first It

1

75

of a scries of wild and inaccurate

was

not long before he began to bore the

other delegates. But for a brief period, his outpourings provided a

diversion for the pressmen covering the routine, inane activities of the glass monstrosity

on the East River.

Rossides was continuing with the Akritas Plan

blame on Turkish Cypriots for the their

own

people.

atrocities

in

laying the

committed against

/

76

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER THIRTEEN In

Nicosia,

December

first British units began to arrive on Friday, from the Sovereign bases. The uniforms of the Green

the

27,

Regiment and the RAF Regiment mingled around the Ledra Palace and a temporary headquarters set up in a hangar at Nicosia airport. They brought their bedrolls, and for many days most of them slept out in the open. The first to go out on Jackets, the Gloucester

patrol

was

The

RAF

the

Regiment.

international press, for the

were able

started,

to cross

first

time since the shooting

over into the Turkish quarter.

Pictures of Mrs llhan and her children were taken and radioed across the world.

The

first stories to

"We went which 200

in the

bath

at

Kumsal

reach the outside world were shocking.

together into the sealed-off quarter of Nicosia

300 people had been slaughtered

to

in

in the last five

days.

"We were

the

first

Western reporters there and we have seen

sights too frightful to be described in print - horrors so extreme that the

people seemed stunned beyond tears and reduced

hysterical

and mirthless giggle

that

is

more

to an

terrible than tears."

(London Daily Express) "Wherever

I

looked

were the stark and endured

civil

in the

Turkish sector (of Nicosia) there

tragic signs familiar to

any town which has

war. Sandbags and sentry positions, haggard

men

guns whose faces behind the stubble of beard show nothing but fatigue. Men and women lying on their backs in

with

impoverished aid centres with shot and stab wounds, gazing up blankly

at a

world they no longer recognise." (London Daily

Mail) "In this village of

evidence of the

shame today (Skylloura)

hatred

I

found grim

between Greek and Turk

bedevilled this beautiful island.

A

that

has

few days ago, 1,000 people

Harry Scott Gibbons lived here in their solid, stone built terror

350

They were

- men,

villagers all

women

177

homes. Then

in a night of and children - vanished.

Turks.

"From doorways, men and women eyed me suspiciously. When asked where arc the Turks, the women averted their gaze. The men shuffled their feet and said, I

"Wc

They

don't know.

Greek reaction was

just left." (Daily Herald,

swift.

London)

Interior Minister Yorgadjis

made

a

frantic statement.

"The allegations about organised murders and massacres of Turkish men,

women

He admitted

and children arc unfounded," he

that

women

said.

and children had been

killed,

but

alleged this had been the result of "fierce fighting which had taken

place

thickly populated residential areas."

in

The to take

killings resulted,

however, "from the decision of the Turks

up arms against the lawful forces of the Republic."

The reports about atrocities were "untrue, and are probably communicated abroad in order to create wrong impressions and to draw the sympathy of world opinion...." Referring to the pictures taken by foreign journalists, Yorgadjis

were caused by the "foolish acts of the Turkish dwellings, hotels and clubs as gun emplacements from which to fire on the security forces."

said those casualties

rebels

using

in

The only "will be the It

was

only was

a it

private

result of "this

campaign of

false accusation," he said,

fanning of hatred between the two communities."

crude whitewashing attempt and the fault of the

Turks themselves

it

was sickening. Not

that their

women

and

children had been massacred, but the foreign press had reported this,

not because

it

was

true,

atrocities, but in order to create

it was their job to report wrong impressions abroad.

and

these

The pictures and reports could only fan hatred between Greeks and Turks - the actual murders, apparently, would not have done this! It

was

Western

a prize

example of

romanticists

that mystic oriental

swoon over - don't

just

mentality that

deny

that

the

/

78

The Genocide Files

authenticated fact never happened twist that the other

The

guy did

it

in the first place,

but put in the

anyway!

allegations about Turkish hostages taken by the Greeks

were "equally unfounded," Yorgadjis went on. "Approximately 700 Turkish citizens have been evacuated and

removed

to safe areas,"

he said.

These "innocent citizens" owed security forces have run

in

their lives to the "risk

evacuating them under

which the safe

to

fire

areas."

"They are being given food and medical care and are own homes."

free to

return to their It

was

the

first

public Greek statement that 700 Turks were

being held, a figure that agreed with the Turkish Yorgadjis eventually.

never

Nor was

return to their

explained

why

only

there any explanation

tally.

550

why,

if

were

returned

they were free to

homes, they had not been released from Kykkos

much

school until three days after the statement, and then only after

thumping by Duncan Sandys, then British Commonwealth Secretary, who flew to the island to try and straighten things out. The undertaking on Christmas Day by Makarios himself that they would be freed had amounted to nothing. table

The 5000 who had escaped from the death town of Omorphita Hamit Koy, waiting and watching. From the slightly higher

sat in

ground where the

mud

hut village stood, they could see Omorphita.

For three days they watched, then they saw their homes put to the torch by Nicos

"Sampson's

Sampson and

his gang.

stories about his attacks

Jambaz. "He didn't have the courage all

gone. In

And

were a pack of to enter the

said

lies,"

town

until

Ozer

we had

he fought no one."

Hamit Koy, mothers and crying babies crowded

dwellings. Old

men

with dirty handkerchiefs to keep off the

waited for food.

the tiny

lay out in the winter sun, their faces covered

When

night

fell,

flies.

Men,

dirty,

unshaven,

they wrapped themselves

blankets and tried to sleep on the ground.

in

old

Harry Scott Gibbons

When and

79

1

the cold bit too deep, they arose and started walking to

fro.

The day

after they

and blankets began version of the

Red

saw

smoke, food,

in

thousands of the others,

camp of mud

Hamit Koy for nine months. For became their home for eleven years, a tents and shacks made of cardboard or

in it

huts,

any other scraps of material that could be scavenged. the children played in the cold flies

tents

from the Red Crescent, the Moslem

Cross.

Ozer Jambaz stayed refugee

homes go up

their

to trickle in

mud,

the baking

In the winters,

summers brought

and mosquitoes. But by then, the world had ceased to care.

The Cyprus Turks were no longer news.

Group Captain Ross,

Near

the principal medical officer with

East Air Force at Akrotiri, one of the British bases,

made

a survey

of Turkish casualties.

After his report, the British asked permission from Makarios for

50 seriously wounded Turks

Red Crescent

to

be flown

to

Ankara by

The Archbishop consented, though he could of remarking that

irony

facilities for

Nicosia

General

not refrain from the

Hospital

had

ample

dealing with them.

The Turks, Turkish

the Turkish

for treatment.

naturally enough, had no desire to be treated there.

military

planes

were given permission

to

land

at

Nicosia to take away the injured.

Some

of these wounded, on their return to Cyprus months

were arrested on

their

arrival

at

questioning on their activities and war.

One

Nicosia airport and

movements during

later,

held

for

the Christmas

of them had witnessed the massacre of the Ilhan family

at

Kumsal. In

Greece, with a caretaker government preparing elections,

King Paul took advantage of the lack of a responsible spokesman

announce Turks.

that the fighting

on the island had been the

"Turkish Cypriots started

nothing to help the situation.

it,"

he said.

to

fault of the

His remarks did

The Genocide Files

180

New York, Rossides called for a meeting of the Security Council following a report that Turkish warships had been seen off the In

island's north coast. In

their

Omorphita, British troops stood guard while Turks collected

dead and rescued those

still in

hiding.

Dozens were coaxed out

of attics and boarded up rooms and taken to safety.

Then

Greeks moved

the

in.

Nicos Sampson had himself photographed waving a "captured" Turkish flag. He published the picture in his own paper, Makhi, and captioned himself as shouting to the Turks, "Try and take

The photograph was backdated Greek

civilians started entering the Turkish houses

off the furniture. replied

When

English

in

it

back!"

several days.

and carrying

questioned by the British soldiers, they

houses

the

that

were

theirs

or

that

they

themselves were Turkish.

The soldiers spoke only The looting continued. In

New

English.

They had no powers of

arrest.

York, the Security Council met, only the third time

had been called

Korean and Hungarian

The meeting

it

such short notice. The other occasions were the

at

lasted

crises.

90 minutes. Rossides accused Turkey of "18th

Century gunboat diplomacy" by sending warships towards Cyprus.

The Turkish delegate, denying this, said that Turkish Cypriots were the victims of a "wide-scale campaign of annihilation no government in the world could stand with its arms folded in the face of such a situation."

None of

the eleven council

implying

complaint,

members chose

they

that

accepted

speak

after the

Greek

Cypriot

to

the

accusation.

They appeared content The Council adjourned. But

in

to

allow Britain

Nicosia, Archbishop Makarios

During the

Duncan Sandys

night, he in

made

a

to

was

work

out a solution.

not reassured.

dramatic appeal by telephone

London. Turkey was preparing

to

for war, he said.

Harry Scott Gibbons Sandys took off immediately

an

to

troop plane for Cyprus.

in a

was met by an

After a night flight, he

and taken

181

escort of

armoured cars High

immediate conference with Clark, the

Commissioner, and General Young.

The again

news

first

to greet

him was

that

shooting had broken out

in the city.

The day fired on.

A

before, a patrol of the Gloucester

group of British families

a northern suburb, sent out a message, a arrived, saying that fighting

woman

one British

Sandys

Greek and Turkish

the leaders of the Kyrenia Turkish

from

Ambrosios,

thirty miles to the cast.

municipality

There, 18 of them were placed station.

They were

Ncapolis,

in the leg.

transferred

their

flats in

few hours before Sandys

had broken out around them and that

had been shot

started his contacts with the

From Karavas,

Regiment had been

block of

in a

told that the

in a

by

prison

community were truck

windowless room

moment

on the horizon they would be burned

sides.

Ayios

to

police

in the

the Turkish navy appeared

Cans of

alive.

petrol

and

kerosene were placed around the police station. In

Kyrenia harbour,

had been destroyed.

all

One

the Turkish pleasure and fishing boats

yacht was scuttled

in the

middle of the

harbour. Another, the 60-ft. "Hulya," a motor yacht belonging to Ali Dana, a prominent Turkish lawyer,

was taken out of

the harbour

by Greek police on Boxing Day. British residents watched as

it

taken to a shallow cove a mile to the west, beached and set on

The following

was

fire.

day, Cyprus radio said the "Hulya" had been

taken to sea by Turkish "rebels" attempting to escape to Turkey, but it

had been intercepted by "state forces." In Nicosia, there

was planning

were rumours

to return to

Cyprus

that Grivas, the

to take

EOKA

leader,

charge of the shooting.

Noyes Thomas, of Britain's "News of the World," was told by one armed Greek, "With Grivas in charge, we will kick out the

truculent

Turks

just as

we

kicked out the British."

182

The Genocide Files

As

the

first

held a funeral

Turkish wounded were flown

ceremony

some of

for

to

Ankara, the Greeks

own

their

dead. Makarios

attended with 50,000 mourners. Yorgadjis spoke, revealing that the

dead were not police, or the "lawful" forces of the civilians

who had

taken part

The government "Today's appeared

Greeks

of

burial to

victims

of Turkish

There

atrocities."

be no question of the word atrocity being used by the

to give

Yorgadjis

"wrong impressions." said

the

enthusiastically a helping

By

speech was headed,

reporting the

bulletin

the

but

state,

in the fighting.

dead

hand

had

"spontaneous and

their

not

hesitated

to

"extend

to the lawful forces of the state."

irrevocable

decision"

they

had

"crushed the lawless and the rebels."

The

effect

on the mourners was as hoped

been killed assisting the police

in

putting

for.

down

The Greeks had

a rebellion. Reports

of atrocities by Greeks, even with proof of pictures, were put to false

down

propaganda. Righteousness and hatred for the Turks swept

the crowd.

Yorgadjis' lips twitched

in

an enigmatic smile.

Makarios called a press conference

at his

palace that Saturday.

He said the blame for the Christmas events could not be put on the

Greeks for they could derive no benefit from them.

Asked

if

the Constitution

very difficult, and

which are rooted

if

we do

in the

would still remove

not

stand, he said,

"It will

be

the causes of the clashes

Constitution, no permanent stability can be

achieved."

He said he had asked for the help of Britain as a Commonwealth country when Cyprus was being threatened by Turkey. He was pleased, he added, to have the help and cooperation of Great Britain.

Over

the roofs of Nicosia, the bullets whined.

Duncan Sandys had set up, the day of liaison committee of Greek and Turkish British chairmanship.

his arrival, a political

representatives

under

Harry Scoll Gibbons At

committee

a

morning,

made

he

the

:

Arrangements

1.

Sunday

meeting on

following proposals

183

ensure complete freedom of

to

movement

for

British patrols in both sectors of Nicosia.

Withdrawal

2.

of

Greek

and

Turkish

"fighters"

from

strongpoints which they hold on either side of the ceasefire line and their

replacement by British troops, thereby creating a neutral zone

between the two

sides.

While the meeting was

A

city.

two

British patrol

sides.

in

session, shooting broke out in the

which went

to investigate

The shooting continued over

moved between

the

their heads.

Sandys, leaning on a walking stick,

made

a tour of the British

strongpoints before holding another meeting of the committee.

Although the Greek and Turkish ambassadors were represented on the committee, Makarios made no

He was busy

preparing an announcement that he had abrogated

the treaties with Greece,

way

to

amend

effort to attend.

Turkey and

Britain, thereby

opening the

the Constitution without risking intervention

from

outside.

The

great "Plan"

drawn up by "Akritas," alias Interior Minister The Turks had not been subdued, and

Yorgadjis, had gone haywire.

world opinion was not on the side of the Greeks.

was continued

Nevertheless, the Plan

as though

all

had gone

well.

In

Ankara, the Turkish

Foreign

Ministry

denied that Turkish

warships had approached Cyprus. The Ministry

made

a telling

point.

"As the distance between Turkey and Cyprus said a statement, "and the

other in good weather, vessels

was

visible

The ships

that

it

is

two coasts are

is

only 40 miles,"

clearly visible to each

only natural that the

movement of

these

from Cyprus." had been sighted returned

to their

bases on the

Turkish coast after what appeared to be a normal operational cruise.

184

The Genocide Files

The Greek Cypriots, while complaining of sovereignty,

appeared

be

to

blatantly

a threat to their

interfering

in

sovereignty by contending that the Turkish navy was not

allowed to leave If

its

ports and

move

its

to

be

into international waters.

the Plan had overlooked the possibility of eventual

control of the high seas,

own

Turkey's

Cyprus

delegation to the U.N. obviously had

not.

The Turkish Foreign Minister, Mr. Feridun Erkin, complained same day that R.A.F. jets were flying over Turkey's

to Britain the

coast. I

"We

spoke

to

one of these

pilots

arc just keeping an eye

The R.A.F.

reports

making these

told

me,

sitting,

the

were negative.

At 5 a.m. on Monday morning, liaison

He

flights.

on any invasion preparations."

18-hour

after an

committee agreed on the neutral zone

in the

walled city of

Nicosia.

The agreement, signed by Makarios, Kutchuk and Sandys, made

Young

General

free to send patrols

anywhere

in

Nicosia and the

surrounding areas without prior consultation. British troops

both sides of the

Young had traced map marker. Dr.

went out

to take

new "Green it

on a wall

Kutchuk spoke

over the sandbagged posts on

Line" - so-called because General

map

of Nicosia with a green army

them of the

to foreign journalists, telling

situation inside the Turkish quarter during the fighting.

Commenting on the

fact

that

one

the political aspects,

of

the

Guaranteeing

Kutchuk explained powers,

Britain,

that

had

dispatched troops to the island after consultation and agreement with the two others, Greece and Turkey, meant that the terms of the

Cyprus

Constitution

had

been

breached

and

action

taken

accordingly under the terms of the Treaty of Guarantee.

The Greeks, he

said,

had by their behaviour necessitated the

activation of the Guarantee treaty, therefore the Greeks had killed off the Constitution.

1S5

Harry Scott Gibbons

"Wc safety

is

Turks," he added, "can never feel ourselves safe unless our properly guaranteed."

Kutchuk, unshaven, his

man

with a brand

suit filthy

new graveyard

tens of thousands of hungry

and rumpled, was talking as

in his

mouths

own

backyard, a

man

a

with

man deluged day and

to feed, a

night with enquiries about missing relatives.

The Greek Cypriots

leapt

on

his reported

remarks about the

Constitution being breached. Quoting his words out of context, they

them over and over again

used

abandoned

as

his post as Vice-President of

he had no longer any say in the

Kutchuk did not give up

proof that

Kutchuk

Cyprus and

that therefore

had

making of new laws.

his post, a fact that the British

were

careful to emphasise, thus incurring the epithet "Turk lovers" in

both the Greek language press and

now

in

the higher echelons of the

Greek-controlled government.

Each

time

a

-

Government"

new law was promulgated by

the

without

Kutchuk,

the

participation

members

of

"Cyprus as

House of Representatives and the Turkish Communal Chamber - Kutchuk protested. And each time Makarios sought to prove that Kutchuk Vice-President,

Turkish

the

of

the

had abrogated his position.

But as Kutchuk had not, and as his position of Vice-President was recognised by the guaranteeing powers, and later by the United Nations, each law passed without his consent meant a fresh breach of the Constitution.

Makarios spoke Turks.

"The

that

Greeks"

day he

to the

said,

majority of the people of Cyprus.

every

way

people of Cyprus, Greeks and "constitute

They

the

overwhelming

are in a stronger position in

than the Turks and had no reason

at

all

to use force

against the Turkish minority...."

What he was saying was that the Greeks had He told the Turks:

not in fact used

force against the Turks.

"Clearly and emphatically, the Greeks of to attack the

Turks or

in

Cyprus do not intend

any way to use force against them."

186

The Genocide Files

"They (the Greeks) can derive no advantage from this, but they would be compelled to protect their lives, their houses and their property "It is its

if

there

is

any manifestation from the Turkish

probable that the Turkish Cypriot leadership

side.

may have

as

objective, by provocation, insurrection and the use of force, the

creation of circumstances favouring the division of the island. "It

Turks

may endeavour

to

to live together.

most deeply sorry for

show

that

Such an

it

is

not possible for Greeks and

attitude

this attitude

would be ruinous.

which has resulted

am

I

many

in

victims."

The Greeks would, he added, "always by peaceful means, from the Constitution the sources of

friction

erase

between the Greeks

"

and the Turks

Thus did His Beatitude, Archbishop Makarios, President and Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, absolve himself

Patriarch of the

of

all

responsibility for the Christmas

killings.

But as he also

absolved every other Greek Cypriot, his speech was well received

by them.

Spyros Kyprianou, the Cyprus Foreign Minister, jumped on the

to

propaganda bandwagon.

Makarios, as it transpired later, had set his mind on the General Assembly of the United Nations the moment that British troops stepped on to the scene and Turkey agreed not to intervene. In

the

Security

Britain and the

Council,

Makarios stood

little

chance with

United States ready to cast their vetoes.

Assembly, with

its

In

the

hotchpotch of so-called neutrals, non-aligned,

backward states, together with good chance of getting his the abrogation of the treaties and union with Greece

outright anti-Western and just plain the

communist

plan for

bloc, he stood a very

accepted. But, with it,

its

backlog of irrelevant discussions stretching before

Makarios could not hope

to put his case before the

Assembly

for

a very long time.

So Kyprianou gave a press conference designed international minds at rest.

at

setting

187

Harry Scott Gibbons

He

Cyprus

said the

state

would be

must

majority

the

principles:

"rebuilt"

the

rule,

on three basic

minority

must

be

safeguarded, and treaty relations with Greece and Turkey would

have to be terminated.

way

This was the only

the people of

Cyprus could

live happily

together, he said.

As

union with mainland Greece, he said this had always been

to

Greek people of Cyprus - "but

the wish of the great majority of the

we

are realists, and

was

It

the

we

recognise that Enosis

is

not achievable."

announcement, since the beginning of the

first

member

shooting, by a Greek

of the government that the plan for

union with Greece had been abandoned. At least that was what the

world was supposed

to believe.

But no sooner was the immediate

crisis

over than both Makarios

and Kyprianou reiterated that Enosis was the ultimate aim of their regime.

Somehow

history

Makarios had admitted

seems

possible, but

remembers,

that

to

books and

in

articles, that

union of Cyprus and Greece was not

have forgotten

that

it

was

just

propaganda ploy, a continuation of the Akritas Plan and his

government and, for

intention of

alone.

and

Greek Cypriot, had no

that matter, every

abandoning the quest for Enosis.

What none of "friction"

another

that he

felt

the

Greek statements would admit was

over the Constitution was

The Turks were happy about

it.

The

that the

by the Greek side

felt

friction

felt

on the

Turkish side was over union with Greece and Turkish Cypriots being made Greek subjects against their will. that,

Of

course, to avoid

they could always leave Cyprus, which would suit the Greeks

very well.

M. Zekia Bey, Chief

Justice of

Cyprus and

a Turk, had a

few

comments. "I

don't think there can be any hope of co-existence between

Greek and Turk "It

has

become

a

here," he said.

now been

Greek viewpoint, to Cyprus you must have the right - you must have killed someone!"

political

qualification

established that, from the leader

in

188

On

The Genocide Files Tuesday, December 31, Duncan Sandys secured the release of

Kykkos

the Turkish hostages held at

The

school.

in exchange for 26 Greek prisoners, had been arranged with President Makarios. Then a Greek Cypriot lieutenant in

release,

Cyprus army refused

the

Sandys said

:

to release the Turks.

see this through myself," and drove to the

"I'll

school with an armed escort.

As

the long line of Royal Air Force buses waited outside the

school to take the Turks home, the lieutenant, from behind his dark glasses, told Sandys, "No!."

Sandys summoned Cleridcs. When the latter arrived, he called armed guards and the prisoners were released.

off the

how

Before they went, the Turks told Sandys ordered

at

When

they had been

gunpoint from their homes. the hostages

were returned

to

the Turkish quarter of

Nicosia to pathetic reunions, the Turkish leadership discovered there

were 150 missing.

The Greek

side,

aware

that

Sandys' necessary intervention had

been well reported by the foreign press, came out with a statement.

The 26 Greeks who,

it

was

alleged, "had been abducted by the

Turks," had been released and "about 550 Turks,

removed from

the battle areas to safety in the

who had been

Greek quarter" were

handed over.

At

least

ill-treated

complained

seven of the Greeks, the statement said, "were seriously

by

the

Turks

during

food given

that the

captivity. All of them them was scarcely enough to

their

to

keep them going."

26 Greeks, it appeared, out-weighed murder of 150 Turkish hostages. In any event all Nicosia Turks, their numbers swollen by refugees to 30,000, had received Insufficient food given to

the

insufficient food for five days.

a

There was one small item of good news that day. In Omorphita, patrol came upon a group of armed Greek police

British

surrounding a young them, she called out

woman

in

and

a girl.

When

the

English, "Help us, please."

woman

spotted

Harry Scott Gibbons

189

The British soldiers quickly took them away from the Greeks. They were dishevelled, filthy and distraught, apparently on the edge of hysteria. The girl was hardly able to stand.

When

the

young woman

said they

were Turkish, the soldiers

helped them carefully into their Land Rover and drove to the Ledra Palace Hotel.

On

way

the

they offered chocolate, but the two of

them were so parched with swallow. The

woman

thirst

they had no saliva to

chew

or

little

of their story, and the

British quickly arranged their transport to the

Turkish quarter inside

told the soldiers a

the city walls.

There Dr. Selma Fehim saw them. "I

was

my

eyes," she told me later. "The woman Umral Ismet Remzi. She was 21 and had four months. The little girl was Turkan Huseyin,

couldn't believe

a relative of mine,

been married for eight years old.

"They had been missing since the 700 from Omorphita had been rounded up by the Greeks as hostages. That same day,

New

Year's

Eve, only 550 of them had been returned. Everyone thought that these

two had also disappeared

for ever.

"It was the appearance of the girl that shocked me. Her legs were swollen and blue and she could hardly walk. Umral told me

their story.

"On December 24, Christmas Eve, the Turks were evacuating Omorphita and women and children were running madly to escape. Umral was going from one garden to another and she was following behind some others climbing up wooden steps over a wall when the steps collapsed. She and this little girl were left behind and they went to another garden to escape, took a wrong direction, and found themselves alone and lost. "They were

They thought

terrified.

the

Greeks were

right

know that their neighbours, including Umral 's sister, were among the 700 taken hostage. In this garden where they now found themselves was an outdoor toilet, a tin

behind them. They didn't

shack, a really tiny affair.

"The

toilet

was

They

hid in there, hoping to be rescued.

old-fashioned

an

hole-in-the-floor kind, so there

was no room

Turkish

one,

the

to sit properly, the hut

190

The Genocide Files

was so

The

small.

down and

best they could do

was

to take turns squatting

standing. This went on for days and nights until

little

Turkan's legs gave out and Umral had to squat against the wall while somehow holding the girl on her knees. Umral's overcoat was all they had to keep warm.

"The Greeks had arrived by houses by day. They were too

when they heard away from where

the

time,

this

looting the Turkish

terrified to leave the toilet, especially

Greeks machinegunning the house

just yards

they hid.

"At night they stole into the garden and took lemons from the small orchard there and sucked them. That was

Unknown

they had.

all

them, there was a pay phone

to

the sustenance in the

house but

Greek soldiers had smashed it to steal the cash inside. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway, for the Greeks cut off

the

everything they could into the Turkish quarter, water, electricity,

phones. "Finally, they could take

and

thirsty

and

knew

wall and

no longer, they were starving

it

They had been scratching the dates on was now December 31 and they had been in

dirty. it

the the

and seven days.

toilet for six nights

"They went outside, around the house and onto the road. There

was

a

how

the

group of Greek police

they might be shot, to the

my

them armed. Not knowing two Turkish strays and fearing Umral decided to brazen it out. She walked up

Greeks would

policemen and

sister.

Can you

know what

there, all of

react to these

said, in her limited English, 'I'm looking for

help

me

"Right

at

that

moment

The police didn't seem them there was no one left

to find her?'

do with them, and Omorphita and to go away. to

told

to in

the British soldiers arrived, and they

were rescued."

The two survived. Umral nursery school

in

is

now

a

grandmother and runs a

Nicosia. Little Turkan's legs healed and she

is

also married with children.

They are lucky to be alive. If the Greek soldiers had discovered them they might never have been seen again. There was a saying in the British army - and probably still is - in a reference to the discipline in

army barracks and

the

way

the stones

marking off

the

Harry Scott Gibbons ground were whitewashed repeatedly:

huts and parade salute

If

it.

it

stands

The Greek

191

paint

still,

If

it

moves,

it!

soldiery had a different version

when

dealing with

Turks. If

I

it

moves, shoot

it.

If

stands

it

still,

shoot

it!

New Year's Eve in an Athens tavern with two colleagues my paper, Donald Seaman and George Webber, who were in

spent

from

Greece reporting on the sinking of a Greek cruise ship, the Lakonia.

who

At the next table was a huge, jolly Greek family

Greeks can do when happy, one song

We

went

roared, as

after another.

into competition and, taking turn about, blasted the

Athens night

air

with

all

the songs

-

if

they can be called that - of

our forces days.

When we

ran out of songs,

we

stood on the table and sang them

over again. In that tavern that night, there

Greeks

the British and the

separated from

was

I

my

like

I

them

a

New

At five a.m. on

Year's Day,

in,

and went

Looking back,

could no longer regard

drove to the airport and to

in sight,

Nicosia.

so

I

realise

I

The waiting on

to the

saw

there,

strolled I

to sleep.

that

plane could

have been going

was lucky. The plane was indeed bound That's where the stewardess woke me up.

anywhere, but

few hours

Cypriot

I

climbed up the steps of the only plane

strapped myself

A

I

flight

lounge was deserted, not a uniform

Nicosia.

But

lot.

as Greeks.

checked onto the seven o'clock silent tarmac,

also

It

head since the

Nicosia ten days earlier.

in

Greeks.

like

Greek Cypriots

pang of being

home on New Year's Eve.

family and

reinforced the thought that had been growing in

shooting started

bond between

the feeling of a

that helped to lessen the

I

after

my

monks were

return to the Ledra Palace Hotel, three

shot dead and five

wounded

in

for

Greek

an attack on the

792

The Genocide Files

little

monastery

at

Galactoforusa,

midway between Nicosia and

Limassol.

interviewed one of the

I

Hospital.

He was

wounded monks

in

Nicosia General

quite emphatic that the attackers had been Turks.

The story was given a considerable amount of publicity abroad. The Greek Cypriot information department arranged a conducted tour of the monastery for the foreign press. Eventually, the Interior

Ministry gave the names of two Turks wanted for questioning

regarding the killings. It

was only years the

that

later that a

Greek Cypriot newspaper

murders had been committed by the

staff

stated

of a rival

monastery.

In

Omorphita, Greeks started setting

fire

abandoned Turkish

to

houses that had not already been destroyed.

Many Turks had

returned, under the protection of British troops, to salvage what

they could from the houses that had not been looted

poured among them. Duncan Sandys rushed

smoke from

the burning houses rose

the Interior Minister

Yorgadjis, sullen as always

he would

Yorgadjis

bullets

As the he summoned

above Nicosia,

and gave him probably the roughest half hour

he had had since he was a prisoner of the British

that

when

to the scene.

when speaking

in

EOKA

to a Briton,

have the arson stopped, and Sandys

made no attempt

to

days.

promised left.

But

keep his word, and the burning and

looting continued for days afterwards.

No

sooner had Sandys dealt with Yorgadjis than he heard on

Cyprus Radio with

that

Makarios had abrogated the Treaty of Guarantee

Greece

Britain,

and

Turkey.

telegrams to every head of state

move and

The Archbishop had sent them of his

the world informing

asking for their moral support.

He quoted interference" the

in

move by

three cases of "aggressive actions, intervention or

- the overflights of

the Turkish jets on Christmas day,

the Turkish mainland contingent from

same day, and Turkish

fleet

movements.

its

barracks the

Harry Scott Gibbons Makarios wrote

"In

:

103

view of these we have decided

the treaties of guarantee

abrogate

to

and alliance imposed on the people of

Cyprus. These undesirable treaties arc the source of our anomalous

was reported

Sandys

situation."

The

flabbergasted.

unilateral

abrogation was a violation of the Constitution. Under the treaties, in

would have been for on action to ensure Constitution. Failing agreement, each power had

the event of such a happening, the procedure Britain,

Greece and Turkey

observance of the

to consult together

the right to take action to re-establish the status quo.

Sandys gave Makarios

the Presidential Palace,

no

uncertain

unused

Archbishop,

would almost which were

down

being

to

was adamant. When Sandys pointed out

addressed,

worried.

The

terms.

Tearing up to

a dressing

in

thus

Turkey

that

certainly land troops under the terms of the treaties

in turn part

When,

as

1

of the Cyprus Constitution, Makarios grew

was informed

Sandys pointed out the

later,

position of British troops and said they had the choice of either

cooperating stepping

with

Turks

the

and

aside

Archbishop began

letting

to see the

reestablishing

in

do

Turks

the

the

situation

themselves,

it

corner he had put himself

or the

When

in.

Sandys said the British had no intention whatsoever of fighting Turkey, Makarios was defeated. Three hours after his he sent another to world heads of

today to Heads of Government

I

state.

It

read: "In

stated that

first

my

cables,

telegram

we have decided to may have given

abrogate the treaties of guarantee and alliance. This the impression that it

clear that the

we

had abrogated these

meaning intended

to

treaties.

I

wish

be conveyed was that

desire to secure the termination of these treaties

to it

make is

our

by appropriate

means."

it

It was a climbdown was more than that.

During percolated

the

down

for

Christmas

Makarios and a victory for Sandys, but

fighting,

to journalists that the

the

impression

somehow

Archbishop was not

fully

responsible for events, that his ceasefire calls had been ignored

because the Greek Cypriot gunmen had taken matters into their

own

hands.

194

The Genocide Files

But his abrogation of the

- and there

treaties

is

no doubt that

was the intended meaning of his first telegrams - showed was very much the power behind his own throne. In the "Plan,"

the treaties

it

had been carefully explained

would deny

the three guaranteeing

that he

that abrogation of

powers the

right to

intervene.

What Makarios had

apparently overlooked was that such an

abrogation was contrary to the Constitution and that this gave the three

powers the

right to take steps to rectify the situation. In other

words, the right to intervene His one great force appeared to

through

charm

the

lower

politicians and, of course, his

lie

echelons,

own

his ability to

in

such

people,

as

disarm

minor

reporters,

when meeting them

face

to face.

But he showed the typical naivity, the lack of attention

to

contractual detail, and inability to judge in advance the reactions of

longer established democratic powers, which appears to be the prerogative of those many, small, meaningless states represented the

whose

U.N.

only

claim

to

fame

is

their

uncalled

at

for

belligerence.

By

first

abrogating the treaties and then rescinding his decision,

Makarios had, in three hours, reduced Cyprus to the level of what call a "banana republic." After that, none of the world's influential

I

powers regarded him as a man watched carefully.

In

Britain,

including

more

men

to

man

be respected, but as a

soldiers boarded troop

be

to

transports for Cyprus,

of the Parachute Brigade, the "Red Devils" feared by

EOKA. In the police station at

Ayios Ambrosios on the north

coast, the

R.A.F. found and released the 18 Turkish prisoners from Kyrenia.

They were

filthy,

With the

bearded, and starving.

British

patrolling the

ceasefire

general ceasefire in operation, and talks in

line

London

on the agenda, it might have been expected island would have died down.

in

Nicosia,

a

for January 15

that tension

in

the

Harry Scott Gibbons But

this is

what

a colleague, Eric

Telegraph, emulating

my

"EOKA,

on January

para-military

the

rebellion against British rule, island.

Downton, of

from Nicosia

trip

also touring the west, wrote

is

Areas through which

J

and

during

the

created

organisation

in control

their

own command

rifles,

much

of the

drove swarm with armed young

"They man scores of roadblocks and

"They have

of

carry no badges. fortified positions.

have riflepoint power of arrest and, presumably, of

ample supplies of

London Daily

to the northcoast

2.

obviously

we

men who wear no uniform and

the

95

They

and death.

life

posts and arms depots. Besides

shotguns and revolvers, they have

many

machineguns.

"Some have machineguns and two-inch plentiful supplies of

He described

mortars.

They possess

hand grenades."

the scene at Lefka,

where the population of 5,000

Turks was being swelled daily with thousands of refugees pouring in

from neighbouring hamlets where the Turks had been forced out

at rifle-point

and

their

houses burnt. He found Lefka surrounded by

Greek gunmen and an acute shortage of food.

In

Ayios Vasilios, the

scene of the Christmas Eve massacre, he found the word

scrawled

in

EOKA

blue paint on a bulletpocked, bloodstained wall.

This was the scene as British troops were asked to help to keep the peace.

v

Mrs. Barbara Castle (later Baroness), then an Opposition Labour

member

of the British Parliament, and later a minister

Labour Government, pre-independence

who had many

EOKA

troubles, flew out

fact-finding tour of North Africa.

"The Cyprus problem

will

She said

embroil Turkey and Greece

week

in

Wilson

during the

from London for a

:

It

was always

is

a mistake to

Cypriot affairs."

wonder what she would have thought

during that Christmas tour.

in

in the

say

never be solved as long as Cyprus

the plaything of outside governments.

I

things to

if

she had been with

me

Cyprus, or with Eric Downton on his

796

The Genocide Files Probably the same.

Dennis Healey, the then Shadow Defence Minister and later the (now, like Castle, a member of the House of Lords

real article,

which Britain's

would prefer

socialists claim to despise) said he

to

see United Nations forces rather than British forces accepting the responsibility for policing the island.

Healey visited the Republican part of 1962. After his brief

trip,

Yemen

in

December,

he announced that the whole country was

completely Republican.

He did not know at the time of his visit to Sanaa, the capital, was only 25 miles away with a vast army of barefoot Royalist troops who were more than holding their own against not only the that

I

Republicans but also the combined Egyptian army and with occasional help from Soviet

based

air force

air force,

Ilyushin jet

bombers

Aswan, Egypt.

in

The Royalists fought on

for six

more years

but collapsed

when

government headed by Harold Wilson recognised

Britain's socialist

the Republicans and put a stop to the trickle of rifles being supplied trickle which had sustained them through years of mass bombings and poison gas and napalm, public executions and torture that left 150,000 innocent Yemeni civilians dead and

by the British, a

hundreds of thousands homeless as they fought against the brutal

Communism Because regime,

that, I

did not

I

with Britain's help, eventually engulfed them.

had witnessed the atrocities of Yemen's new

much

what he wanted, a

UN

care for Mr. Healey. But he

peace force

the peace. Protecting the

Nicos Sampson flew of

EOKA

to

in

Cyprus, and

socialist

was soon

it

to get

did try to keep

Turks from genocide was another matter.

Athens

to

meet General Grivas,

his old boss

days, to try to persuade him to return to Cyprus and take

charge.

Duncan Sandys arranged Greek Cypriot sides retu-rned

to

for a

be held

meeting between Turkish and

in

home. But no sooner had he

sabotage the London talks.

London on January left

15 and

than Makarios set out to

Harry Scott Gibbons

He announced

that

outcome of the

whatever the

was determined

conference, he

to

197

London

scrap the Treaties of Guarantee

and Alliance.

As

who had borne the brunt of EOKA, moved into Nicosia,

paratroopers,

British

pre-independence campaign by

the the

Archbishop lodged an angry protest with General Young, accusing British troops of favouritism

He

towards the Turks.

also ordered the dismissal of Turkish Cypriot policemen and

began

referring

to

the

Turks

as

"minority"

a

of

instead

a

"community." British trucks, draped with

Union Jack

began distributing

flags,

food to beleaguered, outlying Turkish villages. But they were

many enclaves by armed Greek

refused entry to

Makarios had made use of Britain

He had troops

learned, in

would

civilians.

to forestall a

Turkish landing.

no uncertain terms from Sandys

that British

which

to alter the

not be used as a screen behind

Constitution and deprive the Turks of their rights.

So the job of making the task of the British peacekeeping role more and more difficult was begun by statements and physical obstruction.

And

hints

were thrown out by the Greek side

Nations peace force could

help the

situation.

that only a

As

later

United events

proved, Makarios believed he would find a U.N. force a more pliable

and gullible

Seeing

UN

how

ally.

things were going in Cyprus, Britain suggested to

U Thant

Secretary General

attending the

London

observer should

visit

In Britain the

Christmas

Makarios

One Member entirely,

U

his part

Thant agreed

to

asked that an

both suggestions.

Sunday newspapers of January 6 summed up

fighting. to

Cyprus.

the possibility of a U.N. observer

Makarios on

talks.

Almost

without

exception,

they

the

judged

be responsible for the events.

exception was the Sunday Citizen, of Parliament, the

Turkish

Tom

Driberg, wrote

Government

that

in

which a Labour

that...

has

"It

is,

almost

precipitated

the

198

The Genocide Files

unnecessary Cyprus out in

its

The

crisis."

British

Labour Parly was coming

true colours as rabidly anti-Turkish.

The following Monday,

foreign reporters counted

1

1

Turkish

Omorphita. So much for the pledge by Minister Yorgadjis to Sandys that the arson would cease.

houses ablaze

in

The same day,

Interior

British soldiers fixed bayonets in Nicosia as

new

shooting occurred across the "Green Line." Incidents continued daily, with British troops dashing to and fro

breaking up clashes. Their determination to keep the Greeks off the

Turks and

to

remain impartial was causing increasing resentment

among Greek

On

Greek

Cypriots.

showing

soldiers of

newspapers

daily

accused

January 12, Makarios conducted a wedding ceremony

John's Cathedral

As

in St.

Nicosia.

in

200 guests

the

the

partiality to the Turks.

the church,

left

from Turkish houses

set

on

fire

in

smoke was

visible pouring

suburb of

northwest

the

Neapolis. In the afternoon,

Turks

two

British paratroopers escorted a party of

of Vice-president Kutchuk behind the Lcdra

to the office

Palace Hotel. They found the building ransacked and looted.

As

they

Greeks of the Cyprus army

eight

left,

their departure.

The paras calmly brushed

and took the Turks back

On

to their quarter.

same day, Makarios showed London talks.

the

of the In

New

U.N.,

sent

his disregard for the

outcome

York, Zenon Rossides, the Cyprus representative a

letter

requesting that

The

tried to prevent

aside the pointing guns

letter

it

to

the

president

be circulated as an

read

:

"Since January

of the

official 2,

Security

at

the

Council

document.

1964,

when agreement was

reached for holding the London Conference, Turkey and the leaders of the Turkish community took successive steps designed a)

to

Cyprus.

threaten

the

independence and

territorial

integrity

of

Harry Scoit Gibbons

199

b) to create unilaterally conditions calculated to prejudice the

outcome of c) to

the conference, and

wreck the very purpose of

and violate

the conference

its

spirit.

Thus, 1.

Dr. Kutchuk, acting in close cooperation with the Turkish

government,

open

declared

rebellion

Cyprus by unlawfully purporting

against

to establish a

Republic

the

bogus separate

of

state

within Nicosia, and by terrorising the moderate elements of the

Turkish population through arbitrary arrests and threatened Turkish underground organisations

trials

by

defiance of the established

in

constitution, and in an attempt to destroy the unity

and

territorial

three days ago declared there

would be

integrity of the Republic. 2.

Mr. Denktash,

who

no claim for partition

in

the conference, soon after arriving in

Ankara and conferring with the Turkish government, broadcast from Ankara Radio calling for partition

in

an unlawful attempt to

destroy the unity and territorial integrity of Cyprus and

in

violation

of the very basis of the Constitution. 3.

Such

acts

were made with the

full

knowledge, consent and

cooperation of the Turkish government, which thereby violates the Treaty of Guarantee - Article 2 - under which Turkey guaranteed the territorial integrity of

prohibit any activity

Cyprus and undertook the obligation

aimed

at

to

promoting, directly or indirectly,

partition of the island. 4.

At the same time, the Turkish Prime Minister Mr. Inonu,

message

to

in a

Heads of Government, basing himself on the Treaty of

Guarantee which Turkey so flagrantly violates, claims the right of Cyprus, thereby conveying

international intervention

by force

the threat that the Turkish

government can and may

intervene

in

disregard of

Such

Cyprus by its

in

at

any moment

attack, aggression or other use of force in

obligation to the U.N. Charter.

facts constitute a

independence and

incumbent on us

new, graver threat against the security,

territorial

integrity

to bring to the notice

of Cyprus

of the

and

members and

make

it

alert the

200

The Genocide Files

Security Council to the growing danger of such intervention and

its

far-reaching evil consequences in the area and to world peace."

was

It

ridiculous

a

insight into the

By

an

statement,

propaganda blatantly ignoring the true

outrageous

facts, but

it

workings of the Greek Cypriot mind.

wounded

retreating with their

into the safety of Nicosia,

Turkish Cypriots had threatened the independence and integrity of

them And,

of

piece

gave a deeper

territorial

Cyprus. Dr. Kutchuk, by receiving them and protecting

was condemned

capacity as Turkish leader,

in his

for a reason not given, so

was

for this.

the Turkish government.

Rauf Dcnktash, by a speech - which was deliberately distorted, way - had made an unlawful attempt to destroy the island's

by the

unity and territorial integrity as well.

He had

also violated "the very

basis" of the Constitution. It

is

odd

that

Makarios should accuse the Turkish leaders of when he had already declared openly - in

violating the constitution his cable to

world heads of

The Constitution was

state to

-

his intention to alter

be ignored by the Greeks when

disagreed with their plans, but was to be adhered to the Turkish

it.

it

when accusing

community. An example of double standards well

worthy of any "emerging" nation.

Of course, now invalid,

show

the

whole idea was

so

Enosis could be declared.

to

that the constitution It

was

also

a

was fine

example of Makarios' cunning mind, for he no doubt firmly believed the Security Council would be taken in by it. But whether it was or not, Greek Cypriot righteousness was abruptly deflated. On the same day as Rossides handed over his letter, the world was shocked by the discoveries

Ever since Sandys had

at

Ayios Vasilios.

literally

forced the Greeks to return the

Turkish hostages from Kykkos school, Irene Checkley of the

Ambulance

John's

Corps

and

the

International

Red

representatives on the island had been touring the country

with a

list

patients

of missing Turks.

Among them

who had vanished from

St.

Cross

armed

were the names of the 21

Nicosia General Hospital.

Harry Scott Gibbons

201

Eventually, they received information that the patients had died

and had been buried

On Monday

in the little

cemetery

at

Ayios Vasilios.

morning, a group of Turks with spades were

escorted by British paratroopers to the graveyard.

The

foreign press

watched as the digging commenced.

The

first

spot chosen unearthed, only a few feet

men had been thrown on

bodies. Three

The digging continued. hands

still

tied

A

all

first

family was unearthed, a boy with his

behind his knees, a

They were

down, the

top of each other.

fully clothed,

little girl.

one an old man with the black

baggy trousers and high boots of the Cypriot peasant.

From

the coffee shop at the

Greek end of the

village, only a

few

hundred yards away, came a young Greek on a motor scooter. The troops stood aside to

calmly started

A

him pass through.

let

returned, stopped and,

gazing

at

the

A

few minutes

scene with some

later

he

interest,

to light a cigarette.

paratroop sergeant spotted him and yelled, "Get him out of

here!"

A

soldier sprang forward, gave

one unmistakable motion

with his thumb, and the Greek roared back to the village. I

got into

my Rover

and followed. At the coffee shop

sat

over a

dozen young Greeks. The scooter man was regaling them with what he had seen. to

sit

at

a

I

walked

into the shop, ordered a coffee

among

table

the

customers.

I

was

and returned

feeling

rather

belligerent.

A stood

few minutes in the

Greek police superintendent arrived and

later, a

road, looking

first

along

at the

graveyard and then

at

me. 1

went over

to

him and introduced myself. He spoke excellent

English.

"You used happened

to

to

have a

lot

The superintendent turned "They

of Turks living here,"

them?"

left"

he said.

"Where did they go?"

a trifle grey.

I

said.

"What

202

The Genocide Files

"We

tried to stop

them but they

insisted

on leaving and going

to

other villages."

"There were over one hundred," told him. "Twenty-one never reached the other villages. Have you any idea where they are?" I

He shook

his head.

"They

all left."

"Twenty-one of them didn't go

far,"

I

said. "Just a

few hundred

yards."

He

kept looking

at

me, so

pointed up the road to the huddle of

I

paratroopers.

"They stopped up

there,"

I

said, "in the cemetery.

They're dead

and buried."

He

was standing there glaring at him, him to say or do something that would give me an excuse to belt him one, when a few other journalists came up. They saw there was a fight brewing and one of them took my arm and led me back to my car. told them what the policeman had said, and we all drove back to witness the grisly scene at the graveyard. didn't answer, and

I

willing

I

There was no guesswork

in

deciding the corpses were from

Ayios Vasilios and the neighbourhood. The twenty-one patients had been

been

in the hospital

fully

clothed.

By

when

the shooting started.

nightfall,

They had

not

twenty-one bodies had been

exhumed.

They were taken

to the

Turkish quarter of Nicosia for burial.

Some were identified immediately as Vasilios. Some were never identified,

How

the former residents of

Ayios

so badly were they maimed.

had the 21 hospital patients got mixed up with the 21 Ayios

Vasilios villagers? That night, the Greeks issued a written statement

headed, "Turks distort the truth."

It

calmly insisted that the Ayios

Vasilios bodies were not the villagers hospital patients.

The statement

"A government spokesman,

read

at all,

but were in fact the

:

referring to today's

corpses from the Turkish cemetery

at

exhumation of

Ayios Vasilios and the

unholy exploitation of the subject by the Turkish leadership, has stated the following:-

203

Harry Scott Gibbons During the

first

days of the incidents, Greek and Turkish

wounded and dead were taken

Greek and Turkish

not only to

private clinics, but also to the Nicosia General Hospital.

wounded and sixteen Greek dead as well as wounded and 21 Turkish dead were removed to the

Fifty-two Greek five Turkish

General Hospital.

The Health,

hospital

who

is

authorities

promptly

notified

the

Minister

and the Turkish Cypriot leadership

a Turk,

to

arrangements for the removal of the Turkish dead. They replied

would do so. The Red Cross was also informed and dead was handed to it.

they the

a

of

make that

list

of

But as the days passed and decomposition had begun, the hospital had

no alternative but

to

make arrangements

for the burial

of the bodies, which were interned (sic) in the Turkish cemetery at

Ayios Vasilios. The Turkish Cypriot leadership was again informed of

this.

This action of the hospital authorities

Turkish Cypriot leaders thought to

make

political capital, thus

seeing to the burial of

in

humane

the bodies ought to be appreciated as a

gesture. Instead, the

to distort the truth in an attempt

fit

showing disrespect not only

for the

truth but for their dead."

When

Red Crass

the

finally discovered the burial place, they

were under the impression they would find the bodies of the 21

who had been

patients

when

the shooting started.

The statement was an attempt

account for them, so the

to

Greeks were admitting the hospital patients were attempt was unsuccessful, for the world

dead.

in fact

was already seeing

The the

photographs of the exhumation and knew from the clothes of the victims and the filmed evidence that

some had

their

hands

tied

behind their backs that they were not hospital in-patients.

The statement minds

of

the

correspondent

The

who

showed

also

Greek read

fate of those

it

21

there

Cypriot

was

filled

a

deep sickness Every

in

the

foreign

with disgust.

in-patients

Greeks. But the revolting truth did

was

leadership.

was never revealed by

come

to light

25 years

later.

the

204

The Genocide Files

The

newspaper "The Guardian," quoting

British

from

secret report

a certain Packard, a naval

who had been

Malta

sent to

Cyprus

to

a

hitherto

commander based

in

missing persons,

trace

reported:

"One of Packard's happened

to the

first tasks was to try to find out what had Turkish hospital patients. Secret discussions took

place with a Greek Minister.... staff

had

Their bodies were loaded on

appeared

to a truck

where they were fed

the city

It

that the

Greek medical

the Turkish patients' throats as they lay in their beds.

slit

into

and driven

to a

farm north of

mechanical choppers and ground

into the earth."

This nauseating behavior was carried out under the Akritas Plan.

Its

Chief of Operations was one Glafkos Clcrides, codename

Hiperides. At the

moment

of writing he

is

the President of

Greek

Cyprus.

On

January 15, the conference on Cyprus opened

British

were confident

a solution

would be worked

in

London. The

out.

The Turks

were hopeful. But Makarios threw another spanner It

in the

works.

had been agreed after hard bargaining through Mr. Sandys

that the

conference would be attended by representatives of three

governments -

Britain,

Greece and Turkey and the two Cyprus

communities. This was the

official

communique made by

the

British

High Commission on the departure of Mr. Sandys on

January

2,

1964.

Greece and Turkey were represented by

their foreign ministers,

Glafkos Clcrides led the Greek Cypriot delegation, Denktash and

Osman Orck

the Turkish one.

Then Makarios

sent his foreign minister, Spyros

Kyprianou,

accompanied by the Attorney General, Criton Tornarites Q.C., to represent the Cyprus government. During the talks, Duncan Sandys, the chairman, treated Kyprianou as the Greek Cypriot delegate, but nevertheless the constitution of the conference had

been subtly adulterated and

its

chances of success were doomed

to

Harry Scott Gibbons from the outset on account of

failure

this

205

Greek Cypriot manoevrc.

For Kyprianou had been sent simply to sabotage the talks.

On talks.

London

his arrival at

He was

airport, he forecast the result of the

not optimistic, he said, about the outcome.

Then he

explained that the only solution acceptable to the Greek Cypriots

would be

On

the abrogation of the treaties and rule by the majority.

the day the talks opened, the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity

Committee released countries" of

Opening

a statement in Nicosia

armed intervention

NATO

accusing "some

of Cyprus.

in the internal affairs

the conference - after angrily arranging Kyprianou

and Cleridcs behind the sign, "Greek Cypriot Community," and

Denktash and Orek behind the sign, "Turkish Cypriot Community," both signs preceded by the label "Cyprus Government" to stop the talks

breaking

before they even got off the ground - Sandys

down

said, "the prospect

of failure

is

too grave to contemplate."

"Should the negotiations here a feeling of hopelessness try

and impose

of

U

Into

its

own

in

London

fail, this

He added

would

create

which would inevitably tempt each side

to

solution by force."

London flew Senor Jose Rolz-Bennett of Guatemala, one

Thant's personal cabinet and described as a "political trouble

shooter."

Guatemala

a

is

time for three things -

and

its territorial

Central American country

little

its

claim to

known

banana crop, the poverty of

its

its

at that

people,

neighbour, the then British Honduras.

known to me for his refusal to allow, in 1963, Yemen, commanded by General Carl von Horn

Rolz-Bennett was the U.N. mission to

of Sweden, to investigate the use of poison gas by Egypt against

defenceless

Yemeni tribesmen.

1

had no time for him.

Rolz-Bennett spent a few hours with

all

hours, returned to

make

in

London, had a brief meeting

the delegates to the conference, flew to Nicosia for a

London

his report to

U

for a

Thant.

few

few more hours, then flew back

On

to

the strength of his report, the

Secretary-General began to draw up a plan for a U.N. observer to

be stationed

in

Cyprus.

206

The Genocide Files Into Nicosia to take

up appointment as U.N. observer flew

a

distinguished Indian soldier, Lieutcnant-Gcneral Prim Singh Gyani, erudite, beautifully mannered, and a veteran of campaign against the Japanese during World War Two.

While the London once more coming

Turks

talks to a

in isolated

Burma

the

were quietly bogging down, events were

head

places

in all

Cyprus. over the island

who had

either been

for days without food or kept under house arrest by Greeks,

left

were

evacuating

enclaves.

own

their

leaders.

homes and

their

The Greek

moving

into

responsible for our people.

We

must have our people

fed.

We

The London

in

larger

safer,

were being forced But as one Turkish spokesman put side said they

move by

to

"We

it,

talks arc getting

places where they can be protected and

want no more repetitions of Ayios Vasilios."

The Greeks countered that the Turks were intending a dc The Turkish reply "We cannot wait

partition of the island.

murdered

On

are

nowhere.

in

:

our baths just

to

prove

we

facto to

be

are not."

January 18, a few young Turks moved into

Hilarion

St.

Castle overlooking Kyrenia, and the blood-red flag of Turkey

was

unfurled from the ancient battlements. In Athens, on January 25, General Grivas, then 66, Greek Cypriots who had flown from Nicosia to see him, remain silent any longer." In

Nicosia,

General

army, announced

Pantelides,

told "I

150

cannot

Commander

to a public gathering at

of the Cyprus Mctaxas Square, amid

shouts of "Enosis!" the establishment of a national "home guard,"

and asked every able-bodied Greek

to prepare

himself for duty and

training in arms.

Grivas attacked Makarios and Britain and said he would do his duty "once more." Then he went into secret conference with his

admirers to plan his return to the island. In

London, Britain put up the idea of a rejected by Makarios, who

was firmly

peacekeeping force

is

NATO stated,

force, but this

"The

British

helping to create conditions favouring the

Turkish demand for partition."

207

Harry Scott Gibbons

He added, "The main source of friction between the Greeks and Turks and the root of the evil is in the Treaties of Guarantee and Alliance. The treaties were not the outcome of free will by all

the

parties..."

Why, "I

then, had he signed?

signed because

I

wanted

to

end bloodshed."

a man who, as President, had the power to force a end bloodshed at Christmas, 1963, but somehow

Coming from ceasefire

to

couldn't arrange

it,

I

find this statement an insult to the intelligence.

This egotistical prelate signed the treaties so he could become the president of Cyprus.

He

also dispelled any belief that the Christmas events had got

out of his control.

over

whom

he had

Asked little

if

there

were extremists among the Greeks

control, he denied this vehemently.

own

President Archbishop Makarios, by his control at the Christmas fighting.

He was

admission, was

therefore, by his

admission, responsible for the deaths that occurred. In

my

in

own

opinion,

by being a party to murder, he was admitting to being a murderer himself.

On January 28, the Turkish foreign minister was ordered home from the London talks by Prime Minister Ismet Inonu, the "Old Fox" of Turkish politics. After talks a

much

solution,

persuasion by Britain, Turkey agreed to give the

longer. But they collapsed without even approaching a

little

and the delegates returned

In Nicosia, British troops

to their

own

countries.

continued with their thankless task,

lambasted daily by the Greek-language press. The Greek civilian daily more truculent. As one tough paratrooper said,

gunmen grew

"We

can't shoot back until

Among

we

are killed."

the foreign press corps

we found

a piano virtuoso in

Jack Starr of the London Daily Mail.

The paratroopers found a piano and took it under escort to their The sergeants devised a game to see how many people could dance at the same time on top of the piano while Starr played. The record was fifteen, to the strains of "Let's all go down

sergeants' mess.

the Strand." I

fell off.

208

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER FOURTEEN On

January 31, Britain and the United States put forward a proposal peace force to be drawn from NATO countries and sent to

for a

Cyprus with

On

a

mediator

who would

report to

U

Thant.

armed Greeks attacked Hulu murdering an old Turk and taking 13 Turkish

the night of February 3/4,

village near Paphos,

hostages.

The rest of the Turkish villagers fled to safety to a nearby Turkish village, leaving their homes, belongings and livestock, which were looted.

On

February

4,

Greek

students

staged

a

organised

well

"spontaneous" demonstration outside the American Embassy Nicosia, denouncing the

NATO

in

force proposals.

The column carried anti-American placards, one of which read, "You cannot buy us with your wheat and barley." This was at a time when the U.S. was giving wheat aid to under-developed countries, particularly Egypt.

A

Greek-Cypriot newspaper gleefully pointed out

was painted on an empty

particular slogan

Cyprus some years before

to help out

that

this

grain bag, one sent to

during a drought.

The demonstrators then proceeded to the Russian Embassy, where they were addressed from a balcony by the Ambassador, Mr. Ermoshin, who smilingly assured them of Soviet support in their "struggle for independence."

That afternoon, a Greek was captured inside the Turkish quarter On him was found a Russian-manufactured pistol.

of Nicosia.

During that night, two bombs blew up the ground American Embassy, injuring a Marine guard.

The ambassador, Mr. Frazer Wilkins, an moves in the

great ability to foresee Russian

floor of the

astute diplomat with a area,

was

upstairs with

his family in their private suite at the time.

The

first

American families began flying out

the following day.

to safety in Beirut

200

Harry Scott Gibbons

The Greeks kept up heard shooting

mainly Turkish, a

They

the pressure.

On

February

6, a British patrol

Ayios Sozomcnos, a village of 150 people, few miles cast of Nicosia, and drove to the scene.

at

200

found

armed

surrounding the village.

A

Greeks,

civilian

and

uniformed,

small group of uniformed Greek police

approached the patrol and told them

that a Greek had been killed in ambush a few hours before at Potamia, a mixed village nearby. The police asked permission to enter Ayios Sozomcnos to make

an

enquiries.

The British, in good faith, agreed, and pulled to one side of the As the small police group walked into the village, the remaining armed men moved closer. Suddenly the police started road.

shooting.

Men

rushed from the fields and into the houses. Before

the startled eyes of the British soldiers, the

Turks began

to barricade

themselves

in

massacre began. The

their houses.

Some were

too slow, and the attackers leapt inside, their guns blazing.

As the British patrol radioed frantically for reinforcements, smoke began pouring from the little matchbox houses.

A

line

of British armoured cars raced along the narrow road and

into the village.

The Greeks

retreated to

one end of the hamlet,

still

shooting.

The British found five Turks butchered inside their homes and wounded. One of the dead had been hit by 50 bullets.

five

The mob of Greeks left, then promptly attacked the Turkish of Potamia, where the 200 Turks there fled, leaving

quarter

everything behind.

The

incidents

came

at a

time

the Turkish leadership of forcing

when

the Greeks

Turks against

were accusing

their will to leave

their villages.

That evening, the

was

first

carefully planned

clue that the attack on Ayios

came from Cyprus

Sozomcnos

radio.

In a bulletin referring to the shooting, the

announcer stated

that

women

and children of Ayios Sozomcnos had been removed by the Greeks to safety. Someone had forgotten to inform

all

the Turkish

the radio

newsroom

that British troops

had arrived there

in

time to

prevent their removal, in other words, the taking of hostages. But

210

The Genocide Files

the British soldiers on the scene reported that the gathering of the

women

and children had actually begun when they intervened.

Much

later,

resident of

I

learned from a Greek-speaking, former Cyprus

two conversations he had overheard

in

the bar of the

Ledra Palace Hotel.

The

first

was on

He overheard the

the day before the attack on Ayios

the plans to

make

the attack.

Sozomcnos.

The following evening,

same speaker was explaining

attack the village to punish the

to a friend how the Greeks had ambushcrs of innocent Greeks.

to

The next day, Ayios Sozomcnos was evacuated. General Gyani, U.N. observer, watched as the in baby carriages.

the

women

trundled their pitiful

belongings away

On

February 12, George Ball, the United States Under-Secretary of

State for Foreign Affairs, arrived in Nicosia with the Anglo-U.S.

proposals for a

NATO

force.

They were

rejected immediately by

Makarios. Ball wrote later in his memoirs:

"Makarios'

central

interest

intervention so that he and his

was

to

block

off

Turkish

Greek Cypriots could go on happily

massacring Turkish Cypriots. ."...

in

coast

-

Three or four vignettes of my Cyprus days stand out sharply massacre took place in Limassol on the south

my memory. A in

in

which, as

1

recall,

about

fifty

Turkish Cypriots were killed

some cases by bulldozers crushing

their flimsy houses.

As

walked out of the meeting together on the second day, said to him sharply that such beastly actions had to stop.... With amused tolerance, he replied: 'But, Mr. Secretary, the Greeks and Turks have lived together for two thousand years on this island and there have always been occasional incidents; we are quite used to this.' was furious at such a bland reply. 'Your Beautitude' said, 'I've been trying for the last two days to make the simple point that this is not the Middle Ages but the latter part of the twentieth century. The world's not going to stand idly by and let you turn this beautiful island into your private abattoir.' Instead of the outburst I had expected, he said quietly, with a sad smile, "Oh, you're a hard man, Mr. Secretary, a very hard man!" Makarios and

I

I

I

I

1

Harry Scott Gibbons went

Ball

on,

promptly

."...I

(Johnson) advising him of

my

21

telegraphed

proposal....

President

the

'The Greek Cypriots,'

wrote, 'do not want a peace-keeping force; they just want to be

alone to

kill

Turkish Cypriots.

none

Unfortunately,

of

1

"

this

made

was

public

published his memoirs, The Past Has Another Pattern, issued

at

I

left

until

the time, world reaction might well have caused

to dilute his fullscale plans for

genocide and

Ball

1982.

in

If

Makarios

many Turkish

lives

could have been saved and the brutal, relentless punishment of the

Turkish community cased. But

it

was

not to be.

The

desire for

secrecy by politicians overwhelms the need to save innocent lives.

The same day this exchange between Ball and Makarios took Greek gunmen attacked the Turkish quarter of Limassol. Using a second-hand tank and several home-made tanks converted from bulldozers, the Greeks killed 16 Turks and wounded 35.

place,

General hours, the

home made as

Young

described the attack. "This morning,

Greek side launched

bazookas and,

is

it

alleged, mortars.

was assured

evening before, but

I

very senior minister

in the

Interior Minister

On

by

a

armoured bulldozers, and assorted weapons such

tank,

The name of

in the early

a deliberate attack supported

that

it

We were forewarned the would not take place by a

government."

the "very senior minister"

Yorgadjis was

the 14th, the

in

was

not revealed, but

the Limassol area the day before.

Greeks attacked

at

Ktima and Polis

in the

west

of the island. Three Turks were killed.

On

February 15, Britain took the Cyprus issue to the Security

Council.

That same day in Famagusta port, the Greek ship Demetrios was unloading cargo. It was the Bairam holiday, the feast celebrating the Moslem holy fasting month of Ramadan, and no Turkish porters were on duty.

The cargo being unloaded consisted of cases marked (sic) materials,

One pistols,

"Printig

Makhi, newspaper, Famagusta."

case was dropped and burst open, and submachine bombs and hand grenades spilled over the quay.

guns,

212

The Genocide Files

British troops who rushed up were held at bay by armed Greek policemen while the ship raised anchor and sailed off, only halt its cargo unloaded.

A

Greek policeman told the British troops, "The ship Cyprus Government."

left at

the

instructions of the

The arms were taken by the British, one shipment Nicos Sampson of Makhi newspaper did not receive.

On

the 19th of February, a freedom of

was agreed upon between the chairmanship of the

movement arrangement

the representatives of both sides, under

U.K. Acting High Commissioner, Cyril

move

Packard. This stated that Turks could

outside their enclaves

unmolested.

The same day, Polis, in the west.

were bottled up

civilian Greeks surrounded the Turkish About 800 Turks, including women and

in a

sector

oi'

children,

school building while the Greeks poured

in a

relentless fire.

Loudspeakers called out illuminated the school

and

insults

at night.

It

was

threats,

and searchlights

the enactment of Nazi-ism in

wartime occupied Europe. Foreign journalists crept around

The

in

ditches taking photographs.

British finally achieved a ceasefire.

Throughout the

island, as

Turks emerged from

their ghettos,

they were set upon by the Greeks, searched, robbed, sometimes

abducted.

Reports that Soviet arms were reaching Cyprus by way of Egypt grew.

The U.S. State Department expressed Government protested to Makarios.

itself as

"alarmed."

The

British

Makarios, alarmed

at

the strengthening of the British forces on

the island, called for their reduction.

Young Greek British-type

girls were pictured in Greek newspapers, wearing army helmets and carrying submachincguns.

On February 23, three Russian ships unloaded cargoes at Famagusta. The crates were marked for the Cyprus Government. The ships had come from Port Said in Egypt. Armed Greek civilians

occupied the port during the unloading.

Harry Scott Gibbons There was

little

213

doubt the cases contained arms from Egypt's

Russian stockpile.

On

the 28th, Raul'

Dcnktash spoke

Council on the Cyprus issue.

It

was

a

for an hour to the Security triumph over Russia, which

had sought to have Rossidcs as the only representative of Cyprus.

Moscow had no reason to love the Turks. Since the cold war began, Turkey had been the bulwark against Soviet Communist expansion into the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Communists were never to forgive Turkey for that. Neither, for that matter, were Europe's socialists, and that includes the British Labour Party. So, on the principle that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," the Soviet Union and the Greek government of Cyprus had moved into the

same bed.

On special

the same day, Makarios announced the recruitment of 5,000-man police force.

On March

4, l%4,the Security Council agreed forming a United Nations force for Cyprus.

The force.

It

crucial paragraph

was

the

a

to

a

resolution

one governing the function of the

stated this to be:

"In the interests of preserving international to use its best efforts to

peace and security,

prevent a recurrence of fighting and, as

necessary, to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of law

and order and a return

to

normal conditions."

peace venture, there was no mandate whatsoever for the U.N. force to use arms in order to restore peace.

As with

the

British

The term "normal conditions" was one to fall out with Turkey. Ankara took

Thant

that

was

to

cause

U

mean a December 21

the phrase to

restoration of the conditions prevailing before the

shootings.

U on

Thant,

this

in his

Oriental

wisdom, preferred

constitutional

"of course," accepted that point of view.

He never

No

to

remain ambiguous

When Turkey demanded the restoration of situation, U Thant stated in a report that he had

point.

Why

the not,

the "of course?"

said.

sooner was the resolution passed than the Greek Cypriots, treating now the outgoing British peace force with open contempt,

214

The Genocide Files

began an

all

out takeover

the island in an attempt to forge a

of*

accompli of Greek domination before the

arrival

of the

fait

first

U.N.soldiers.

The roundups had

On March

in fact

Erol Fehim,

2,

British forces in Limassol,

Shakir.

When

begun before the

who worked

was

in

resolution.

for a contractor to the

Mehmet

Nicosia with his cousin

they were ready to return south, they waited until a

Turkish bus, also heading for Limassol, drove out of the walls and followed close behind. "This

was how we Turks protected ourselves," we travelled, we had to make sure that

Erol

me. "When

us in view so that

we were abducted

if

it

Fehim

told

other Turks had

would be seen and an SOS

sent out."

Their precaution was sensible. As they drove away from the walls, a car intercepted

them and two Greeks got out holding guns.

my car and gave me went to Nicosia Central Prison. The passengers in the bus, however, had seen the whole incident. The bus stopped at the first Turkish populated area it came to and the Turkish authorities in Nicosia were alerted. "One of them got in where to go.

instructions

"In the prison, sort

of holding

going

doing

to

happen

for

1

I

to

us,

I

had

little

was taken and

I

all

He

Greeks had been

the

hope for

my

survival.

interrogated by a civilian.

He

about the Turkish defence positions, of which said he'd give

him and he'd be back.

my

knowing what

but

Christmas,

to us since

nothing.

Mehmet and were first placed together in some then we were separated. had no idea what was

cell,

"One night wanted to know

knew

the back scat of

We

I

me some

time to get

it

all

I

ready

never saw him again.

grew pretty despondent, not knowing what was happening. What was most frightening about the Greeks is that we knew they could do anything they liked to us, torture us, maim us, kill us, and there was nothing we could do about it, nothing anyone could do about it as far as the Turks were concerned. "Back

in

cell,

I

"The Greeks of Cyprus had now

their

own

Greek got his hands on a Turk, then the Turk

law, and that

was

was

if

a

do with as he pleased. They were outside the laws of humanity, outside any his to

Harry Scott Gibbons concept of

human

'What

saying,

arc

rights.

They were laughing

you going

to

do about

215 at

the civilised world,

it?'"

cocky confidence stemmed from their newfound arms had already started to arrive. There were constant meetings between top Greek and Russian Part of their

friends in the Kremlin. Russian

Embassy

officials.

A

few days before the Security Council resolution, the first plane of Aeroflot, the Soviet state airline, had landed in Nicosia to inaugurate the

new

Nicosia- Moscow

line.

As the plane landed, crowds shouted "Long live Khrushchev," and "Down with American gangsters." The second slogan was definitely written in Moscow. Adding the word "gangster" is the hallmark of Communist thinking. They never know when to stop.

Why

couldn't they stick to the time-honoured graffitti-isms, such as

"Yanks

Go Home,"

although

that

particular

one

encouraged

additions like "By Panam," thereby reducing the slogan to farce. the other hand, isn't that just

how Communist

On

slogans appear to

others?

"Down with American gangsters" was a sure Moscow had become an ally of Makarios. A few hours after the resolution, a bomb exploded in the Turkish Communal Chamber building. It destroyed the ground floor, Anyway,

indication that

injuring five Turkish employees.

The next morning, on March 5, a force of over 200 Greek Templos near Kyrcnia, where my gardener Eve lived. Two old Turkish men were shot dead, two irregulars attacked the village of

others

wounded. and were held up by women and safety and permission was granted by the civilian

British troops attempted to enter the village

Greeks.

The

children

to

British

offered to escort the Turkish

clothed "legal forces."

But there was no need for the evacuation.

From the towering mountain behind Templos, down goat tracks from Richard the Lionheart's honeymoon St.Hilarion Castle, the Turkish Fighters came. Numbering about into

a dozen,

all

that could be spared, they

moved

Templos, ordered the people indoors, and squatted behind

216

The Genocide Files

rocks and gnarled olive trees. After the out, the In

Greeks kept

first

well aimed shots rang

their distance.

two short months,

a great

change had come over the Turkish

Fighters.

At the beginning they were the same people, men and boys, my two very happy years based on the island I

had known during before the

December

shootings.

After 81 years of British rule, they had

English than the English.

me on my

politeness kept invigorating,

their

company,

best behaviour, their sense of

extreme

their

endearing. In short,

I

honesty

liked the

and

become almost more

found their Moslem manners and

I

these

and

loyalty

Turks immensely and feelings

increased

to

friendship

felt at

in

their

humour

ratio

home to

in

my

disillusionment with the Greek Cypriots. In the first

few days of the crisis, these Turks stepped up to the much in the manner of the British soldier, a quiet

firing line very

curse for a lot of

all

authority, a louder curse for the deteriorating food, and

young men's crude

banter.

But as the situation continued, as village

after

village

was

attacked by the hordes of undisciplined, bloodthirsty, brutal Greek Cypriots, the Fighters changed.

Their British ways gradually sloughed off and a hardness,

perhaps born of desperation, took their place. They changed from

easygoing

men and boys

Colleagues of mine

into sternly disciplined, cold,

who

men

of war.

had reported the Korean war told

me

of

the indomitable fighting spirit of the Turkish contingent there, their iron discipline, their refusal to surrender, the ferocity of their night

counter-attacks.

The orders given

to the

Fighters were simple - protect your

people!

From town

to

town, village to village, hamlet

to hamlet,

house

smuggled themselves in with what they could muster way of arms. They often had to live like animals.

to house, they in the

group of men whose password was to the Greeks who were persecuting their people and themselves in defence of them.

They changed and became death - death

death for

a

Harry Scott Gibbons

was such

21 7

group of men, unshaven, unkempt, hungry, to Tcmplos right under the noses of the Greek horde besieging the village and the helpless British troops watching the area. And two hundred well-armed Greeks It

who

slithered

a tiny

and crawled down

retreated before them.

was frightening

It

to behold, the sort

nightmares arc made

of.

It

was

of thing that enemies'

also heroic,

awesome and

quite

magnificent!

The Greeks agreed

to a ceasefire,

and the British moved

in to

patrol the village.

The Fighters withdrew positions in the

Back

in

Nicosia Central Prison, Erol Fehim waited

"We were

come,

as secretly as they had

given a shave from

in his cell.

time to time by the prison

"He used an open

barber," he told me.

razor, a cut-throat.

out later this barber had killed six or seven Turks.

when

I

to their

hills.

still

I

I

found

shudder

remember those shaves!"

One day he was

taken out to the prison yard along with

many

other Turkish detainees.

thought

"I

time they were letting us get a

at the

bit

of fresh

air.

Or maybe we were beginning to smell a bit, stuck in our cells. Anyway, J was standing in the yard, twisting my head to get some sun, when saw this helicopter taking off, a British army one. And looking down at us saw a friend of our family, a Major Macey, a I

I

liaison with both

Turks and Greeks, for he spoke both languages.

He saw me and waved. and told her where

Later,

I

learned he had contacted

my

sister

knew even if was

was. The Turkish authorities already

I

had been abducted, but didn't

know where

I

was, or

I

I

alive. "I

fall

wasn't to

foul of the

know

then, but in a

few months time Macey was

to

Greeks himself.

"I had been picked up on the Monday. On Friday was released - along with about 200 other Turks who had been grabbed all over I

the

Nicosia

area.

I

had

survived

interrogation by the Greeks, and

I

was

arrest,

alive

and

imprisonment free!

I

and

could hardly

218

The Genocide Files

believe

it!

But

I

never got

my

car back.

They

just stole

it.

I

suppose

they had to get something for their trouble!"

1964,

July,

In

Fehim

Erol

volunteered

organisation, the Fighters, and joined their forces

the

for

TMT

Boghaz on

at

the

road from Nicosia to the Kyrenia pass.

Boghaz, which means "mountain pass," was the Turkish held area just south of the narrow gateway through the Kyrenia range

down to the coast and Kyrenia itself. The Turks held the Kyrenia road from just a few hundred yards north of the Ledra Palace Hotel right up to Boghaz. On the right of this stretch of the leading

road were the northwest Turkish suburbs of Nicosia, on the

open

From Boghaz,

fields.

left

the Fighters could climb to St. Hilarion

without exposing themselves to the Greek forces north of the pass.

Greeks refused the long

When

way west

to drive this route to Kyrenia, preferring to take to

Myrtou and double back along

moved

United Nations troops

the north coast.

into Cyprus, they organised a

convoy from Nicosia to Kyrenia for Greeks. remember in the convoy in a small Greek bus. Besides the driver, there was a Greek guide who gave a commentary in English for the tourists on the bus. But it was strictly a political one. daily car

I

once travelling

"We

are

now

travelling through Turkish occupied territory," he

was Turkish Cypriot farmland built up areas he was referring to. Technically suppose he was correct, but the truth would have been to have called it Cypriot occupied territory, for the Turks of Cyprus are Cypriots. The idea, of course, was to give the kept repeating. This

I

impression that the Turks were occupying

Then he began

to refer to the road as a "prohibited" area, is

hove

Kyrenia and the coast triumphantly,

illegally.

why we have to travel United Nations." When we

"dangerous." "This protection of the

it

into

view,

through

and

under the

it

crossed the pass and

the

guide

announced

"You have now reached Free Cyprus," and kept

repeating this.

Right from the first killings on December 21, 1963, every Greek Cypriot and foreigner has been subject to a constant barrage of anti-Turkish propaganda.

It

has gone on, day and night, for 34

Cyprus" was a new touch anything non-Greek was illegal.

years. This concept of a "Free

the time.

It

followed that

for

me

at

9

21

Harry Scott Gibbons wanted

I

disappointed.

sec the

to

reactions

of the tourists and

As we approached Kyrcnia and

was

not

the voice droned on

about Free Cyprus and the terrible Turks, one American could contain himself no longer.

"What're you talking about, 'Free Cyprus?' he snapped. "Everywhere is Free Cyprus for us foreigners. We don't need UN protection or visas to get through Turkish areas. They're not occupied, they're not dangerous. Stop talking such rubbish!"

The

foreigners on the bus

he finished, myself included.

all

had big smiles on their faces when

The guide

shut up for the rest of the

way. Well done, Yank, thought. Whoever wrote "Yanks on walls wasn't thinking clearly. I

On March

Go Home"

an attack was launched on Ktima, the Turkish quarter By the following day, fighting had flared throughout the The Greeks attacked Nicosia, Kyrcnia, Kazaphani again, 7,

of Paphos. island.

Malia, Melusha, and around Omorphita and Hamit Koy, where the helpless

At stepped

Omorphita refugees were encamped.

Ktima in.

in

the

west,

He managed

to

General

Gyani, the

Within 24 hours he had a foretaste of how Greeks would be. 8.

In the early

had just agreed

U.N. observer,

arrange a three-day ceasefire on March his relations with the

hours of the next day, ignoring the ceasefire they to,

Greeks launched a surprise attack on the Ktima new arms received from Greece and Russia.

Turkish quarter with

The

attack

was mounted with mortars, bazookas, incendiary bombs

and armoured bulldozers.

When

British troops tried to intervene, they

armed Greek pointed

When

were shouted

were kept

at

armoured

bay by

in

chalk on

cars.

fires started

brigade arrived.

at

them, pistols were

them, and "Long Live Enosis" was scrawled

at

the British

fire

irregulars. Insults

It

among

the Turkish houses, a British military

was held up

at

Greek gunpoint.

The final toll of the Ktima attack among the Turks was 15 dead, 34 missing believed killed, 22 wounded and over 2 million pounds sterling worth of damaged property.

220

The Genocide Files

On March 11, a convoy with Red Crescent supplies being escorted from Famagusta to Nicosia by British armoured cars was halted by

Greek

The sacks of

irregulars.

flour

were thrown on the ground and ripped open

with bayonets.

The freedom of movement beginning had scarcely operated, Turks for

their

own

agreement,

now

safety had to stay

which

from

the

collapsed completely, and

away from Greek

controlled

zones.

On March

13, as fighting raged throughout the island,

Turkey sent

Makarios. After detailing the acts by the Greeks following the Security Council resolution, it stated a note to

:

view of

"In

this

Republic requests that

situation,

the

Government of

"All individual or collective assaults and acts the Turkish

the

Turkish

:

community

in

Cyprus such

committed against

as murder, pillage, robbery,

rape, torture and the like be stopped forthwith; that an immediate ceasefire all over the island be established and all existing ceasefire agreements and the Green Line agreements in Nicosia be observed completely and without exception;

arson,

"That

all

sieges around any Turkish locality be lifted forthwith

anywhere; "That the liberties of complete movement, communication and correspondence be immediately restored and that the Turkish hostages and the bodies of those murdered be returned to the Turkish community without delay. "Otherwise, the Government of the Turkish Republic declares that

it

will use the right to take unilateral action conferred

upon

it

by the Treaty of Guarantee of 16th August, 1960." I

watch events there and was in A matter of minutes later contact that the Turkish fleet had

had been ordered to Turkey

Istanbul

when

the ultimatum

was

received a phone call from a

to

issued.

raised anchor at the naval base at

I

Iskenderun just north of the

Syrian border. I

rushed to the airport and managed to get on the first local Iskenderun with a bunch of Turkish reporters, the national

flight to

Harry Scott Gibbons Turkish newspapers being headquartered

221

When we

Istanbul.

in

Ankara airport there was a message for me. No correspondents were being allowed on the invasion fleet, was told. disembarked at Ankara where would at least It would be better if have the first news of any sailing. transittcd

at

I

I

I

I

left

the plane,

and spent the

my

Turkish colleagues continued to Iskenderun

of the night trying unsuccessfully to get into the

rest

base. In

New

York, the Security Council went into session to debate

the crisis.

The American Sixth Anglo-French landings

Lebanon In

in

my

1958,

hotel

moved

room,

I

which had hovered around the

Fleet,

at

Suez

in

1956, and landed the marines

in

nearer to Cyprus.

had a phone

call

from

my

foreign desk to

say that Soviet submarines were reported in the area.

I

asked for

were true it could mean a major confrontation between the West and the Soviet Union. eventually learned that it was from the local correspondent of a British news agency somewhere in the area who alleged one submarine had gone down the Bosphorus from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. phoned Istanbul and managed to get the Bosphorus shipping authority. They told me that any crossing by submarines had to get clearance from them and that no Soviet vessel had passed through. passed this on to London and told them to forget about Red

more

details, for

if

the report

I

I

I

submarines.

Turkish

transports

jammed

with

Iskenderun Bay waiting the order to In his office in

stood

out

in

Ankara, Turkish prime minister Ismet Inonu, the

"Old Fox" of Turkey

and the Greeks

infantry

sail.

in

who the

had fought the British

aftermath of that

ex-president and the right-hand

man

of the

war, late

in

World War

ex-general

I

and

Kemal Ataturk,

founder of modern Turkey, sat and presided over a cabinet meeting.

The word was that at midnight the fleet would move towards Cyprus unless a general ceasefire were proclaimed - and there seemed little likelihood of Makarios announcing this, so certain was he that someone or something would stop Turkey - or the Security Council made a move.

222

The Genocide Files In

the old-fashioned Bulvar Palace Hotel, a favourite of the

sat with an old friend, Emin Galip Sandalji, a much-respected Turkish newsman, in the manager's office. At 15-minutc intervals he phoned his contacts at the prime minister's

foreign press,

I

told my London office what was happening. The whole world was waiting for news of a Turkish landing and was determined was going to be the first with it. arranged for the

office and

I

I

I

Express

to put in a call to

Emin

just as

I

put

down

At five minutes

me

also every 15 minutes, timed to

come

the phone.

to twelve,

was

reported that the invasion

I

still

scheduled.

were

There

were

crowded

people

several

including the manager himself.

The

tension

that

in

little

office,

was mounting and we

breathing hard.

all

At two minutes to midnight, Emin got the word and the spell was broken. Just as he told me the news, the phone rang and the voice from the Express asked what was happening. I

can

clearly

still

remember

shouting, "The invasion's off!

The

U.N.'s sending troops to Cyprus!"

Then

rattled off a

I

few paragraphs

telling

how Canada had

agreed to send soldiers and an advance group was enplaning for

Cyprus

to

to press

form the vanguard of the U.N. force. The Express went my story was, as had hoped, the first in Fleet Street.

and

I

The Express It

go berserk with gratitude or anything always expected its reporters to be first. didn't

The Turkish

fleet

like that.

dropped anchor again. Inonu left his office we went to the Bulvar Palace

and drove home. Led by the manager, bar for a I

little

was

celebration.

told later that while the

world waited

in

suspense for the

order that would send the Turkish army into Cyprus, Inonu, his cabinet in an anteroom, sat

When

I

by

huge desk - playing patience!

got a copy of the Daily Express the next day,

delighted to see

happy

at his

to see,

my

bylincd story on the front page, but

with the story and

made

to

I

I

was

wasn't too

appear as though written

me, the report of a Soviet submarine slipping down the

Bosphorus and

into the Mediterranean!

223

Harry Scott Gibbons Inonu's war threat created the U.N. force

Cyprus.

in

It

also

saved the Turks of Cyprus from immediate extermination under the helpless gaze of the British troops.

The

thousand British troops trying vainly to keep the

several

ceasefire joined the

Canadian arrivals

U.N. Force, the

in the

first

time a British soldier had worn the blue beret.

But

the

still

Greeks encircled the Turkish communities and

shooting somewhere on the island went on day and night.

Green Line

exchanges of thousand

On

the

Nicosia, sniping by Greek civilians, followed by

in

fire,

Greeks

was

the order of the day.

struck

at

Gaziveran,

On March

19,

Morphou

near

over a the

in

northwest.

The population of 600 - many of

whom

children refugees from neighbouring areas in the

were women and - barricaded themselves

schoolhouse. There were 50 Turkish

men

with light arms,

mostly shotguns, against over 20 times their number. Foreign correspondents

Greeks

the

fired

who had

bazookas

comparison with Nazi actions

and in

driven to the scene watched as

mortars

at

the

Greeks, and they paid no attention to the journalists.

was obviously

to

school.

The

occupied Europe did not deter the

The

intention

subdue as much of the Turkish populated areas as

possible before the main United Nations force arrived.

The government Public Information

Office,

now wholly Greek

controlled, casually tried to offset the resultant bad publicity that

Greek attacks were causing abroad by stating fighting "legal"

that

each outburst of

was caused by Turks firing at either unarmed Greeks or the government forces - and the legal forces had simply

defended themselves and "imposed law and order."

No

was given

reason

for the legal forces not being provided

with uniforms or for attacking unarmed civilians.

If

Britain

or

America had surrounded 600 people, men, women, children and babies, of a racial minority and trapped

bombarded been

in

it

them inside

a building, then

with bazookas and mortars, the world would have

uproar.

And

if

that minority

had been Greek Cypriots....

224

The Genocide Files

By

the time the ceasefire had been arranged at Gazivcran, and

600 allowed out into the sunlight from schoolhouse, six Turks had been killed. the

the cramped, fetid

More sandbagged gun emplacements appeared all over the Green Line in Nicosia as the Greeks dug in, setting up positions right in the 100-yard-wide neutral zone, in preparation for what appeared to be another onslaught on the Turkish quarter. Minister Yorgadjis then announced that the British

Interior

peace force had failed

in its mission, a monstrous accusation in view of the continuous Greek attempts to thwart the British in their thankless task and the fact that Yorgadjis was, in the main, the man

responsible.

His remark drew an answering blast from the British High Commission, and prompted General Gyani to state about the British troops:

have

"They

displayed

the

steadiness and restraint....

highest

standards

of discipline,

have been most impressed by

I

their

sense of duty."

On March

26, the

troops of the main U.N. force, the

first

Finnish contingent, began to arrive.

On

same day, General Gyani conveyed an official message Kutchuk that the Cyprus Government, as represented by Makarios and his Greek minsters, had banned the re-entry to the island of Rauf Denktash, the prominent Turkish

to

the

Vice-President

and

leader

president

Denktash's speech Turkish

side

of

of

the

Turkish

Communal

to the Security Council, in

the

dispute

and

the

Chamber. which he gave the

legal

interpretations

of

Makarios' actions as well as detailing Greek behaviour during and after the

too

Christmas fighting, had not

From much It

was

to say

and he said

ironic that while

it

ban on him entering his

from

Makarios.

was

exile,

a

man

Denktash had argued successfully

own

also ironic that

was

with

too well.

Security Council that Makarios

It

sat well with

the Archbishop's point of view, Denktash

was

to the

acting unconstitutionally, the

country was equally unconstitutional.

when

four years later Denktash returned

he arrived, not discredited, but

to

lead the Turkish

225

Harry Scott Gibbons Cypriot delegation to peace talks which the Greeks had

at

last

accepted.

The Greeks found found

keep down the Turks. They

difficult to

it

down Dcnktash.

impossible to keep

it

At 5 a.m. on March 27, 1964, the U.N. force

Cyprus became

in

operative.

commander was General Gyani, with

Its first

Major General R. M.P.Carver, as

As

Swedish

and

began

troops

Irish

a British officer,

his deputy. to

arrive,

British

paratroopers patrolling the Green Line in Nicosia were phased out.

Gyani 's motive had fought the

in this

was

straightforward.

EOKA terrorists

in

The

paratroopers,

who

pre-independence days, had been

subject to increasing insults and humiliation in the Greek-language press,

following

particularly

Yorgadjis that they had failed

the

in their

inflammatory accusation peace mission.

by

Gyani was also acutely aware that the paras were trained solely and did not relish their passive role between the two

for attack factions.

He wanted them

out of Nicosia for

two reasons. He wanted

to

save them further humiliation, and he hoped their departure would lessen

xenophobic hatred sweeping the Greek part of the

the

population.

There was a third point. Gyani knew the paras would never wear the insipid blue of the United Nations, with its dearth of military tradition, with the

same pride

as their

own

red berets.

Eventually, about 1,000 British troops, the largest force of any

one country, joined the U.N. force and were based area near the British Sovereign Base of Akrotiri.

From

the

moment General Gyani took over

in the

Limassol

the United Nations

codenamed in New York UNFICYP (the U.N. acronyms), on March 27, troubles showered on him.

force in Cyprus,

loves

The very day he took up that to

his

command, Makarios announced

he had officially given the portfolios of Health and Agriculture

two Greeks. The trouble with

the Constitution

it

was

laid

down

this

was

under Article 46 of would be seven Greek

that

that there

226

The Genocide Files

and three Turkish members of the Council of Ministers, and ministerial appointments could only be made with the joint signature of President and Vice-President of Cyprus. Besides, two

Turks already held these posts.

Makarios had violated the Constitution on two points - by to nine Greeks and one Turk, and by making

changing the Cabinet

ministerial appointments without the approval of Dr. Kutchuk.

Osman the

new

Orck, Minister of Defence and

last

Turkish minister

in

cabinet according to Makarios, learned that the only reason

had not been interfered with was because, as a Greek

his ministry

spokesman

said, "this ministry is not officially regarded as covering

a field of great importance to the life of the country."

This must have confused poor General Gyani, for the whole

was

gist

that

Cyprus was under

Orek learned

that his

Defence Ministry

put at the disposal

of the

U.N. Secretariat

of the Makarios request for a U.N. force constant threat of invasion from Turkey.

To add

insult to injury,

building had been

without his knowledge.

Kutchuk protested

By March

but, as usual,

Makarios paid no

attention.

30, shooting had broken out again in Nicosia. Turks

leaving their sectors throughout the island were held up, searched, arrested, robbed, beaten

On

April

1,

EOKA

and sometimes

shot.

Day, Makarios attended a parade of the now

all-Greek Cyprus army, armed with the latest weapons from Russia, via Egypt, and Greece.

While the parade was going on, a Turk was Greek attack at Pano Pyrgos in the northwest. Bulldozers

moved

Ktima on

into

killed during a

the west, demolishing

180

Turkish shops. Electricity was cut off from the Ktima Turks, 3,000 of

whom

were sardined

into

one

tiny sector.

On April 3, another Turk was shot Pano Pyrgos. At Ktima, a mosque was bulldozed to the ground. Its minaret had been blown off during the March 9 attack. The

dead

incidents increased.

at

British

troops

serving

increasingly involved.

with

the

new U.N.

force

became

227

Harry Scott Gibbons In the Tylliria

scale

began

Greek attack on a grand was killed at Kokkina, prevent Greek reinforcements

area in the northwest, a

to build up.

On

April 4, a Turk

and British troops were sent

in to

reaching the area.

That

Makarios

day,

unilaterally

abrogated

Treaty

the

of

Alliance with Turkey. This treaty catered for the stationing of 650

mainland Turkish troops on the island. Makarios said reason for this

was

the threat of invasion

strange that he gave no thought to this threat

his

from Turkey.

when

main

It

was

he rendered the

Ministry of Defence inactive.

That same night, Greeks attacked Mansoura, also

in the Tylliria

region.

By

April 5, there

was

fighting

all

along the coastal area. At

Kato Pyrgos, 18 men of the British 9th Independent Parachute Brigade

now

serving with the U.N. were held

at

gunpoint with their

seven vehicles.

An

angry crowd gathered round insulting them, shouting to the

British to get off the island.

At Kokkina, British Royal Engineers threatened to open fire on two Greek armoured cars if they started shooting on the village. At Kato Pyrgos, a Life Guards trooper wearing his new U.N. beret

was disarmed by Greek irregulars and marched across gun at his back.

the

square, his hands up, a

The

contempt shown by the Greeks for the U.N. force

utter

infuriated Gyani,

who

protested vigorously to Makarios.

To

this

- and the hundreds that were to be made over the next few years - Makarios smiled placatingly and promised to do all he protest

could to cooperate.

On

April 6, four Turks from Limassol arrived at the Famagusta

Gate entrance taken

to

a

to Nicosia.

field

survivors, badly

and

They were stopped by Greek

machinegunncd.

wounded and

left

Two

to die,

were

crawled

irregulars,

killed.

to

The

a nearby

British post.

Describing the scene of the murders, one of the survivors said the

young Greeks had danced around, shrieking with laughter and

shouting, "Die, you Turkish dogs!"

228

The Genocide Files

The two

bullet-ridden bodies were eventually returned to the

Turks, together with death certificates. The certificates, signed by an Inspector of Gendarmerie

who was

also the Registrar of Births

and Deaths for Nicosia, gave the cause of death as being from "natural causes." Did he mean it was "natural" for a Turk to die from Greek bullets?

On An

April 25, fighting broke out on the Kyrenia mountain range.

out attack was launched by some 300 Greeks against two dozen Turks defending the slopes of St. Hilarion Castle. all

The

battle raged for three days, with the

U.N. apparently unable

any control whatsoever. During the fighting, General Gyani was booed and jeered by thousands of Turkish women when to

effect

he paid a visit to Dr. Kutchuk in Nicosia.

On

April 27, unable to conquer the strategic heights, the Greeks

called off the attack, leaving Hilarion

still in

Turkish hands.

The next day General Gyani stated: "The scale and manner in which the operations have been carried out by forces under the authority of the government of Cyprus... indicate that these operations were pre-planned. "They were

a

complete surprise

to

UNFICYP..."

On April 29, Makarios ordered a cease-fire throughout the island. But two days later, General Carver, Gyani's deputy, had to ask Interior Minister Yorgadjis to remove armed Greeks from Turkish areas around Larnaca. Yorgadjis replied by moving more arms and men

into the district.

During the

first

island, but, despite

weeks of May,

the British paratroopers

left

the

General Gyani's hopes, their departure did not

lessen the tension.

On May Thant as

10,

Senor Galo Plaza of Equador was appointed by

Plaza, like his father before him,

Equador.

U

his special representative in Cyprus.

I

was

a

former president of

had met him while he was chairman of the U.N.

observer group

in

Lebanon during

He had trodden on Hammarskjold, by

the civil

war

there in 1958.

the toes of his then superior, the late

telling

me

in

Dag

an interview that his observers

229

Harry Scott Gibbons

could only patrol ten per cent of the border with Syria, which was

pouring arms into the conflict.

Two

marked

occurrences

Plaza's

The

appointment.

first

augured well.

A

U.N. escort successfully brought a convoy of 16 trucks, with

merchandise donated by the Turkish Red Crescent Society, from Famagusta port to the Nicosia Turks. It was the first goods the

Turks had managed

to get out of the

port since the Christmas

fighting.

Turks

in

Nicosia celebrated the convoy's arrival.

It

looked

at

was going to prove effective. But smiles had given way to the keening of women

as though the U.N. presence

last

the next

day the

mourning

their dead.

At 2.30 on the afternoon of civilian dress

May

1

1,

a car with four

Greeks

in

drove into the exclusively Turkish walled old city of

Famagusta.

Three of them were officers of the mainland Greek army, Cyprus in excess of the Greek contingent numbers.

infiltrated into

The

fourth

was

a

Greek Cypriot policeman.

There are two versions of what happened. The Turks said

that

by were stopped, but as soon as the occupants got out, one of them drew his pistol and started shooting, wounding a Turk seriously.

the car failed to stop at the entrance in defiance of a signal given

the Turkish police.

A Turkish

On

their

way

out, they

policeman returned the

fire, killing

three of the

men

and wounding the fourth.

The Greek survivor - one of

the mainland officers - said their

car had been stopped by the Turks, they had been ordered to get out, then they

were

shot.

However, two of the guns carried by the Greeks had been fired. It was significant too that the dead policeman was the son of Cyprus Chief Police Superintendent Pantelides.

What armed

NATO

travel

breaking their

officers of the Greek mainland army carrying documents were doing in Famagusta in the first place,

way

into

and attempting

Turkish quarter, was never explained.

to

shoot their

way

out of the

230

The Genocide Files

As soon

as

news spread,

the

the

Greeks attacked. Around

Famagusta, 32 Turks were abducted as hostages and the shooting continued for days before a ceasefire was arranged.

When

Plaza went to Makarios and demanded a return of the

hostages, the Archbishop told him he had no idea where they were or what had happened to them.

On May

Makarios denounced the taking of hostages by

16,

Greek Cypriots.

It

was

a matter of great

Plaza, furious, stated to the press "I

have insisted

and the world

in

concern

to

him, he said.

:

that the Secretary-General, the Security

must know what happened

general

Council these

to

innocent victims."

On May

26, talking to a joint meeting of both houses of the

Canadian Parliament,

U

Thant, discussing Cyprus, said:

"However incensed we may be senseless taking of hostages - and

incensed -

we

So there to

it

the brutal killings and the

at if

I

may

say so

we

are deeply

arc not conducting a punitive expedition."

was

be incensed

at

open at last. The U.N. force in Cyprus was Greek Cypriot atrocities but was not to do

in the

anything about them.

The hostages were never

returned.

Describing the Famagusta incident

Council on June 15, 1964,

hope remains

He made

U

in his report to the

Security

Thant said of the hostages,

"Little

that they are alive."

a curious addition to the chapter on Famagusta.

One

of

the overall effects of the incident, he wrote, had been "to initiate a

wave of bitter anti-Turkish I

feeling

among

the

Greek Cypriots."

thought perhaps his typist had confused the wording. Surely

should have been the other

among

the Turkish Cypriots!

way round -

bitter

it

anti-Greek feeling

Harry Scot Gibbons

231

I

CHAPTER FIFTEEN On June

1,

1964, just two months after the U.N. had

moved

in to

Greek Cypriot government imposed conscription on men between the ages of 18 and 50 for a new help

peace,

restore

the

National Guard.

men between

Immediately 15,000

18 and 20 years old were

called up.

At Limassol, the docks were closed night

after night as ships

from Greece discharged arms and men. The U.N. troops were held outside the docks at gunpoint.

Tarpaulin covered lorries poured nightly from Limassol under

heavy guard. By early morning, the reinforcements had reached

newly prepared camps

By

in the

Troodos mountains.

the middle of June, the U.N. estimated that 5,000

Greece had arrived

in

Cyprus

Greek Cypriot students studying officers and instructors. Georgios

General

command

men from

take up arms. These included

to

Athens and mainland Greek

in

Karayannis,

a

mainland Greek, assumed

of the National Guard.

Before the National Guard was formed,

my

house

in

Kyrenia

was then staying at the Ledra Palace Hotel in Nicosia and could make only infrequent visits to it.. On one of these drove up and saw the front door open. The lock had been

was broken

into.

1

I

forced. All

prized

my

personal papers had been stolen, along with

Yemeni curved dagger

rods, the carpets

in

its

silver scabbard,

Behind the house, on the

slight slope at the

post had been set up.

I

I

back of the property,

discovered that a small police

found out because one afternoon

sitting

on an upstairs verandah bird-watching with

when

a

came

my

I

was

binoculars

and a couple of uniformed went down to see them and was "What are you watching with those binoculars?" into

the

drive

policemen knocked on the door. asked bluntly,

my

fishing

and various other personal items.

and long before the Christmas War,

car

my

1

232

The Genocide Files

was hearing, but told them few more questions, they left. couldn't work out how they had seen me, for had spotted no cars in front of the house. went upstairs and as discreetly as possible I

could scarcely believe what

and

politely about the birds

I

I

after a

1

I

I

And

used the binoculars to search the olive groves behind.

was

there

the car with the policemen returning to a

bingo, hut

little

I

hadn't even noticed. It

meant nothing

all

to

me.

I

down

put the episode

to

one of the

quirks of a newly emerging nation, and one on the verge of the oriental world, too.

But

I

I

forgot

about

all

remembered now. went - my binoculars had been I

police post

And

I

police I

it.

upstairs and stolen, too

looked for the

- and there

was.

it

knew my house could not have been burgled without the knowing. In fact, was pretty certain they did it themselves. I

phoned, reported the

and within minutes a car

theft,

They made

full

of

and went off. made myself a cup of tea - and they were back. This time they were

police arrived.

a lengthy report

I

dragging a rather mussed up Turkish labourer with them, a

man

I

recognised as having done maintenance work around the house for the Turkish owner.

They asked me

to state that

they would deal with they argued,

asked them

if

it.

I

The Nazi

suspected him of the crime and police state in action!

refused again, and finally they

I

they thought

scowled and went back

I

would ever

get

let

my

refused,

I

him go. When

I

property back, they

to their car.

It was not long after the National Guard was formed moved in, breaking down the repaired doors. Fortunately,

that they

for

I

was

Athens or Ankara at the time, forget where, a friend of mine, Colonel Mike Gussey, the military attache at the U.S. Embassy, moved fast and managed to collect my clothes. in either

I

When just

in

furniture in trucks.

me

I

did

manage

to get to

Kyrenia and

visit the

house,

I

was

time to see the National Guard removing the valuable

I

it

was

solid carved antique Cypriot

sought out the officer

in

- and taking

it

away

charge, and he promptly had

booted off the property! He was a mainland Greek, too. It

was obvious why the Guard had confiscated the house. The gave commanding views to the sea and Turkey in front,

upstairs

233

Harry Scott Gibbons

And

and

St.

was

there for, to have those

Hilarion behind.

what the police post

realised that's

I

same views. But

long before fighting broke out, so

it

the police

moved

there

must have been one of the

advance moves of the Akritas Plan. Hindsight

a great informer.

is

Major E.F.L. Maccy, of the British army, was fat, powerful, jolly. He had fought in Greece against the Germans during World War 2 and against the communists in 1948. He was awarded medals by the Greek Government for bravery.

the

Maccy, who spoke both Greek and Turkish, was appointed by U.N. as a special liaison officer to Vice-President Dr. Kutchuk.

One of happened

assignments was to

his

to the

to

try

32 Turkish hostages taken

in

what had Famagusta on May

discover

11.

He informed

the

Turks

he

was

driving

to

the

Cyprus

"Panhandle," the long finger pointing from the northeast of the island, to follow up information he had received. Osman Orek, the Defence Minister, warned him to be careful. "I

said to him, 'the

Greeks are watching you.

moment'

I'd

advise you not

to

go near

It

Macey laughed. He produced a battered photo from his pocket. showed him being carried shoulder high by Greek villagers and

that area at the

."

soldiers.

"This

medals.

is

my

passport," he said. "This

No Greek

Cypriot

who

was taken where harm me."

I

won my

sees this will

"You have yet to be educated about these people" Orek retorted. Macey was wrong. He confused Greek Cypriots with mainland Greeks.

At noon on June

7,

he

left

the Turkish village of Galatia in the

Panhandle, his investigations apparently completed, and headed

back towards Nicosia. On his road back, he had to pass through the Greek village of Trikomo, the birthplace of George Grivas, the

EOKA

founder.

Macey,

his driver

Leonard

Piatt,

and their Land Rover were

never seen again. Like the 32 Famagusta Turks for whose mass graves they were searching, the two Britons were finally presumed dead.

234

The Genocide Files

During the hot, dry summer, the Greek arms buildup continued. The National Guard was strengthened to 24,000 men, well supplied with

heavy

equipment,

mortars, Oerlikon 20

armoured

including

mm guns,

25-poundcr guns,

recoilless rifles.

U Thant refused to give the Security Council details of the Greek Cypriot military position. He estimated that 3,000 tons of military equipment had passed through Limassol docks in 1,000 truck loads, but although he admitted to possessing details of the

shipments, he refused to divulge them on the grounds that this would be disseminating military intelligence.

How

on earth do these weird

men

little

ever get into positions of

U Thant was Cyprus and that

such power? All the Security Council learned from that there

was

a pretty massive military buildup in

the U.N. couldn't or simply wouldn't

do anything about

it!

new Greek police chief was appointed He immediately announced that Greek Cypriot

Early in July, a

Kyrcnia area.

would

to the

police

Templos, the Turkish village near Kyrenia which had been saved by the Fighters four months earlier, a move that could patrol

only cause trouble.

The U.N. rushed

down from

crawled

to

the

Hilarion.

the Turkish

scene,

Two

Fighters

again

hundred National guards with

armoured cars and 25 pounders surrounded

the village.

Brigadier Jim Teddlcy, the burly commander of the U.N. Canadian contingent, who arrived in time to prevent a new massacre, was told by the National Guard commander that the

reason for the

move was

"coastal defence."

Makarios had earlier assured the U.N. that the new heavy equipment would be used only to fight off invasion from outside. As U Thant said later in his report "This heavy armament was opposing no Turkish invasion at Templos." :

On

July 17, the Greeks issued an ultimatum that they

attack unless

all

would

the Turkish Fighters withdrew, thus plainly leaving

the village

open

armed with

light

to a Greek takeover. Eighty Turkish Fighters, weapons, dug in around the village.

drove up to Templos that day. My car and were searched by Greek police while the National Guard sat around, their guns I

I

pointing

at

the village.

235

Harry Scott Gibbons

drove on slowly and was waved on by desperate looking men clothing, days of black growth on their chins, shotguns cradled in their arms - the Fighters. I

in tattered

The National Guard had destroyed

pumps of

the

the only water

well supplying the village.

drove

I

up

the

mud

hard-packed

among

street,

the

little

shuttered houses.

Suddenly a skinny

woman

little

dress rushed up to the car.

in a

much-patched, ankle-length the happy,

was Eve, my gardener from

It

pre-Christmas days. I

her

gave her the news of events

how my house had been At the age of 36,

was

I

in the rest

of the island, and told

confiscated by the National Guard. left

with nothing

in

the

world but a

passport, a suitcase full of ageing clothes and a chess set. But realised village.

had everything

I

to

be thankful for as

I

Eve and her children were hungry and short

could take them no food through the Greek cordon. her there, her pitiful figure

bowed

in the

I

looked around that o\' I

water, but

had

scaring sun. while

I

to leave I

drove

off.

A

truce

was eventually worked

out

with

the

Greeks

by

Brigadier Teddley.

The mukhtar (headman) of Templos undertook Fighters withdrew again to the

to sec that the

hills.

The Greeks agreed

to refrain from sending patrols through the on keeping their heavy guns in position although the barrels were turned from Templos to the sea. Teddley remarked, "Those bloody guns can be turned on the village at any moment, but it was the best we could do in the circumstances."

village,

but

insisted

What the world didn't know at that time was that a sizeable army of mainland Greek troops had been smuggled into Cyprus. Andreas Papandreou, the son of the Greek Premier George Papandreou,

and

later

described the operation

to

become a far-Left premier himself, book "Democracy at Gunpoint." He

in his

wrote:

"Makarios visited Athens father,

who was

in

early April (l l)64).

handling personally

all

He and my

aspects o\ the Cyprus

problem, reached complete agreement.... This was

my

father's

236

The Genocide Files

proposal, and Makarios accepted it. A clandestine operation began on a huge scale of nightly shipments of arms and troops, of 'volunteers' who arrived in Cyprus in civilian clothes and then

The process was not completed until summer. No less that 20,000 officers and men, equipped, were shipped to Cyprus."

joined their 'Cypriot' units. the middle of the fully

20,000

among

fully

equipped troops, landed

an army of occupation. Secretariat see

U

and clandestinely

illegally

a population of less than half a million, surely represented

Thant,

it

in

that

The question was,

one of

"substantial quantities of

have continued

to

did the United Nations

way.

be

his

war

reports

summer,

that

stated

that

material, including heavy equipment,

introduced through

the

port

of Boghaz

end of Famagusta Bay in the east of the island) where unloading is invariably carried out in the utmost secrecy, always under the cover of darkness, with the National Guard attempting to keep UNFICYP patrols out of the area." (situated at the north

As

the

Greek buildup of men and arms continued,

a sinister

figure appeared on the scene.

EOKA

George Grivas, the former

leader and

now

with the rank

of brigadier-general in the Greek army, landed secretly

in

Cyprus

from Greece. He appeared suddenly in the village of Trikomo, birthplace, and promptly began touring the country calling union with Greece.

his

for

He also announced he was the commander-in-chief of the Greek armed forces in Cyprus. Although this title was never conferred on him officially by Makarios, it soon became evident that Grivas had arrived with some form of letters patent from Athens, for he calmly took over the National Guard and the police force, much to the annoyance of General Karayannis, the mainland Greek commander of the Guard. It

was

not long before Makarios

was forced

to take official

notice of Grivas' presence on the island, and soon the two of them

began making speeches from the same platform, each vying with remember watching them. the other for popular support. I

The more Grivas island until

I

talked about Enosis -

return to Greece with the

title

"I

shall not leave this

deeds

to

Cyprus

in

my

237

Harry Scott Gibbons

pocket" - the more Makarios talked of "unfettered" independence as a prelude to Enosis.

would be the one

was odd

It

to see these

now

had quarrelled and

by

side,

Makarios was equally determined deeds to Athens.

that he

to take the title

two former

allies against the British

who

patently detested each other, standing side

each trying to win away from the other the support of the

gunmen with promises of Enosis, unfettered independence and warnings of the threat from Turkey - Makarios,

Greek

Cypriot

black bearded, aloof, inscrutable; Grivas, short, white-haired with a

broad Greek peasant moustache. In their

competent

soapbox speechifying, Makarios won the day. Grivas, have though he might been organising in

shoot-in-the-back guerrilla warfare,

was

politics as he

prove

to

in

was

as poor a

His meandering, partly incoherent statements voice,

were enough

to

hand

at

public

conventional warfare.

douse

in his

his popularity with

high pitched

any intelligent

listeners.

But as a backroom politician, with his old

EOKA

and

their

new

counterparts

in

gunmen

friends of

the bloodthirsty irregulars,

Grivas found support.

The summer dragged Turkish death

Unknown in

roll

world

to the

on,

incident

following

incident.

The

slowly mounted.

at that time,

and certainly to the journalists

Cyprus, Britain, the United States and Greece were discussing

the

feasibility

of overthrowing

Grivas, the twisted

encouraging Greece the fait accompli of

The obstacle

little

killer

Makarios,

replacing

him with

of Britons, Turks and Greeks,

to declare Enosis and thus present Turkey with Cyprus calmly handed over to Greece!

to

this

piece of dirty

dealing was,

naturally,

Turkey

Under Britain's 30-year secrecy rules, Cabinet papers revealing were only released on January 1, 1995. And it becomes apparent on reading the correspondence between London and its envoys in Ankara, Athens and Washington that the Greek-American lobby was the moving force behind the plan.

this

238

The Genocide Files

A

telegram from the British Embassy

Washington

in

to

the

Foreign Office dated August 25, 1964, said:

"As you

have seen from the full page articles in the New Greek-American lobby here is getting very active and President Johnson in in no position to throw away votes. do not suggest for one moment that anyone in the (US) Administration would encourage the Greeks to act, but they would find it hard not to be relieved if Papandreou had the gumption to go for Enosis in spite of Makarios and the Turks." will

York Times

recently, the

I

This

is

how US

an insight into

was because of

foreign policy

conceived.

is

It

went to Northern Ireland - an integral part of Britain - to shake hands with the spokesman for Sinn Fein, the so-called "political" arm of the proscribed terrorist organisation, the Irish Republican Army, and to invite him to visit the USA. The IRA had at that time the Irish-American vote that President Clinton

declared a ceasefire

now the

arriving from

US

in its

US

war

president himself, the

and massacres of innocent

on mainland

And United

against Britain but, with fresh funds

sympathisers and assured of the friendship of

IRA promptly

re-started

civilians, both in

its

bombing

Northern Ireland and

Britain.

since then, after the States

IRA

has removed the

declared a second ceasefire, the

IRA from

its

list

of terrorist

America's most trustworthy ally for the sake of a small community of Never Never Land people, the Irish-Americans, neither Irish nor, it would seem,

organisations.

Clinton

has

risked

alienating

American.

A

previous

"You can

US

run, but

president, Ronald Reagan, said of terrorists, you can't hide!" Bill Clinton shakes their hands.

Incidentally, terrorists don't last long inside the United States.

The

National Guard, a very impressive, powerful internal armed force, moves in with the police and maybe even the army itself, with tanks, guns, planes,

bombs, everything

terrorists to smithereens.

I'm

Britons. Unfortunately, the

- "Don't do as we do. arms.

US

in the arsenal,

favour, as

is

and blasts the

the vast majority of

has a rigid policy towards

its allies

do as we tell you!" So Britain suffers the while America welcomes them with open

Just

prcdations of terrorists

in

II

any

Scott

230

Gibbons

Over 30 years ago, because of the Greek-American vote, was anxious to "solve" the Cyprus crisis by dumping the US's friend and ally Turkey in favour another president, Lyndon B. Johnson,

of Greece and sentencing the Turkish-Cypriot

quick death.

is

It

community

assumption of the power of

this

many

over other peoples that alienates so

to

a

and death

life

places from

foreign

America.

sometime

remember,

I

in

1963,

Kennedy (another

under

vice-president

that

Johnson,

Irish-American

British-hating one, too) paid a visit to Cyprus.

When

then

and

a

he arrived he

refused to travel in the official car taking him into Nicosia. Instead,

he walked

way, vowing

the

all

to

shake hands with every person

in

Cyprus. Well, people certainly lined the road to see this strange procession walking

all

the

way from Nicosia

airport,

and he did

shake hands with most of them.

Johnson had

this

weird obsession with handing out ballpoint

pens. His plane must have been

one

to

everyone

motive for

who

crammed

with them, for he handed

had his hand out. I've never understood his

Were the recipients supposed to look at the pens someone more sophisticated among the peasants out the button which, when pressed with the thumb,

this.

with awe, until

would point

caused the point to protrude and thus

And were

motion.

set the writing

the enlightened then supposed to

angelic smiles as they grabbed scraps of paper and feverishly,

all

process

in

beam with scrabbled

the while giving vent to expressions of joy such as

"Hot dog!" and "Holy mackerel!" perhaps even "Gee willikers!" I

remember thinking

to

myself as

I

stood talking to Johnson

the lobby of the Ledra Palace Hotel, this

in

must surely be the epitome

of the Ugly American. Ball point pens, for God's sake.

So months

wasn't

I

later,

all

Yemen in order who had organised

of

regime

to

innocent followed.

that surprised

President

- dismayed, yes - when, a few

Kennedy recognised

the republican regime

to strengthen the position

the

coup

that

of Nasser of Egypt,

brought the Communist puppet

power, thereby sentencing hundreds of thousands of

Yemeni

civilians to death in the brutal "cleansing" that

240

The Genocide Files

And

while the massacres were

still going on in Yemen, here Kennedy's successor, Johnson, advocating the extermination of the Cyprus Turks.

was

the assassinated

One of the strangest things about this bumbling, Machiavellian was that George Ball, deputy to Secretary of State Dean Rusk, was the man Johnson chose to force through this American coup/Enosis solution. For it was Ball who had told Johnson not plotting

long before this that the Greek Cypriots wanted the island for their "private abattoir." I

the

have never ceased

to

be amazed - stunned would perhaps be

more appropriate word -

at

which

the depths to

diplomats will lower their standards of honour fame.

American

In

eyes,

a

quick

politicians

in pursuit

coup/Enosis

and

of fleeting

was

solution

necessary to prevent a Greco-Turkish war over Cyprus that could

NATO. What

destroy

the

US

didn't

THAT

Ball succeeded in his task,

seem to realise was that, had would have been the precise

cause of such a war.

The thought of double-crossing Turkey came announced on June his

new

1,

National Guard.

Washington reveals

after

Makarios

1964, the conscription of Greek Cypriots for

A

telegram from the British Embassy

that vice-president Dr.

in

Kutchuk, the Turkish

Cypriot leader, immediately told the Turkish government that he

wanted

partition of the island. In fact, the Turkish

army was

set to

land in Cyprus on June 5 in support of Kutchuk.

Word

of this was leaked to the Americans and Johnson sent his

ambassador

in

Ankara

to deliver a blistering threat to Ismet Inonu,

The proposed Turkish action, Inonu was told, would violate the US-Turkish agreement on the use of American arms supplied to Turkey, it would be contrary to Turkey's obligations to NATO, and it would go against the the Turkish prime minister.

Security Council

resolution

on Cyprus and the Charter of the call for emergency

United Nations. Johnson also threatened to

meetings of both the

NATO

Council and the

The message must rank

as

UN

Security Council.

one of the worst examples of

diplomatic bullying by one country against another, especially a

valued

ally.

point pens!

Johnson had come a long way from handing out

ball

Harry Scott Gibbons

24 J

warned Inonu that, long before Turkish would be able to establish a beach-head, thousands of Turkish Cypriots "would be slaughtered by the Greek Cypriots." If this was how the Americans reckoned the Greek Cypriots would behave, then surely they must have been able to deduce that precisely the same thing would happen if Cyprus were handed over to Greece, which already had a sizeable army on the island engaged in the mass murder of Turkish Cypriots. In fact, secure in the knowledge that America was preventing Turkey from mounting a rescue operation, it was almost certain the Greeks would carry out Significantly, he also

forces

such a slaughter.

When

the Vikings

were plundering England, occasionally the

would agree

invaders

leave

to

areas

in

peace

subservience to the invader, plus regular payments

in in

return

for

cash or kind.

These protection fees became known as "Dane-geld," Danish money. Turkey was not the first country to find out that aid from America can have its price - in deference as well as cash repayments.

I

wonder

subject, "If

if

Inonu read the admonition of Rudyard Kipling on the

and what he thought

if

he did.

once you have paid him the Dane-geld,

"You never

When

get rid of the Dane."

Inonu

agreed

to

postpone

intervention,

an

Anglo-American "Action Plan" was prepared and proposed as a basis for a Cyprus solution. It reasoned that the continued independence of Cyprus was not feasible on the grounds that the initiatives that Makarios (not actually mentioned by name) had taken had

US

and

military action likely, had damaged UK Greece and Turkey, and jeopardised the

made Turkish

relations with

southeast flank of

NATO.

Perhaps the most noteworthy clause in this plan was the one which showed the American fixation at that time, beside which the lives of over 100,000 Turkish Cypriots meant little or nothing.

Makarios "had strengthened the influence of the USSR and communists on the island to the extent that the prospect of its

local

becoming

a Mediterranean

Cuba must be taken

seriously."

242

The Genocide Files

Therefore the Action Plan called tor a "fundamental solution based on Enosis." In return for Cyprus being handed to Greece (thereby presumably ending the possibility of Cubanisation) territorial compensation to Turkey would be given in the form of various Greek islands such as Samos, Chios and Kos, or a part of Greek Thrace. There would also be a UN force "to safeguard the

minority rights of Turkish Cypriots, possibly during a transition period of five or ten years." So, under Greece, the Cyprus Turks were to have only minority rights

and

lose

the

Constitution - the

proposing

countries

equal

rights

same equal the

they

Action

Plan,

under the Cyprus by every person in the the US and the UK,

held

rights held

irrespective of race, colour or creed.

The Turks of Cyprus were thus deemed

not to be the equal of

other races, not of the Greeks and Greek Cypriots and obviously not of Americans and British. Whether they liked it or not, they were going to become Greek citizens, but without the full rights of Greek citizens. Second class citizens. Perhaps the Americans reckoned this would be a step up for the Turks, for both Greek Cypriots and Greece considered them subhuman. "Turkish dogs" was the normal Greek epithet for them.

On

the other hand, perhaps not.

deemed necessary for

to

Anglo-American

the

The

opinion

of

observance. Greece has a poor record

of Turkish descent this has

UN

force

Greece's

in its

was little

human rights Moslems

treatment of

Thrace and other parts of Greece today, and

been reported extensively outside Greece.

The Plan then belief

in

fact that a

safeguard even those reduced rights says

wc can

demands -

stated:

"We

should disabuse the Turks of any

bring about a solution based upon their

maximum

federation or partition."

So there was the bottom line. The only solution to the Cyprus problem was Enosis, union with Greece. That was 33 years ago, and the American line has not altered. The European Union countries, including Britain, have also taken up this stance.

What

1

cannot

understand

is

why

these

countries,

while

shuttling peace emissaries back and forth, talk of negotiations for a

solution to the

Cyprus "problem," seeking to give the impression to world that both sides of the question are being

the rest of the

243

Harry Scott Gibbons considered.

Why

can't they be honest and simply say that they

believe the only solution

and

this is the

Enosis and bugger the Turkish Cypriots,

is

only solution they will tolerate, and they will keep on

pressuring Turkey to accept this and that's that! But that

honest and not diplomatic.

When

such a high political level,

know why

In

I

I

would be

see this kind of hypocrisy I

any event, the Plan was not put into operation. But

August, 1%4, the the Americans.

call for

at

could never be a diplomat. later, in

an Enosis solution was again raised by

244

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Gyani resigned and was replaced by another Indian, General K.S. Thimayya, a former Indian Chief of General Staff. General

the

Following the June fighting in the Tylliria area in the northeast, U.N. had moved in more troops to prevent a fresh outbreak.

The National Guard retaliated by putting more than companies of infantry between the towns of Xeros and Polis.

ten

The object of the Greek attentions was the so-called Mansura-Kokkina bridgehead. This, the sole Turkish-held coastal sector in the whole island, was reportedly the landing point for Turkish arms and reinforcements from the mainland, as U Thant took great pains to point out

later.

His attempts to compare the Turkish Cypriot military buildup with that of the Greeks were feeble.

He

told the Security Council the

Greeks had, by

July, 1964, a

National Guard of 24,000 men, including 5,000 from mainland

Greece, although Andreas Papandreou stated

later that his father,

Greek Premier George Papandreou, had organised the infiltration of 20,000 mainland Greeks into Cyprus so that the National Guard at the time of U Thant's statement actually numbered 39,000 well-armed soldiers, a formidable army for a country whose population equalled only that of a small town in the West or, if you like, one decent-sized street in London, New York or Istanbul. The Greek side also had, said U Thant, an armed police force of 5,000. This well equipped force was not only completely throughout the island, but could be reinforced by

armed

irregulars, giving a total,

if

you include the

at

least

police, of

mobile 10,000 54,000

well armed, well equipped troops.

This he attempted to compare with a Turkish fighting force of a of 1,700 men, including police, most of whom were armed only with shotguns and other light weapons, not only lacking mobility but also physically pinned down in their enclaves and total

1

ghettos, underfed, underclothed

move

and short of ammunition, able to in pairs and then only at the

outside their areas only singly or

risk of their lives.

245

Harry Scott Gibbons

U Thant estimated that some 300 men had been "smuggled" from mainland Turkey into Kokkina with some arms. 300 Turks against what he estimated were 5,000 Greek military infiltrators, a proportion of over 16 to one! Oddly enough, he did not describe as "smuggling" the heavy arms and Greek mainland and

regular

troops pouring through the ports of Limassol and Boghaz, even

though he complained that his U.N. had been prevented from inspecting these convoys.

at

gunpoint

whose area was Limassol, watched arms and troops through field glasses, and bore the brunt of the insults from the armed Greeks who regularly expelled them from the port area. British troops with the U.N.,

the arrivals of

Following a comment

the press by a U.N. spokesman Makarios brought out a new law three years imprisonment for any person giving to

regarding the arms imports, threatening up to

military information.

When

the U.N. asked clarification, they

were given

a

list

of

over a hundred areas which could either not be visited by the U.N. at all,

or only by the

commander or senior U.N. officers and then The U.N. were effectively completely

only with prior application. cut off from observing the

Greek Cypriot war preparations.

The Makarios government,

feeling

reinforcements constantly coming

in

itself

more secure with

from Greece, and becoming

more and more audacious because of the increasing policy of appeasement from the U.N.'s New York office, told the U.N. "Stop the Turkish activities in Kokkina or stand aside and let us do it!"

On

July 10, Grivas

for an attack

made

on Turks

in

the

first

move

to establish the

the Tylliria region.

excuse

Through General

Karayannis, the National Guard commander, he requested the U.N.

remove a Turkish position from a hill two miles southeast of Pakhy Ammos. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong position, for the

to

U.N. decided that the Turkish post did not constitute a threat to any Greek village. Another position, however, which could have conceivably posed such a threat, was removed by the U.N. on July 17. The U.N. announced they were satisfied the area was calm. But Makarios and Grivas, although thwarted by General Thimayya, a soft spoken but very tough and honest soldier, of a

246

The Genocide Files

good propaganda excuse

to attack, decided to make their move was a feature of the strategy of the Makarios government when they decided on an attack that no matter how the

regardless.

It

circumstances had altered between planning and execution they

The U.N. thus

nevertheless put the plan into action.

pre-emptive moves had

kept finding

on the Greek attack plans. And whenever Makarios was condemned by the U.N. and the world press, he simply blamed the Turks. General Thimayya quickly became a very frustrated man. their

effect

little

In the Tylliria region, the Turks were defending their villages of Kokkina, Mansoura, Alevga, Selain Tapi and Ayios Theodhoros

and the surrounding hills with a total of 500 lightly armed Fighters, most of whom later turned out to be Turkish Cypriot university

and Turkey who had been banned from homeland through the normal method of ingress at ports and the airport now under the exclusive command of Greek gunmen. students from

Britain

returning to their

The Greek buildup July.

By August

totalled 1,500

The

first

in the

area began during the

days of

men.

Turkish Cypriots landed

Turkish name Erenkoy,

in

April,

"The Turkish

Cypriot

Kokkina,

at

1964. In the

Ergun Olgun, a 19 year-old student University in Ankara.

at

students

desperate messages from their families

"My

last

National Guard forces around the bridgehead

4,

now known by first

its

boatload was

the Middle East Technical

in in

Turkey

were

Cyprus," he told

receiving

me

later.

my

mother wrote, 'This could be the last message you will ever hear from me.' And she added, 'Don't forget your country.' My fellow students were receiving the same sort of pleas from their families. parents lived

in

Nicosia and

"So hundreds of us got together, organised ourselves, and asked government to help us get back to Cyprus to fight. At that time, you sec, students, or any men considered by the Greeks of fighting capability, were banned from entering Cyprus from

the Turkish

Turkey by the Greek Cypriot regime, which virtually ruled the island as a police state and controlled Nicosia airport and all other ports of entry. You must remember that Rauf Denktash, Cypriot

247

Horry Scot I Gibbons born and bred, Speaker of the Turkish in

London

in

Communal Chamber,

while

January, 1964, had been declared persona non grata,

banned from returning

to his

own

country.

We

students stood no

chance of getting home by any normal channel. So we opted for Kokkina/Erenkoy, the only place on the whole island where

Now you know why so few Cyprus had learned to swim in those days. The Greeks the beaches and they wouldn't let us on them!

Turkish Cypriots held a beachhead.

Turks held

in

all

"The Turkish government refused to help, so we took to the streets to demonstrate. The government still refused. We travelled Turkish coast to see

to the southern

how we could

get a ship to take

on Cyprus we knew was becoming desperate for the Turks. We broke into a shop selling guns and armed ourselves. It as purely a symbolic act and we gave back the guns, but this had its effect, and the government finally said they'd us to Erenkoy.

The

situation

help us.

"We were

given a fishing boat and forty of us, including the

crew, set off for Cyprus.

On

way

the

disaster struck.

We

hit

heavy

seas and the engine conked out and the boat just wallowed. With

one exception, one of the crew, we were prostrate with sea sickness. just lay there, unable to move a limb. We all just wanted I

Then the crewman, who had been fighting with the engine what seemed days, although it was only hours, got it started.

to die.

for

And we limped

ingloriously back to Turkey.

and this time we made it to Erenkoy. We Turks from the outside world to get there, and when we got ashore at the little beach, crowds came to greet us, waving their arms in welcome. We felt great. Then came a slight let down. "But

We

tried again,

were the

first

"

last

knew

'At

you have come

the Turkish

army would

to save us,' they

not

let

"Their joy subsided quickly

when

vanguard of a Turkish force but

just a

"

'What can you do

us down!'

were shouting, 'we "

they learned we were not the bunch of students.

to help us?' they kept asking.

'You are

just

boys, not even soldiers.'

"But they quickly accepted us and found places for us to stay,

and eventually nearly 500 of us got

in

volunteers from Britain began to arrive.

from Turkey, and student

And Rauf Denktash,

the

248

The Genocide Files

Turkish Cypriot hero banned by Makarios, managed

to visit the

enclave, and the Erenkoy Turks began to believe, for the

first

time

perhaps, that they just might survive the hellish attacks of Grivas

and

his

murderous army."

London

In

at that

looked after by

Cyprus Turks were being

time, the affairs of

Ahmet Gazioglu,

a history teacher and graduate of

London University.

"When word of

Kokkina encirclement reached reached was inundated with calls from young Turkish Cypriots volunteering to go to Cyprus to fight. There was little could do in that respect so passed them on to the Turkish Embassy in London. the

he told me,

Britain,"

"I

I

I

"Eventually, a few hundred of them got back to Cyprus and

managed

actually

to

make

and into the Kokkina

Then

it

all

blew up

in

their

salient.

my

way It

thorough the Greek lines

right

was

a very brave achievement.

face!

"Several of these volunteers were arrested

when

they got off a

Nicosia Airport which was, of course, completely

in Greek them custody for several days, the Greeks announced that Turkish Cypriots in London were being rounded up, taken to London airport at gunpoint, forced onto

plane

at

Cypriot hands

at that

time. After keeping

And

planes and shipped off to Cyprus to fight the Greeks.

supposed

to

be the

man behind

papers printed this allegation.

Astonishingly,

all this. I

had

some

I

was

British

was

to point out that Britain

a

and how on earth could anyone take groups of gunpoint into London airport and shove them on to

civilised country

people

at

scheduled airlines without somebody reporting

"The

furore

died

down

propaganda, crude though

from Britain down

Before

the

it

Greeks

launched in the

movement of Greek workers

"We had

but

infiltration

this

Greek

of volunteers

their

all-out

attack

on

Kokkina enclave, there was

the still

five

some

across the salient.

put up checkpoints told

enough,

was, cut the

to the authorities!

to a trickle."

Turkish-held villages

Ergun Olgun

quickly

it

at

roads into the Turkish area,"

me. "At the checkpoint

I

was guarding,

a busload

249

Harry Scott Gibbons of Greek workers passed every morning on

its

way

to

Pyrgos, on

the other side of the enclave, and returned in the evening.

"One evening, as the bus returned home, one of the men dropped a package out of the window and the bus drove off. We walked over to the package. It was wrapped in gift paper, you know, like a present. We speculated that it was indeed a gift from the Greeks in return, perhaps, for being allowed to pass each day and treated courteously. Maybe,

we

some Greeks who

to

we

want

actually

said to each other, there are

be friends with

Some

us.

said

should open the package.

it might be a booby trap, a bomb set to go off was unwrapped. The discussion went on while we stood and stared at the package. Finally, a friend of mine, Suleyman Ulucham, said he thought it was a gift and that he would volunteer to open it. He argued that if it was a bomb it would kill someone, and the bus would not be allowed to cross again and the passengers would not be able to get to work and earn their living, so it would

"But others said

when

it

be a stupid thing for the Greeks to do.

"We

all

down and began

stood back and watched as he knelt

to

untie the parcel.

"The explosion

him

killed

"Poor, brave, kindhearted

though.

when he

"We

It

HAD

wrote,

been a

instantly.

Suleyman was right about one thing, And saw what Virgil meant

gift all right.

fear the Greeks,

'I

I

even though they offer

buried Suleyman, and the bus never

On August

7,

large

a

Greek strength up

came

gifts.'

back."

convoy with reinforcements brought the

2,000 troops, with six 25-poundcr guns able to bear on the five villages, two 4-barrelled Oerlikon 20 guns, to

mm

mortars and armoured cars.

They had Oerlikons

a

in the

further

Paphos

twenty

25-pounders

newly acquired Russian-built Greek

mm

and

ten

20

mm

forest area to the south. In addition, three patrol boats,

armed with 40

guns, patrolled the sea off the bridgehead.

On August following the

4,

Makarios had

latter's protests

informed

General

Thimayya,

about the buildup, that the Greek

forces had no intention of attacking any Turkish Cypriot positions,

250

The Genocide Files

and

that

should they find

it

necessary to do so, Thimayya would be

given "due warning."

On

August

6,

without

overrunning the U.N. posts

warning,

in the area.

The

Greeks

the

attack

attacked,

was supported by

mortars from the Greek village of Ayios Yeoryios.

On August

7,

with the arrival of the reinforcements, heavy

fire

opened up on Ayios Theodoros from the Greek village of Piycnia, while an advance on Kokkina began from the Greek village of

Pakhy Ammos. That evening, one of the Greek Kokkina and Mansoura.

patrol boats

began

shelling

Despite

U.N. protests, the attack continued. Colonel Jonas

Wacrn, the Swedish U.N. commander

men under

fire to

Xeros

driving to Kokkina by a

in

the area, withdrew his

He himself was prevented from Greek tommygun stuck in his ribs. in the east.

That evening, four Turkish F-100 fighter in a

warning demonstration and

attack

jets flew

over the area

fired rockets out to sea. Still the

went on.

In Nicosia,

news of

the fighting

was kept from

both the U.N. and the Greek Cypriot government.

journalists by

Harry Scott Gibbons

251

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN In the

predawn hours of August

General Thimayya, after a long

8,

meeting with Vice-President Kutchuk, Defence Minister Orek, the

Charge d' Affaires Mr. Shahinbash and the U.S. Ambassador Mr. Belcher, made a new attempt to get Makarios to

Turkish

order a ceasefire, even a temporary one. But Makarios replied that

Grivas and Interior Minister Yorgadjis were both fighting area and

would not be back

until nightfall,

in

the Tylliria

and therefore he

could do nothing.

As

the day

dawned, the Turkish student fighters began

towards Kokkina near the sea for a

On

Colonel

the spot,

Waern

own men who were

and the Turks this

arrange a temporary

and children and some of

in the cross-fire

was refused by

the National

from the Greeks

Guard commander of

could not escape to Kokkina,

made

women

their

The position,

who

and children,

way under heavy

Greek village of Kato Pyrgos, where they took refuge

U.N. camp

fire to at

the

there.

Fighters began

digging

in

around

their

last

Kokkina, where they crouched over their

shotguns, with their backs quite literally to the sea, the

the battle.

hours of the 8th, Mansoura and Ayios Theodoros

were evacuated. Around 200 Turkish the

to

tried

Kokkina, the ultimate objective of the Greeks, but

in

In the early

stranded

to retreat

ditch stand.

women

cease-fire to evacuate Turkish their

last

Greek 25-pounders from three

remaining rifles

and

bombarded by

sides, awaiting the final infantry

attack.

But the Greeks, apparently awaiting the arrival

of further

way through Pol is, made no attempt The heavy bombardment of the little mud-hut

reinforcements already on their to attack

on

foot.

village continued. In

the afternoon, General

Turkish leaders

in

Thimayya spoke by phone

to

the

Nicosia, told them of the refusal by Makarios to

order a ceasefire, and admitted he could do no more.

252

The Genocide Files

Shortly afterwards, Turkish jets attacked. The)

over the sea and

Greek

the

hit

screamed

in

positions.

As the ragged Fighters stood up and cheered, the planes blasted with devastating accuracy every Greek position in the area with rockets, cannons, machineguns, bombs and incendiaries. The Greek Cypriots

One of the Greek village, when the jets

did not stop to falter.

was

patrol boats

They simply

fled.

off Kokkina, shelling the

appeared. It sped off at full speed, but was At Xeros harbour, a plane caught up with it. In one blast of rockets the boat was hit, killing 5 and wounding 13 of the crew. The boat was set on fire. spotted from the

A

air.

few yards from the

patrol boat

freighter loading copper ore

In describing the attack later,

armed

when

it

was

was an

hit

Italian

from the nearby mines. Makarios omitted mention of the

patrol boat, but said the Turkish planes had attacked the

Italian ship.

Foreigners working

at

the mines and watching the air strikes

described them as the finest example of precision raiding they had ever seen. I

had been

in

few hours before the

the area a

jets attacked,

attempting to see the fighting, but had been turned back by the

Greeks.

had passed the

I

Italian

freighter on

way back

the

to

Nicosia to send a report to London.

Unknown

to

me, another car was following

my

Hal M'Clure of the Associated Press, then based

trail.

In

in Istanbul,

it

was

along

with an old friend, the well-known A. P. photographer Jim Pringle.

Hal

was driving

screamed

in.

past

the

He stopped

ditch where, he said,

"I

Italian

ship

when

the

Turkish

jets

the car and they both leapt out, Hal into a

prayed

like a

good Christian should!"

Jim Pringle stopped running, turned, aimed his camera and got a superb shot of the Greek patrol boat being blown into the air. As his picture - a world "scoop" - plainly showed, the freighter was untouched.

At almost

his

Presidential

berserk

on

Palace

outside

Nicosia,

hearing of the Turkish

Makarios went

attack.

In

a

radio

broadcast, he declared that "thousands" of innocent Greek civilians

had been killed

in

"indiscriminate" Turkish attacks.

253

Harry Scott Gibbons

he had intended to rouse the Greek population to fight, he

If

made

His panic-stricken outburst sent fearful Nicosia

a blunder.

inhabitants indoors behind closed shutters.

One of

blew up

the Turkish jets

in midair.

The

pilot

landed by

parachute and was taken prisoner by the Greeks. His body

He had been

returned to Turkey.

Ergun Olgun described

"When we

later

his life inside the enclave.

had been plenty of food, goats and

arrived, there

first

was

shot and battered to death.

sheep, and the villagers fed us well. But as the months went by and

we

coming in, we began go hungry, and finally

stayed cut off with no fresh food supplies

to tighten

starvation

we began

our belts. Then

seemed

to

inevitable

"When the Greek onslaught came in August, the bombardment was devastating and unrelenting. Every few minutes one of the defenders was killed or wounded. We were forced to retreat, evacuating four villages, until we had fallen back on Kokkina itself. was with a small group holding a machinegun post of a small hill. I

"We

thought

was

it

crammed

over,

all

caves, running out of ammunition.

I

was

"Then the Turkish planes came on Greeks in

fled.

We

trouble again.

cheered,

I

can

said the

I

tell

a telescope sight on

his

sure

was

in

the end.

bombing runs, and the Then we found ourselves

Greeks had

rifle,

it

men huddled

their

you.

seemed. He was a sniper, well hidden

our

into this tiny area,

backs to the sea, the women, children and old

in

for he

fled.

Well,

all

but one,

it

underbrush, probably with

was deadly

accurate.

We

couldn't locate him.

"Our machinegun had an armour plated shield, with an opening we could see where we were shooting. But every

through which time

we

fired a burst, he fired right back, just

opening, and every time he

hit

one shot through the

and killed the gunner. God, he was

fast. "I

thought

I

machinegun,

let

second

but

But

it

later,

knew how

to

handle the sniper.

off a burst, and ducked. I

was no longer

there,

I

grabbed the

The answer came and

his bullet

ricocheted off the metal shield and struck

a split

missed me.

me above

the

left

254

The Genocide Files

eye.

An

inch to the

was bowled "I

am

salient

step

is

left

and

it

would have blown my

brains out.

sure that

when

this description

of fighting

that

sniper and

thus

adulation accorded every Turk-killer by Greek Cyprus.

hope someone

I

at

will also ask

women,

defenceless, Turkish

Kokkina

in the

read by the Greeks, there will be more than one

forward claiming to be

happens,

1

over, unconscious.

who

will

receive

the

When

that

them how many innocent,

men

children and old

they murdered

Kokkina. "There were three of us badly

was

in

need of medical attention

what was now simply

not available in

that

a beachhead, myself and

another student shot, and one of us with a heart condition. Our side negotiated with Col. Vaern's Swedish

UN

detachment

Lefka, tot he east of Kokkina, for treatment.

knowing they would have had

to return to

"We were we

our

to bring us

back

to get us to

The Swedes

agreed,

after treatment, for

we

unit.

loaded into an armoured car and locked inside.

When

got to the Greek checkpoint - no Turks were allowed out of the

besieged enclave - the Greeks stopped the armoured car and

demanded

be allowed to check inside for Turks. The argument

to

went on for two hours, and we could hear the Greeks cursing and shouting at the UN soldiers. But the Swedes would not give in and finally threatened to finally

we

open

fire if

they were not allowed to pass.

And

got to Lefka and were treated. But the boy with heart

trouble died.

"Our return journey was

armoured to

break

car, in.

I

a repetition of the

way

Lying there

in the

darkness,

it

was

blood-chilling to

hear those Greek voices inches away, filled with yelled and cursed and "If they

the

out. Inside the

could hear the racket going on as the Greeks tried

stomped around

had got hold of

Swedes stood

firm.

us, they'd

venom

as they

the vehicle.

have shot us out of hand.. But

They were very

brave, and saved our lives."

255

Harry Scott Gibbons

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The following day, August 9, the Greeks started shooting again. Back came the jets and set upon Greek reinforcements on their way through Pomos, Pachyammos, Limni, Polis and Piyenia. Every Greek military target at Kato Pyrgos, Alevga, Selain Tapi, Mansoura and around Kokkina was hit. The area was littered with burning armoured cars and destroyed gun sites. At ten minutes

to

two

colours.

He announced, through

journalist, that unless the

Makarios stepped out from and emerged in his true evil

that afternoon,

the shelter of his black priestly robes

a statement given to an

American

Turkish attacks were called off by 15.30,

he would order an attack on every Turkish village on the island and Turkey would find no Turkish Cypriots left alive if they landed!

The U.N. were appalled. Such action could only have provoked The U.N. forces, completely helpless,

a fullscale Turkish landing.

immediately prepared to put their

A

full

withdrawal plan into action.

Turkish Cypriot spokesman announced that

the massacre

it

if

Makarios ordered

would not go unpunished.

pounding Greek positions in the that meant and, with the threatened removal of the U.N. umbrella, postponed his allout attack orders, With Turkish planes

northwest, Makarios

first to

still

knew what

18.30, then indefinitely.

I had driven back north and was in Xeros, talking to the Swedish Colonel Jonas Waern, when the Turkish jets swept overhead, strafing the Greek military convoys.

The U.N. had proposed children

refugees from

to

the

evacuate the 200 Turkish

U.N. camp

at

women

Kato Pyrgos

to

and the

Makarios first agreed to this, then changed his mind on the grounds that he could not be responsible for their safety as they passed through Xeros. At that time Xeros was a ghost town. Every Greek had fled for safety. As the jets screamed overhead, one hundred feet above the U.N. flag, the

Turkish enclave

shutters

was

at

Lcfka.

on the empty houses

fired into the town.

rattled bleakly, but not a single shot

There was no danger

to the refugees.

256

The Genocide Files

When

this

was pointed out

to

Makarios, he agreed again to the

evacuation, but after the U.N. had escorted through the refugees, the National

Guard clamped down. They

still

first

40

had 160

potential Turkish hostages.

The refugees themselves asked

to

be taken

to

Kokkina

to their

menfolk, and Thimayya, not to be outdone by Makarios, proposed be done and the refugees put

that this

in the

care of the Fighters.

But Makarios refused. He said he had to care for the Greek wounded and had no time to consider the wellbeing of Turkish women and children. The refugees could not be taken to Kokkina until after a cease-fire. I

finally

managed

to

sneak into Kokkina, access

refused to the U.N.

still

The

tiny

to

which was

beachhead was manned by a

mixture of experienced Fighters and raw students.

The

village

was

blasted.

The women and

It

had ceased

children were living

to exist. in

caves, crudely hollowed

out of the low sandstone cliffs near the sea and accommodating the

goats and sheep fires sat

at

night in better times.

The women made cooking

of driftwood outside their goatpen homes while the children

around looking

at

me

apprehensively.

Even today, 33 years later, find it difficult to express what as walked in among these wretched creatures. What had they done to deserve this? Here was a government, recognised by the I

felt

I

I

United Nations, Britain and apparently the

of the world as the

rest

government of these people, coldly and calmly massacring its citizens in full view of the whole world, and nothing could be done legal

about

it?

was more than a massacre. Their backs were to the sea, they had nowhere to run. No one could pretend they were being chased It

out of their country. to

stop them,

but

No one

could claim afterwards that

they just

left,"

the

"We

tried

standard Greek Cypriot

explanation for missing persons.

These people were going

to

be put to death.

That night the Security Council cease-fire,

and both sides agreed. The

in

It

was genocide.

New York

battle

was

over.

called

for a

257

Harry Scott Gibbons

Despite the panic-stricken claim by Makarios that thousands

had died, the

wounded, of

What

the

among

final toll

whom more

was 53 dead and 125

the Greeks

than half were military.

Greeks never admitted was

had wiped

that the raids

out almost every piece of military equipment in the area.

The Turkish casualty wounded, of I

whom

roll

was 12 dead, 4 missing and 32 wounded were civilians.

7 dead and 18

learned later that on August 8, Grivas and Yorgadjis were in a

helicopter leaving the scene of the fighting

when

the Turkish planes

attacked

The Turkish had

left

it

pilots also reported they

ordered a forced landing battle

in

and they continued

had seen a helicopter but

belonged to the U.N. Grivas the Troodos foothills to the south of the

alone as they thought

it

to Nicosia

One might have thought

by road.

that Grivas, as

and Yorgadjis, as Interior Minister and the

Cyprus shootings lead their men.

for the

in the first place,

commander-in-chief,

man

directly responsible

would have returned

But obviously they preferred the safety of the they remained in silence for

some

18,

Ralph

where

time.

After the fighting ceased, America

On August

capital,

to

made another

call for

Enosis

Murray, the British Ambassador to

Athens, told the Foreign Office that Greek Prime Minister George

Papandreou had proposed to the United States, through the American Ambassador to Greece, "that Greece should cause a coup d'etat to be carried out in Cyprus before agreement with Turkey, and that this coup d'etat should include an immediate declaration of Enosis."

Papandreou then proposed that Britain and the US "should assume the task of restraining a Turkish reaction and that after this Enosis, Greece should come to terms with Turkey." Britain

did

not

care

much about

the

proposal

she should

Turkey but, nevertheless, the same evening Prime Minister Sir Alec Douglas-Home chaired a meeting in 10 Downing "restrain"

Street to discuss the proposals.

258

The Genocide Files

A note of the meeting said: "It was suggested that the removal of Archbishop Makarios might be a precondition to any settlement of the Cyprus question. "It was conceivable that the Greeks could build up Colonel Grivas as his successor - it would be useful to establish contacts

we

with Colonel Grivas, preferably overtly, so that

could be clearer

where he stood."

I

was under

was

the impression at that time that everyone in Britain

perfectly clear

where Grivas,

alias

Dighenis the

stood for death for the British and the Turks and any Greeks got in his way.

And

He who

terrorist, stood.

he had openly announced that his mission

Cyprus was Enosis. The

British Cabinet

seemed

in

be out of touch

to

with the situation. I

can imagine what would have happened

released

at

the time.

I

am

sure Turkey

if

this

memo

had been

would have landed an army

immediately, convinced that the British had double-crossed them.

And

Britain's military chiefs

would have

rebelled against the idea,

I'm sure. But Douglas-Home was an astute and intelligent quickly

came

to the decision that the

man and

he

army heads must have already

done.

On August

25 came the message from Britain's Washington ambassador revealing Greek-American pressure on President Johnson. But the message also stated:

"One danger is that the Greek Government will have inferred its most recent exchanges with the Americans that they are

from

very favourable to Enosis. act unilaterally, the

If

the Greeks then have the courage to

Americans

will not stop them.

Nor

will they

physically prevent a Turkish military reaction against Cyprus (so Ball said today), but, for Congressional reasons, the Administration

be able to avoid taking action (non military) against the Turks by cutting off all aid etc if the Turks use United States equipment." will not

Paying the Dane-geld.... But the British ambassador was immediately instructed:

259

Harry Scott Gibbons "Please

tell

Mr. Ball that

we

sec grave dangers

in

pressing for

now

without prior Turkish agreement as to conditions. Her Majesty's Government could not in any case associate themselves

Enosis

move

with such a to

So ended -

or take part in trying to persuade

Turkey

to

agree

it."

to force

the

American attempt -

for the time being at

any

rate

Enosis on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots. There was

Genocide continued.

neither Enosis nor partition, and the

own

Alec Douglas-Home's

thoughts were radically opposed to

Ball's.

looks

"It

to

me

unworkable," he wrote

though

as

the

constitutional conference will

solution will be partition.

If

end

present

seems

at the time. "It

constitution

likely, then, that

is

any

deadlock and that the only

in

things turn out that way, there will be

no need for Guarantors and our presence on the

island....

would be

superfluous." In his

was

memoirs, "The Way the Wind Blows," Douglas-Home view of the future of Cyprus.

quite explicit in his

was

"I

early convinced that

if

Archbishop Makarios could not

bring himself to treat the Turkish Cypriots as inviting the invasion

his report to the

In

1964,

and

U

Thant admitted

human

beings, he

was

partition of the island."

U.N. Security Council on September 10, that the Turks of Tylliria had not initiated

the fighting.

But he fnade an odd observation

He himself absolved for the battle

in his

summing

up.

from responsibility not only the Greek military

the Turkish Cypriots

and described

in detail

buildup but also attacked the Greek Cypriots for their behaviour.

"Throughout the entire strenuous

attempts to

battle,"

secure

a

hindered by the Government forces. the

roadblocks

commander was

placed

across

available

with

"UNFICYP made

he wrote,

was continually movement was impeded by

ceasefire, Its

roads

whom

and

but

no

Greek

discussions

Cypriot

could

take

place."

He

then proceeded to slam Turkey for saving the Kokkina

survivors from annihilation.

He

wrote:

260

The Genocide Files

"I feel compelled also to express the view that the aerial attacks on Cyprus communities by Turkish aircraft in early August, whatever their supposed tactical significance, were most unfortunate and have made the solution of the Cyprus problem far

more

difficult.

"These raids on defenceless people killed and maimed many much property and inevitably led to a stiffening of the positions of the Cypriot Government, as might have been anticipated. I trust they will not be repeated, for whatever reasons." innocent civilians, destroyed

It was absolutely incredible. Everyone U.N. and the foreign press was stunned.

I

spoke

among

to

the

This summing-up bore no relation to the report which preceded it,

nor to the statements

soldiers as

Thimayya of

made on

the spot by such experienced

India and Col.

Waern of Sweden.

U

Thant had described in detail how the Greeks had placed an army around Tylliria and proceeded to try to blast it into nothingness. He had described how the Greeks had thwarted every move by the U.N. to arrange a cease-fire, even to evacuate the women and children. In other words, they had just continued killing First

of

all,

Turks.

He

were on defenceless people, although his that the Turks - not the Greeks were the defenceless ones. And it seemed odd that he made no reference whatsoever to the Turkish civilians attacked, killed and wounded. report

stated the air raids

was conclusive evidence

What did he mean by the "supposed tactical significance" of the The raids were to stop the massacre. Did U Thant mean that

raids?

they weren't?

seek out and

The

Was

kill

he saying that the Turkish planes had orders and maim defenceless and innocent people?

raids led to an inevitable stiffening of the

How much

government position, he alleged. Atomic warfare? Finally, he trusted the attacks

to

Greek Cypriot could

it

get?

would not be repeated -

"for

stiffer

whatever reasons." In other

annihilation

words, as

if

the

a Turkish

community was being

objective,

using

such

lethal

upon with weapons as

set

Harry Scott Gibbons

261

25-pounder guns (brought into the country, remember, with the consent of the U.N. provided they were only used against invasion),

and the United Nations

on

its

more

itself

Turkish nation was to

entire

part

would make

could not prevent the slaughter, the

sit

back and do nothing, for any action

the solution of the

Cyprus problem

"far

difficult."

So

was

there

the

Secretary General

plainly advocating that the solution to the

of the United Nations

Cyprus problem was

to

allow the Turkish minority to be wiped out, a view, incidentally,

now

that the U.N.,

States,

seems

joined by the European Union and the United

to hold today.

When Dag Hammarskjold started

a

died, the subject of his successor

diplomatic battle between

Russia and the

U.S.A.

compromise had to be decided on. The compromise was Burma's one-time Permanent Delegate to the U.N.

As and

U

often as not a political

U

A

Thant,

compromise produces a nonentity, An insignificant man, from an

Thant proved no exception.

insignificant country plagued by civil war, he

promptly surrounded

himself with more insignificant nonentities.

of

Small wonder that people of stature like General Carl von Horn Sweden and General Gyani of India felt compelled to resign

from the U.N.

General Karayannis, the National Guard commander, furious with Grivas for his handling of the Tylliria battle, resigned and returned to

Greece. Later,

he stated that Makarios himself was responsible for

ordering the attack on the Turks of Tillyria.

U.N. Troops stood guard as farmers gathered their crops. But what U Thant called "abandoned" areas, where Turks had fled safety,

Greeks harvested the Turkish

"abandoned" by

U

fields.

The use of

Thant, referring to agricultural

in

to

word whose

the

land

owners had been murdered or forced to flee, seemed somehow to put the blame on the Turks for being murdered or forced to flee. His statements increasingly appeared as though they were written

262

The Genocide Files

by Makarios himself, that master of double-think, double-speak and

While-U-Wait history

By midsummer

re-writes.

of 1964, the Turkish Red Crescent had on

its

56,000 persons, just over half the Turkish population by the 1960 census. Of these, 25,000 were refugees.

assistance

rolls

Over 4,000 Turks who had been employed by and had been dismissed and thrown out of had lived save their

the

Government

their jobs

by

force, or

Greek Cypriot zones and had been forced to flee to lives, lost their incomes, which had provided for about a in

quarter of the total Turkish population.

Government social benefits were denied to Turks. Various economic restrictions had been placed on Turkish enclaves throughout the year by Makarios on the grounds that strategic materials which could be used for the purpose of making war had to be denied to them. Before the Tylliria fighting, Makarios issued a "strategic" materials, including fuel.

on the import of Red Crescent

He

also

list

imposed

of banned restrictions

relief supplies.

Only 390 tons out of a cargo of 900 tons from a Red Crescent were allowed into the country and, even then, the U.N. and the Committee of the International Red Cross had to fight to get this small amount handed over to the Turks. relief ship

Immediately

after the Tylliria fighting,

Makarios stopped

all

supplies into the Turkish areas in Nicosia, Lefka, Kokkina and Limnitis.

Within a week, the population starvation point.

U

The U.N.

in

these

towns had neared

protested vigorously.

"which in some instances amount to a veritable siege, indicate that the Government of Cyprus seeks to force a potential solution by economic pressure as a substitute for military action."

Thant stated

that the restrictions,

have been so severe as

to

Finally the U.N. and the

aljow a

list

Red Cross persuaded Makarios

to

of essential foodstuffs through to the Turks, based on a

weekly number of calories per head. The new plan began on September 1, but two days later even these minute supplies encountered obstructions from the Greeks at local military level.

263

Harry Scott Gibbons

same time expressing its regret to the U.N. at these Greek Cypriot Government on September 5 added Turkish sectors of Larnaca and Famagusta to the list of

While

the

at

obstructions, the the

restricted areas.

But on being told by the U.N. that his policy of starving out the Turks could only shed a bad light on Greek Cypriots in international circles, Makarios relented, and essential foodstuffs based on a calorific minimum were allowed to the Turks. checked I

these

and found

lists

was below

minimum allowed the prisons of many

that the calorific

the standards applied in

to

Turks

civilised

countries.

At six-monthly intervals, as the U.N. mandate was renewed at a two million dollars, U Thant submitted a report to the

cost of nearly

Security Council.

Each time, glossing over the patently unequal fighting potential laid equal stress on the Turkish and Greek Cypriot military positions. and conditions of the two sides, he

On December view of

"In

12, 1964, he said of the

Turkish Fighters:

their sketchy logistic base,

it

may be assumed

that

the Turkish Cypriot fighters are less well equipped for the winter

season than their National Guard counterparts, and will suffer hardship."

don't need to be the Secretary-General of the United Nations be able to assume that a half starved, partly clothed man will I

to

suffer hardship during a cold,

On December

wet winter season.

10, 1964, conscription into the National

Greek Cypriots was lengthened from six months January 3, 1965, from one year to 18 months. for

In

the spring of 1965, fresh

weapons were imported by

Greeks, and instructors from mainland Greece arrived

numbers

to

train

the

Cypriots

Guard

one year, on

to

in

the

the

in

increasing

use of tanks,

armoured

personnel carriers, anti-aircaft guns and radar.

Among these

mainland Greeks appeared an unexpected

visitor.

Andreas Papandreou, the son of the then Greek Prime Minister, man who had refused to fight for his country when it was invaded by Italy and Germany and had in fact fled Greece and

and the

264

The Genocide Files

given up his nationality rather than do so, arrived not

come

to fight Turks, but to take

in Cyprus. He had over the island - in his own

way.

He

among

established

the mainland

Greek troops

a cell of the

communist organisation "Aspida." Aspida was based in Athens, but had little chance of a communist uprising there (although he was attempting that just a few years later) because of the number of right-wing army officers in the Greek army. But

in

Cyprus, with a powerful

far-left trade

union organization

already operating, Aspida stood a better chance.

The ultimate aim of Aspida in Cyprus was never actually but right-wing Greek Cypriots reckoned that the communists were awaiting the fruition of Makarios' plan for revealed,

so-called "unfettered independence" as a precondition to union with

Greece and the consequent subjugation of the anti-communist Turks, whereupon they could take over Cyprus, this time as a

communist Athens,

state

w ith Russia

600

miles

as the protector.

away,

would

have

been

powerless

to

intervene in time.

Papandreou was uncovered and sent back

to

managed to forge some Greek Cypriot leftwing and Moscow. he

left

the island he had

Czechoslovak arms began In

to

Greece, but before links

between the

be imported into Cyprus.

Famagusta. a new harbour was

built by a Polish firm, part of swing towards the Iron Curtain. The National Guard building gun positions overlooking the new harbour - and

the Cypriot started

close to Turkish positions in the area.

On November

2.

shooting broke out. Although a ceasefire was

arranged by the U.N.. economic sanctions were once more harshly

imposed on the Turkish sector of Famagusta.

Throughout the

which had formerly been in down and replaced by main roads frequented by tourists, the

island, road signs

Greek. Turkish and English were taken

Greek

Cyrillic

signs.

English translation

On

was painted

in brackets.

265

Harry Scott Gibbons Cyprus radio and television programmes began

to

end with the

playing of the Greek national anthem, and National

swore allegiance not

The

the Hellenes.

Incidents

powerless

A

to

to the President

Hellenisation of Cyprus

was

in full

swing.

continued, with the U.N. apparently completely do anything except observe and report to New York.

typical

example occurred on March 27,

Turkish village of Mari

lies

1967.

The

tiny

close to the sea east of Limassol.

National Guard armoured cars

moved up

no apparent reason, started to shell after four

Guardsmen

of Cyprus but to the King of

it

to the village and, for

with 2-pounders.

It

was only

hours of heavy bombardment that the U.N. were allowed

into the village. Miraculously,

none of the villagers was

killed.

In April, 1967, a group of military officers took over control of Greece to forestall pro-Communists, led by Andreas Papandreou, winning the forthcoming elections.

On October

banned Turkish leader Rauf Denktash at the wrong spot and was captured and arrested by the Greeks and imprisoned in Nicosia. The Greek Cypriots were at first determined to try him for "criminal offenses against the state," but pressure from the U.N., Turkey and the West, who feared the repercussions from Turkish Cypriots would set the island ablaze, changed Makarios' mind and Denktash was allowed to return to Turkey on November 12. 31, 1967, the

landed secretly in Cyprus. But he landed

Announcing

Greeks said they had released Denktash The Greeks did not specify his criminal offenses, but his obvious "crime" was that he had described too well to the Security Council the true story of Cyprus. And, of course, he had organised the barricades when the Greek Cypriots unleashed their war of genocide in Nicosia in December, without

trial.

this, the

Trial implies a crime.

1963.

Grivas once more decided to show his power. The two communities of the mixed Greek-Turkish village of Ayios Theodoros near Larnaca were segregated because of earlier outbreaks of fighting.

November, Grivas

sent Greek patrols through the Turkish had not been carried out for the previous four years. The Turks objected, the U.N. were called in. In

sector, an operation that

266

A

The Genocide Files

few months earlier, five Turks had been killed by Greek The Turks explained that the armed patrols would

boobytraps.

cause increased tension.

The U.N. began negotiations with in

the

Turks

to

allow the patrols

order to satisfy the demands of the Greeks.

But while the talks were going on, Grivas surrounded the some 2,000 troops and, despite advice to the contrary

village with

by the U.N., started the patrols again on November went through the village without incident.

14.

Two

police

patrols

The same day, Ayios Theodoras was visited by Grivas himself, inspected the Turkish quarter and warned the inhabitants that he would blast them into the ground if they dared make any challenge to National Guard patrols.

who

On

the

morning of November

15,

police patrols again went

through the village. The Turks, seeing the trap Grivas had

set,

again

ignored them.

The Greeks

then informed the U.N. that similar patrols would

cross the village in the afternoon. in

The U.N. advised

against

it,

and

Nicosia the Turkish leaders protested to the U.N. headquarters.

as scheduled, was was escorted by a platoon of National Guardsmen with armoured cars. Later reports said that Grivas, the strutting, impatient little general, was furious with the

But the afternoon

patrol,

which went ahead

larger than the previous ones, and

Turks for not springing the trap by resisting the

As

patrols.

convoy reached the Turkish sector of armoured cars opened up with two-pounders. the

The 2,000 Guardsmen, already positioned

in

the village, the

the area, rushed

forward, and mortars and heavy artillery went into action against the Turks.

As

the hordes of

watching

helplessly

Greeks rushed up, they seized the U.N. troops and

smashed the U.N. radio

forcibly

disarmed

them.

Then

they

to prevent a call for reinforcements.

At the same time, armoured cars and infantry opened fire on Kophinou, an all-Turkish village some two miles away which had nothing to do with the arguments over the Greek police patrols at

Ayios Theodoras.

267

Harry Scott Gibbons In

U Thant had stated command of the Greek

an earlier report to the Security Council,

that after

General Grivas had taken over

forces, their discipline had improved. What happened in Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou proved that annihilation of the Turks in Cyprus was being carried out with the approval of the Greek

military leaders in Cyprus.

The Greeks -

Greeks according

disciplined

to

U Thant -

stormed into the defenceless villages.

Huseyin Batsali, aged 90, paralysed and in bed, never saw the felt the flames from the mattress

machinegun that riddled him, nor that the Greeks set alight.

Mehmet Emin

aged 34, was outside his house when the

Sait,

Greeks charged. He was shot dead, and

set

on

his

body doused

in

were

bed

kerosene

fire.

Huseyin Ramadan, 80, and

his wife, 70,

in

when

ill

Guard broke down their door. Huseyin died from machinegun bullets, his wife was seriously injured.

the National

Two

men, Hassan Veleddin and Hassan Kanizi, caught

the

in

open, stepped forward with their hands raised and surrendered.

Their surrender was accepted, then they were taken aside and shot

dead out of hand.

Houses were

set

on

fire

as the

looting began.

children were kicked and dragged out of their "to a safe place," as the

Greeks put

Women

money and

jewellery

owned by

the Turks

Turkish estimate put the National Guard's haul about 16 years pay for a Cypriot labourer

By

the evening, the

off

it.

Six houses and a school were completely destroyed by Over 40 houses were partly destroyed by artillery and arson. All the

and

homes and taken

at

was

fire.

looted.

A

around £6,000,

at that time.

Greeks had overrun Ayios Theodoros, and

by nightfall had captured most of Kophinou.

As

the massacre

In a note to the flatly that if

was taking

place,

Turkey issued a warning.

U.N. and the Athens Government, Ankara stated

Greek and Greek Cypriot forces were not removed

immediately from both villages, hostages returned and conditions

268

The Genocide Files

of security created for the Turks of Cyprus, "a crisis which will go

beyond

the borders of the island will be unavoidable."

The Turkish Air Force was alerted and an expeditionary force Greek army units under the command of the new regime

readied.

controlled by the right-wing colonels were alerted

at

Greece's

borders with Turkey.

man who could

Grivas, the

shoot unarmed civilians

in the

back

Before dawn on November 16, his Greek Cypriots began

their

with such audacity, cracked under the strain.

withdrawal

in panic.

who had been

When

The U.N. demanded and received

the hostages

taken.

the U.N.

moved into the villages, they found 24 dead women, and evacuated nine men and five

Turks, including two

women

seriously injured.

They

bomb

also found the villages strewn with booby-traps, and U.N.

experts had to be called

bodies and

in

in to

remove them from under

the

telephones.

The ghosts of

the dead masters of Nazi

Germany must have

smiled on Grivas and his "disciplined" hordes that November 15, 1967.

Two

messages were sent

to the

One from Grivas blamed

U.N. following the massacre.

the U.N. for

what had happened. The

One of

National Guard had only defended

itself,

sent the second message.

he said that not only

In

it,

he wrote.

his aides

was

the

National Guard not responsible for the shootings, but that the U.N.

should have helped the Greek police to exercise their "rights."

What

rights

were these? The

further a twisted political

Even the

U

right to

murder innocent people

Thant came out against the Greek Cypriots. He said

magnitude of the operation and the speed with which

been carried out showed

to

aim?

that

that patrols at short intervals

it

had been planned

were intended

The Turks were wise enough

to

in

it

that

had

advance and

provoke the Turks.

not to rise to the bait, but the

Greeks attacked nevertheless according

to schedule.

269

Harry Scott Gibbons In in

Athens, the military junta, occupied with putting Greece back

grown

order after years of corrupt rule, had

man

of Grivas, a

tired

the junta leaders personally disliked.

On November

19, 1967, at

Grivas boarded a plane

The

in

moustachiod

little

20 minutes

killer

who, on

pocket,"

have the returned empty handed,

mainland

in disgrace.

Greece

The junta

in

until

I

in

Cyprus over

comrades,

deeds

title

fact

Athens.

in

his arrival in

EOKA

three years earlier had told his old return to

to three in the afternoon,

Nicosia and flew into exile

to

"I

will not in

my

to

the

Cyprus

was expelled

Athens began recalling the mainland Greeks from

Cyprus, and over the next few months between 10,000 and 12,000

were returned home.

The new Greek regime, concerned with cleaning up house and establishing

became

its

to

come

to

own

and ordered

practical instead of emotional over Cyprus,

Makarios

its

contacts with the rest of Western Europe,

terms with the Turks.

The colonels were taking

a risk.

So emotional

a platform issue

had previous Greek politicians made of the union of Cyprus with

Greece

that

no government had dared

But the colonels made with

her

NATO

it

plain that they put Greece's relations

including Turkey,

allies,

aspirations of President Makarios.

of Cyprus that the

United

States,

NATO

chose

to contest the idea.

It

the

political

for the

Turks

countries, with the exception of the pillory

to

before

was unfortunate the

government of Britain's Harold Wilson

colonels.

The

led the attack,

socialist

and Wilson

himself accused the junta of "bestiality," without being specific. At

no time did dare he describe any Communist regime as such. Nevertheless, cut down to size by Athens, His Beatitude agreed back down from his four year-old policy of trying to starve out the Turks, treating them as outlaws and thieves, and agreed that

to

peace talks between Cypriot Greeks and Turks were possible. In April,

1968, Rauf Denktash returned in triumph to Nicosia to

lead the talks with Glafkos Clerides.

While the

talks

were

in

progress,

Makarios made one more

attempt to wriggle out from under the strictures Athens had placed

on him.

270

The Genocide Files

He

to Stockholm to meet Andreas Papandrcou, the Aspida communist leader, who had taken up abode in the Swedish capital from where he planned to arrange the downfall of the Greek colonels.

flew

self-exiled

From Stockholm, Makarios flew to Rome, where he met King Constantine, self-exiled there since his abortive attempt to wrest power from

the

Finally, the

and

tried to

came

army

in

Greece

in

December, 1967.

Cyprus President called on the colonels themselves

persuade them to allow the King

to return.

How

he

Greece as an ally is beyond me. The Papandreous were anathema to the Greek royal family, and am sure Makarios was, too. to see the king of

1

But the much publicised charm of Makarios failed him. The He returned to Cyprus with no alternative but to allow the peace talks to continue. colonels were adamant.

In October, 1968, Makarios stated that a solution to the Cyprus problem was quite simple. All that had to be done, he said, was to apply internationally accepted democratic principles on the island, and everyone would more or less live happily ever afterwards.

His idea of democratic principles meant that the majority - the Greeks - would rule, and the minority - the Turks - would be at their mercy for ever.

The Makarios It

is

my

line

had not changed one

bit.

personal view that this black-bearded priest's desire for

union with Greece was never based on a simple return

"homeland."

I

to

the

could never see him leaving his presidential palace,

returning to his archbishopric, and giving up politics forever.

Makarios, with his unbounding ambition really wanted union of Cyprus with Greece with himself as leader - prime minister or perhaps even regent - of the entire Hellenic world.

I'm sure that the colonels saw that behind

that black

beard and

those bland, dark eyes.

On

February 15, 1968, the U.N. had made a survey of Turkish From the beginning of the fighting at Christmas, 1963, 273 Turks had been killed, and 205 were missing, believed dead - a

casualties.

total

of 478 persons.

Harry Scott Gibbons Before the Tylliria fighting

in

271

August, 1964, a U.N. survey of

109 Turkish and mixed Greek-Turkish villages showed that 527 Turkish houses had been completely destroyed and 2,000 damaged.

Up

to

1967, several hundred

more Turkish houses had been

destroyed or damaged.

and

At the end of 1967, a report showed that a mixed villages had been evacuated

total

of 102 Turkish

by

Turkish

their

populations.

As

the

peace talks went on, over half the entire Turkish

population of Cyprus

was

supplies, deprived of their

destitute,

surviving on Red Crescent

means of

livelihood, their farms tilled

and harvested by Greeks, their future bleak.

At the time

I

finished writing "Peace Without Honour," winter

had again descended on Cyprus.

The "charms" of goldfinches, my

favourite bird, had fed on the

seeds of the faded zinnias and departed to the forests to spend the winter months. I

wrote that the Turkish

uniforms.

On

Fighters shivered

in

ragged

their

were freezing in the icy towns and villages, they stamped their

the bleak hillsides, they

winds. At the borderlines

in

and kept their guns at the ready as they patrolled the barricades, while the United Nations force, an army on paper, without power, still tried to keep the peace. feet

Under the blood red flags of Turkey, the Fighters waited for Makarios and his gunmen to make another attempt at genocide.

The Turks of Cyprus were hoping that a peace might actually emerge from the talks, and that it would be a peace with honour. But

it

would be years more of pain before

that

was

to

come

about.

"Peace Without Honour" was completed

in

October, 1968.

When

I

London, however, no publisher would touch it. did not understand why, for it was the first book to detail the plight of the Turkish community of Cyprus. Eventually, discovered that the Greek Cypriot lobby was powerful among the left-wing groups in Britain. And Communist and hard left wing unions controlled newspaper and book printing. And with a Labour government took

it

to

I

I

272

The Genocide Files

which was quite openly in favour of Greek Cypriot ambitions, it became obvious that "Peace Without Honour" was not going to be published It

in Britain for a

long time.

was, however, published

sufficiently for authors of later

in

Turkey, and was distributed

books on the subject

to

quote

my

work, sometimes extensively. Fortunately for freedom of speech and thought

have changed

in

Britain.

The

in writing,

things

stranglehold the unions held on

Britain's industry and printing has been broken, thanks to former

Prime Minister Maggie Thatcher,

a brave lady that lesser politicians

feared because her strengths exposed their weaknesses, and so they

had to destroy publisher of the

her. And to Rupert Murdoch, much maligned London Times and other newspapers, who fought

the printing unions and beat them.

So "Peace Without Honour" in Britain, as the first part

Following

my

is

now

published for the

failure to find a publisher,

Greece and find out

just

first

who

I

decided

found

to

were the Colonels of Greece. The

that the socialist government of Great Britain was railing them caused me to think there might be some good in them. I

time

of this trilogy.

that indeed there was.

visit

fact

against

Harry Scott Gibbons

273

BOOK TWO THE COLONELS OF GREECE acknowledge with

I

given the

me

grateful thanks the help and information

by the soldiers, ex-soldiers and civilians of Greece. All

personal

incidents

Communists were

in

related to

the

me

wars against the Axis and the personally, and

I

have interviewed

people from the Yugoslav and Albanian borders Crete

in

the south.

I

owe

in the

north to

special thanks to Brigadier Stylianos

Pattakos and Colonel Nicholas Makarezos for their support of investigation of the

1967 coup and the events

that

brought

it

my

about.

274

The Genocide Files

CHAPTER ONE Just before midnight, the colonels

moved.

At the Armoured Training Centre Stylianos Pattakos, 55, the

Athens, Brigadier General

in

commanding

officer, talked to his

200

officers.

the it,

The meeting caused no comment, for he had carefully prepared way for this night by giving a late-night "pep talk", as he called once a month. To them this meeting, if later that usual, was

routine.

"But on the night of April 20, 1967, the talk was different," he told

me.

thumped my

"I

the points of

my

fist

into the

on the

lecture

palm of

my

hand

to drive

Greece.

political situation in

home I

told

them of the increasing power of the Communists, of the corruption and ineptitude of parliament, and of the bribes routinely taken by politicians that

The

were

setting the standard for the

Greek way of

man

officers listened, spellbound, as the short, burly

beetling eyebrows and bald head, a hero of the

war

life."

with

Albania

in

against the invading Italians, the underground against the Nazi

war against

occupiers, and the long

over Greece as

to take

the

communism

that

had

tried

had taken over neighbouring Yugoslavia

it

and Albania and Eastern Europe, described a new Communist threat.

They had never heard him

talk like this before.

He

talked for

over an hour, and gradually the officers began to realise what their

commanding

When the

officer

was

getting

he finally rapped out,

army can

restore

democracy

at.

"Do you agree with me that only to Greece?," there was scarcely a

pause before the resounding chorus of assent.

The

brigadier went on.

"The army thinks

it

should not. them."

will take

over the country tonight.

should not, then step forward and

We

tell

will listen to your views... .we

us

If

any of you

why you

may even

think

it

agree with

Harry Scott Gibbons

275

There was an incredulous silence. Although they had agreed wholeheartedly that

it

would take

downward

the military to halt the

of official corruption and stem the encroaching Left-wing

spiral

threat, the officers

had expected

army takeover could go on

Greek fashion,

that,

talk of an

for weeks, months, even years.

They

had not expected the bombshell that a revolt would take place that very night. There

was

now

a silence

could almost be touched.

that

But no one stepped forward. The brigadier asked again, "Are all

agreed, then, that the

army

make

will

we

a revolution?"

This time cheers and clapping greeted the question. Pattakos waited until the noise died down.

"Good," he I

said.

"You

man

will give each

come one

will

at a

detailed instructions.

my

time to

They

office and

be carried out

will

to the letter."

He

away before

saluted and turned

They watched assembly room to return attention.

the officers could stand to

as he

walked swiftly from the

to his office.

Then, as the door closed

silently

behind him, uproar broke out as the 200 officers excitedly asked questions of each other as they jostled, pushed, slapped each other's

backs and made their way outside in front

Pattakos told

had 200

"I

my

me how

As each

sign

it.

"'You

I

came

in,

I

I

I

at

infantry as ordered.

will secure

report to your

You

name on

it

slip

and

From

You

here you will

will leave the

will take the exact route given

at

your objective

exactly the times at

which

will be written,

and you

I

have given

precisely the time given and

command. Under no circumstances

your position once you have secured order,

at

precisely the time given, with your tanks and with the

and pass the landmarks mentioned

You

desk

gave the same orders.

will follow these instructions exactly.

number of you.

my

rechecked the

write the officer'

take the route given you back to your camp.

camp

in.

asked his name and unit

slip for that unit.

and only then did

To each

they went

each carefully folded, on

officer

and found the appropriate instructions

parade ground and lined up

he handed out the revolution instructions.

slips of paper,

right hand.

to the

One by one

of the C.O.'s building.

it

will

will first

check

you leave

my personal my signature.

except by

276

The Genocide Files "'If

you

identification,

"'You

arc

approached

you

will

the

proper

left to

luck.'"

chance."

the last officer had gone, Pattakos looked at his watch.

The operation was dead on

time.

a call to Kyrinis Street in the

He picked up

Papagos

colonels waited. After his phone to the

without

unit

battle.

Good

will not fire unless fired at.

"Absolutely nothing had been

When

any

by

immediately do

district

they

call,

left

the

phone and made

of Athens where two the house and drove

Armoured Training Centre.

The colonels were George Papadopoulos of the Army General and Nicholas Makarezos from KYP, Greece's Central

Staff

Intelligence.

Both were aged 48.

Pattakos greeted them warmly.

As

brought soft drinks, he told them that

they sat all

down and

was ready

an orderly

for the takeover

of Athens and Attica.

They coup

sat

round the brigadier's desk, and Papadopoulos, the

leader, reported in his excited, staccato voice that

prepared

at

all

had been

the "Pentagon", as the building housing the

Greek

General Staff was known. With his aura of nervous energy, his

moustache,

bristling

his

slightly

bulging,

hypnotic

eyes,

he

dominated the room.

Makarezos appeared

a

complete contrast. Although a leading

figure in Central Intelligence, he smiled with the quiet deference of

menu as he reported that the move in and make the planned

an English butler offering a choice security services

were ready

to

arrests.

For a

little

longer

they

went over

brigadier's staff stayed poised over their

their

plans,

while

maps and waited by

the their

telephones.

At one a.m. on April 21, 1967, the colonels struck. White-helmeted military policemen raised the barrier poles striped blue

barracks

all

and white, the colours of Greece -

at

round Athens, and the tanks rumbled on

Jeeps and trucks with infantry kept pace.

camps and to the roads.

Harry Scott Gibbons Street lights shone dully

on the

steel

277

helmets and flashed on the

fixed bayonets. All roads leading to the capital were scaled, and the brigadier's office flag pins

came

in.

The colonels waited

The cinemas had seduced her in

settled

into the

Athens

maps

to settle

James Bond

in

in

as the reports

down

to sleep.

"Thundcrball" had

evening and Julie Christie had married

his last girl of the

Count and

for

closed.

went

down

to live

reasonably unhappily ever after

"Darling."

The cinema crowds had streamed out at fifteen minutes after in the bus queues, swamped the taxi ranks, and most had gone home. The stragglers moved to the coffee shops and midnight, jostled

the colonels waited patiently while they sipped espressos,

over their frustrating one-cup

vogue

in

As

those days, and

the night

tinfoil

Nescafe packs

munched sweet

that

fumbled were the

cakes.

wore on, the bouzoukia players put away

their

instruments and passed round the hat to the tourists. The tourists then stepped gratefully into the taxis parked strategically outside the tavernas rates,

back

and allowed themselves

to be driven, at exorbitant

to their hotels.

Apart from the somnambulists and the few pairs of lovers with

nowhere

else to be alone except in quiet sidestreets,

Athens

slept.

At two a.m., the colonels moved again, and the tanks roared

into

the capital.

Through the streets of Athens they came, tearing up the They rumbled into Constitution Square, where

tarmacadam.

General Scobie and his tiny British force had made their stand against

overwhelming communist forces

in

December, 1944.

They surrounded the Old Palace at the head of the square. after World War Two, it housed Parliament and Senate, with the ministerial offices on the top floor. Tanks and troops moved past the new stadium, along Herod Atticus Street running Converted

behind the Royal Gardens, and sealed off the Royal Palace behind Parliament,

empty except for a few main boulevards.

servants.

They took up

positions on the

As he drove

into the

Philip Boborides, of the

grounds of the Royal Palace, Captain

Armoured Training

Centre, crashed his

27S

The Genocide Files one of the walls. Anxious

jeep against

maintain

to

the

rigid

schedule, he leapt from the vehicle to inspect the damage, and struck by the jeep following behind him. His leg

was

was broken.

The operation continued inexorably. Troops, hclmcted and with bayonets fixed, dropped off moving trucks and took up their positions at crossroads, along streets, on strategic buildings. Hotels

and even foreign embassies were not

neglected.

Tanks and

soldiers poured into the airport south of the city

Radio experts from LOK, the green-bercted slipped

the

into

and

busy port of Athens

into Piraeus, the

state

telephone

commando

company building on

units,

Patisson

Boulevard and the central telephone exchange just off Stadiou in an expression of Anglo-Greek World War Two). Phone and cable communications throughout the country and to abroad were silenced, and Greece was cut off from the rest of the world.

Street

(renamed Churchill Street

affinity after

Troops took up positions on the ancient Acropolis overlooking Athens, where not so

many

years earlier the hated

German

invaders

had strutted for photographs for the family albums, and occupied Lycabettus

church of with

its

signal

Then the

with its panoramic views, the whitewashed George on the summit, and the little gun emplacement

hilltop

St.

gun

for use

on

LOK commandos

sleeping

streets.

Lists

state occasions.

under Colonel Ladhas their

in

doorways and whispered instructions

Men,

at a

or underwear,

hands,

uniforms,

at

physical and psychological disadvantage in pyjamas

were hustled out of and were put

into

commandos wasted no time with go.

through

stopped

to their troops.

their

with Greek volubility, others glowering the

filtered

officers

in

homes, some protesting mingled hate and fear

trucks

and

driven

off.

at

The

explanations to those unwilling to

They were frogmarched outside and unceremoniously thrown

into the trucks.

A

few arrived

at

their

prison destinations with

bruised limbs and bloodied noses.

The hard core of Communists had been rounded

up.

Harry Scott Gibbons

279

Panayotis Cancllopoulos, the prime minister, and his cabinet, a caretaker government installed simply to supervise the forthcoming elections in

which the colonels were

fellow-travelling Socialists and

Winston

Churchill,

Communism,"

believe,

I

would

Politicians joined the

take

exodus

certain the

Communists and

left-wingers, once described, as

were

over,

dogs

running

"the

taken

by of

custody.

into

to the prisons.

With the same precision, the revolution swept over

the rest of

the country. In the strategic northern city-port

of Salonika, built

by Cassandros, King of Macedonia, who named

army seized

after his wife, the

in

315 B.C.

Thcssalonika

it

the port and airfield.

Tanks moved along Constantine

wide seafront

the

Street,

boulevard, past the silent tourist restaurants and coffee shops, the British Consulate

and the White Tower, the

As

fifteenth century city walls.

officers

were long and

Athens, the

in

last

vestige of the

lists

carried by the

The diehard Communists were

explicit.

swiftly arrested. In

Patras,

the

on the north coast of the Peloponnese

port

peninsula (technically an island as

it

severed from the mainland

is

by the rock-cut Corinth Canal) and ferryboat centre for the Ionian Islands and Italy, the tanks

moved

to the

landing stages.

Troops crossed themselves reverently beautiful basilica of St. saint of Scotland

where the

was

Andrew,

built

crucified by

skull of the saint

is still

as they

marched

past the

on the spot where the patron

Nero on an X-shaped cross, and preserved. They climbed to the

ruins of the 13th-century Venetian castle, took up their positions

overlooking the town, and waited for the dawn.

At the Armoured Training Centre pinned into position, the leaders stood

up,

last

in

Athens, the

radio call monitored.

was

last flag

The

three

coup

helmets and checked their

put on their steel

firearms. Papadopoulos gave the orders.

To

Pattakos he said,

Makarezos, "You go back." "We'll take

"You and

to the

my jeep,"

I

will

inspect

Pentagon and take over said Pattakos.

"I'll

drive."

Athens."

To

we

get

until

2S0

The Genocide Files

Makarczos went with the last column of tanks to the Pentagon. arrival, he was quickly ushered into the brownstone Pentagon building. In a last minute switch, Papadopoulos had replaced the night duty staff with picked men.

On

With his driver riding shotgun guard behind them, Pattakos and Papadopoulos drove around Athens, calling out the passwords, checking off the positions. Then they drove to the Pentagon. Their

first act

was

to

Greek Army Chief of

send for General Gregory Spandidakis, the

Staff.

When

he arrived and was appraised of

the situation, he agreed without hesitation to

the revolution.

He knew

the three of

them

throw

in his lot

with

well, and Pattakos

was

an old and trusted friend. In

Greece

that Friday, the sunrise at 5.42

promised

a beautiful

day.

Athenians, despite their late nights, are early a.m.

the

first

of

them,

with

half-closed

risers,

morning

and by

six

eyes

and

undigested breakfasts, were venturing on to the streets. They were quietly but firmly ordered soldiers.

The

streets

back

into their

homes by

the patrolling

remained empty, the shops closed.

Outside Patras, Alekos Antonopoulos, one of the four brothers running the Achaia Clauss wine company, was told he would have

no foreign tourists that day to sample his wines and sign the visitors book underneath such names as Alistair Maclean ("Guns of Navarone"), "The Saint," and Margot Fonteyn.

The white eagles of Delphi soared above the ruins on the morning updraft from Aesop's Mountain as an officer went round the hotels leaving word that no one would be allowed to return to Athens that day - to the delight of some tourists and the chagrin of others with tight schedules or limited purses.

With the dawn came the next wave of country thousands of minor

Communist

Throughout the were rounded up.

arrests.

figures

The prisons bulged. At 6.30 a.m. the coup leaders gave

their first

message

to

Greece.

Over the state and military radios they broadcast a terse statement: "Due

to

irregular

conditions,

since

midnight

undertaken the government of the country."

the

army

has

Harry Scott Gibbons

281

The revolution had succeeded. Not a single shot had been fired. The only casualty was Philip Boborides, captain, with his broken leg.

The

more than

terse statement revealed nothing

that there

the bare fact

had been a military revolution.

did not reveal that right up to midnight only three

It

known

that the revolution

was even planned -

men had

the brigadier and the

two colonels.

On August

11,

1985, the British Sunday Times reviewed a

"The and Fall of the Greek Colonels" by CM. Woodhouse. It was written 18 years after the coup. The Sunday Times reviewer, without stating the source of his knowledge, book,

Rise

wrote: ."...few Greeks will accept his (Woodhouse's) claim that the

CIA

did not promote the Colonels' coup."

Thus

myths made. The name of the Central

are

Agency, the bete noire of the any regime which

is

Left,

is

invoked regularly

anti-communist,

even just slightly to the

anti-left,

Intelligence to discredit

anti-socialist,

or

the implication being that these

right,

regimes, whether or not legally elected, are in place due to the

machinations of a foreign power and

that, as a

consequence, the

people of those countries must be opposed to their governments and,

when

this

another form

Communist

And Left

contention

of regime,

is

carried

presumably

further,

a

would welcome

Left-wing,

or

even

a

one.

should such a regime take over

would be

bloody coup, then the

in a

free to applaud the sacrifices of "the people" in their

struggle for democracy.

The CIA,

naturally,

would be blamed

for

any massacres. I

am

not inventing this scenario. In

reporting on an area that has had

than any other,

I

have seen

this

The CIA, being dedicated its

many

years of living in and

more coups and attempted coups

happen time and again. to

overthrow

Communism wherever

bloody tentacles reached, were no doubt pleased with the

colonels' coup, but the Agency, or indeed any foreign intelligence,

took no part

in the revolution.

282

The Genocide Piles

"We

Pattakos told mc:

We

dared not even confide

could not risk even the smell of revolt, for

if

our families.

in

communists

the

had been alerted, the coup could have led to a bloodbath.

We

planned for three years, from 1964, and only the three of us knew.

we

"For three years

our heads.

It

committed

its

written It

was only

up our plan and carried

And even

details to paper.

down, not

was

built

a matter of hours before the

around

was

that

not a

in

we

name

a signature signed."

a masterpiece of planning.

But the broadcast also sent country, for there

was nothing

communist. People years

five

then there

it

coup

of

all

to

a wave of fear throughout the show if the coup was rightwing or

over Greece, remembering the terror of the

communist

insurrection

after

War Two,

World

remained fearfully behind closed doors.

Athens and the other main towns remained closed

that day.

Apart from the tanks, the troops, and the trucks supplying their meals, the streets were deserted. In

the

Grande Bretagne Hotel on Constitution Square, three

elderly British ladies, having run the upstairs gauntlet of predatory

room

staff

cajoling

for

stepped

tips,

out

of the

lift

into

the

stultifying gentility of the entrance hail.

As floor.

down moved like

they sat

a waiter

Like elderly

at a table

near the glass doors of the entrance,

a land crab towards

waiters

the

them across the marble

world over,

his

face

bore the

long-suffering stamp of hot kitchens, constipation and fallen arches. In

answer

to his "Yes?," the senior lady replied "Nothing,

we've

had breakfast."

just

As

the waiter scuttled back

ladies dived into her

among

the potted palms,

one of the

woolly tourist-boutique handbag and produced

a box.

They

did not even notice the

as they settled

At

the

down

Hilton

armed

soldier

to their

morning game

Hotel,

that

large

on the

street outside

of scrabble

piece

of

masonry

where

Americans can meet fellow Americans and be kept hygienically

Harry Scott Gibbons

283

protected from the rest of the world, the tourists filled the sun terrace, ritual ly

and

silently

soaking up the spring sun.

they noticed, they did not remark on the armed soldier on the

If

terrace

above them.

Another broadcast announced a curfew from 7p.m.

until sunrise the

next day.

During the

day,

troops

raided

the

empty

offices

Communist Party and left-wing organisations all over carrying away truckloads of files and documents.

of

the

the country,

Then, as calmly as they had made the coup, the Colonels began releasing prisoners.

Makarczos described the

"We

We

started with the lesser politicians

told them, 'the

word you

all

is in

over

our

way up

two

were

politicians

kept

in

still

behind

we

bars

firebrand, the former prime minister

anti-monarchist, and far-left

If

now

anti-British

prison.

the majority of the people of Greece.

would

win

the

Andreas, an outspoken believer

we

hard-core

were Greece's

political

George Papandreou, always for the past few years, and his

It

was

at that

time, by

the likelihood that the

forthcoming in

The

kept inside."

son Andreas, despised by the military and,

Papandrcous

you give your

you may go home.'

the political ladder and by evening

thousand

communists and left-wing

Two who

and minor communists.

complete control.

of them agreed.

"We worked just

army

will not attempt to resist us,

"Almost

had

action.

elections

and

that

Communism, would emerge

as

the country's strongman, that convinced the Colonels the time had

come

to carry out the

coup.

The commandos at the central telephone exchange opened The Colonels phoned to the Royal summer palace at Tatoi, 15 miles outside Athens, and asked the young King Constantine of Greece to meet them at the Athens palace. He strategic lines.

arrived soon afterwards in a military car.

The Genocide Files

2cS4

There, grave and palefaccd, he listened while Papadopoulos

explained

the

situation

to

him.

The

agreed

king

government controlled by the army on condition prime minister and

his

Constantinc selected the

Constantine Kollias, to

that he

to

new

a

choose the

deputy. The Colonels acquiesced, and Crown Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, head the new government with General

Spandidakis, the Chief of Staff, as his deputy. At 6.30 that evening, the

new Cabinet was sworn

in

by the Archbishop of Athens and All

Greece.

General Spandidakis, as well as his deputy premiership, became Minister of National Defence. the post of Interior, and Makarczos became Economic Co-ordination. Papadopoulos, the ringleader, post with the odd-sounding name of Ministry to the Prime

Pattakos took Minister of

took the

Minister, a post

which

virtually controlled the other ministries

-

and controlled the prime minister, too. Outside Greece, the names of the three officers the

coup - bloodless and one of

the

most

who had made

brilliant in

modern times

- were unknown. Although one was

a brigadier, the rest of the

world quickly

adopted the foreign newspaper catchphrasc, and referred to them simply as - "The Colonels."

Who their

were the Colonels?

Who

were these men so convinced

cause was just that they dared set up a military regime

in

the

land where, as the rest of the Western world's press and politicians

never failed to bring up, the word "democracy"

came from?

Harry Scott Gibbons

285

CHAPTER TWO Stylianos Pattakos

was born

of Aghia Paraskevi

(St.

1912

in

Friday)

in

in the little

red-roofed village

southern Crete, deep

in

the Idi

mountain range.

The son of

and sixth of eight children (five boys and went barefoot until the age of twelve. The tiny whitewashed house where he was born, still kept spotless by his a farmer

three girls), Pattakos

married sister Irene Mathiodakis

when

I

visited

it

in

1%9, was

built

next to the village church, an eleventh century Byzantine structure

whose

priceless wall and roof frescoes

by

out

damp, as they

are

in

were slowly being washed

thousands

of similar

churches

throughout Greece.

The main room, the bedroom with its wood burning fireplace, was directly above the barn, where the goats and sheep were kept at night.

The children fire,

slept

on mattresses on the wooden floor by the

next to the curtain enclosing the huge bed of their parents.

heat of the animals below, the Pattakos children

The

remember, kept

them warm during the freezing winters.

The

father,

George Pattakos, wore peasant dress - loose baggy

trousers, high black leather boots,

Maria, his wife, a tiny as

is

later, a

St.

her flock with superb ease,

often the case with small built females. She

excellent cook,

me

and an embroidered waistcoat.

woman, handled

which did much

was

also an

to give her offspring, as they told

happy, healthy childhood.

Friday

is

a beautiful

village.

It

lies,

sheltered, in a long

snow-capped mountains of the Idi range. The cruel, harsh summer denudes the earth, leaving it bereft of green; a thick greyish powder lies on the tracks that wind through the valley. Sand devils, whipped up by the summer wind gusts, leap up and spiral away, sucking up old leaves, twigs, pieces from children's valley facing the

notebooks, to deposit them, as

branches of the olive

trees.

much

as a mile away, in the gnarled

The Genocide Files

286

Then

come, and with the amber eyes of the goats gleam

the winter rains

leaps up, the

they

struggle

escape

to

Friday

the

into

in winter.

The

St.

fires fed

by thorn and mountain oak

shower

fires are

wood

the grass

dark pens as

in their

of fresh

fields

blankets

first

fodder.

in the little

lit

gathered

Snow houses,

scaring,

in the

dry autumn.

Tsipouro, Greek ouzo without the aniseed flavouring,

women. Smooth going down,

out by the

fiery in the

is

brought

stomach,

it

loosens the tongues of men, and soon the children arc sitting on the

woven goatskin rugs

who

fought

listening avidly to talcs of the Klcft guerrillas

conquering Turk,

the

heroism

the

of the

Cretan

when German airborne troops landed in 1941, the German General Von Krcibe - kidnapped by Patrick Leigh Fermor who parachuted into Crete from Cairo - who was kept prisoner in a defenders

goat cave right

taken

off

the

escapade

in the village itself until

nearby

coast

by

Fermor described

Leigh

he and his captors could be

submarine,

British in

book

his

a

"III

fantastic

Met

By

Moonlight." Pattakos'

and crawl

Irene showed me the little cave where The entrance was so low he had to lie down

sister

German was

kept.

in.

Irene prepared his meals and took

them

to

the flat

him. Tales

of heroism, chivalry and gallantry. Talcs to swell the heart of a

young boy. There

is

an old

poem about

the Pattakos family, written after a

Cretan revolt against the occupying Turks

in

which an ancestor,

Constantine Pattakos. figured.

Loosely translated,

it

reads:-

"Generation on generation, they arc the leaders.

What's Is

it

a

all

the shooting in Imbros and

wedding or

is

it

a

Askyfou?

baptism?

Just the Pattakos fighting their neighbours!"

Then

spring.

flowers, field

The

upon

field

wild yellow mustard.

from the melting snows. The wild - blue flowers, scarlet poppies, them of of

torrents

Harry Scott Gibbons

The pink and white blossomed almond

287 trees splash the valley

and hillsides with colour and bring the visitor up with a gasp as he turns off the

main road

Rcthimnon and looks

to

into the St. Friday

valley.

The women

are spring-cleaning, cooking, the

herds of sheep and goats or repairing the winter

farm implements and houses, the boys up

and revelling

butterflies, the birds, St.

Friday

That was It

may

was

how

a place for a it

was

in

men

out with the

damage

to roads,

the hills, chasing the

in life.

boy

to

the last time

be born

saw

I

it

in.

almost 30 years ago.

be changed today.

Young a fighting

While

Stylianos apparently lived up to the Pattakos tradition as

man. But he was an obedient son his father

after the family

worked

too.

the farm, the children helped to look

sheep and goats.

Stylianos, forfeiting, probably with huge boyish martyrdom, the

joys of mountain climbing and birdnesting, took his turn

at

tending

the flock after school, watching as the sheep cropped the grass

under the olive

trees,

and laughing as the goats nimbly climbed the

neighbours' olive and almond trees to nibble the fresh buds. His bare feet grew hard on the sharp lava outcrops.

When Pattakos

he graduated from the village elementary school, young

was

sent to Rethimnon, the provincial capital on the north

coast, as a boarder.

Along with his first pair

the food his

Rethimnon barefoot,

On

He

of shoes.

mother packed for him, he was given

put them

in

his satchel

and walked

to

a journey of 18 hours.

school holidays,

when

he returned to his village, the boy

continued to walk barefoot, saving the prized footwear for school.

He

graduated, a good student, then began to think of a career.

those days, throughout Greece, large

family, to have

at

least

it

was

a

one son

good in

In

thing, especially in a

the army. Apart

from

securing his future, the regular income could assist his brothers and sisters

through school.

288

The Genocide Files case of Pattakos, the tough

In the

more incentive than

for

most.

life

of the armed forces held

1931,

In

at

age of

the

he

IS,

volunteered for the army. Three years later he took his exams and entered the officer cadet school

An army.

in

Athens.

expert horseman, Pattakos chose the elite branch of the In

1937, he graduated with top marks, a second lieutenant of

cavalry. In

a

Athens, on the 5th of May, 1940, he married the daughter of

well-known military family.

On October

18,

1940, Pattakos was posted from his unit

Kavalla, in northeast Greece, to Athens to

become

at

adjutant of a

military cadet school.

The year Pattakos graduated as an officer, two youths entered the military academy. They were both from middle-class backgrounds. Both were

was

brilliant scholars.

There the resemblance ended. One

The

quiet, studious, easily liked.

other

was

talkative, full of

infectious nervous energy, and easily followed.

They were by far the most popular in their year and, as their complemented each other, Nicholas Makarczos and George Papadopoulos became firm friends.

natures

John Makarezos was the youngest of eleven children and began

work

at the

age of nine as an errand boy

village in the Parnassas mountains,

Greece

in a

the

in

provision store

in a

Roumeli province of

just north of Athens.

His position earned him the

given to such child workers

Saving village of

in

his earnings as he

title

of "grocery cat" which was

those days.

grew

800 inhabitants deep

up, he finally

in the

went

to Gravia, a

Parnassas foothills and a few

miles from the ruins of Delphi, and bought the general store there.

Gravia being a crossroads for the local villages, the store prospered.

John

married

Panayotis.

and

had

three

The house above

sons,

the store

Athanasius,

was

Nicholas

large and

excellent habitation by the standards of the day.

and

roomy, an

289

Harry Scot! Gibbons

A

few yards from the

store,

ground, stood the

tree-filled

in

a walled, triangular patch of

monument

to

Odysseus Androutsos,

one of the Greek heroes of the 1821 revolt against the Turks, who

was born

Gravia.

in

Paintings of Androutsos

in his

picturesque garb and handlebar

moustaches have long adorned the public offices village, a constant

Nicholas, born

in

the

little

reminder of Gravia's heritage. in

1920, grew up as a quiet thoughtful boy. After

he seemed to avoid the usual boys' fights

school, where

in

a

smiling, preoccupied way, he helped his parents in the store, read

books

neat

his

in

whitewashed room, or studied on the back

verandah, surrounded by flowers growing

in

converted paraffin

tins.

The

eldest son, as

is

normal

in that part

most favoured, and the parents put

all

of the world, was the

they could into his education.

Athanasius was a teacher while his two brothers were

still

at

school.

Panayotis, four years younger that Nicholas, recalls that a bit of a devil,

brother."

always

He remembers

loggerheads with it

called

worshipped him and, when

was

not at

was

who always

all

father and

"I

my

was

eldest

his brother Nicholas, quiet, smiling

I

took his

met him as a grown man,

still

did and

reluctant to say so.

At the age of twelve, Nicholas went bustling county first in

my

part. Panoyotis, orTakis as he - derived from the diminutive Panayotakis - hero

and determined,

was

at

to high school at

Lamia, the

town 25 miles north of Gravia. He had always been

class at the village school and he continued in this vein in

Lamia.

He was

joined

at

High School by

four years they shared a rented

room

his brother Panayotis, in

and for

Lamia. Twice a week their

parents sent a basket of food, mostly potatoes, eggs and cheese.

Nicolas was noted for his cleanliness, amounting to fastidiousness, so

young Panayotis did

maintained

I

cleaning up.

the

cooking

-

"My

brother

always

could fry the potatoes better" - and his brother did the

The Genocide Files

the

They visited their village on holidays, two bo; ted after themsel subject

an interest

in

science, and from an early age he took

military matters, always from a scientific point of

He was

view.

was

but for the rest of the year

interested in guns, shells and their trajectories, an

interest then set

him

apart from his classmates.

He became an expert with fireworks and. easy-going and was in great demand for the noisy celebrations ot the

well-liked,

Greek

feast days, of

which there are manv.

The choice of a career was an easy one

for Nicholas

Makarezos.

Apart from easing the educational burden on his family, the arm) could give him the opportunity to study his pet subject, scientific warfare. the age of 17, he passed third in his entrance

exams, and

in

1937 he joined the Military Academy as a cadet. Panayotis missed him badly and,

in

the turbulent years that

followed, he scoured the mountains and battlefields looking for his hero.

At the Academy, Makarezos quickly went to the top of his class

and was appointed leader. The leader of the class alongside ge

Papadopoulos.

was born in 1919 in the village of some 20 miles inland from Patras in the Peloponnese. A better name for the village might have been Flowers, for it glowed in pink and scarlet from the moment the first :ge

Papadopoulos

Eliakhorion (village of olives),

-

of the spring sun reached across the Gulf of Corinth.

Roses hung

in

heavy clusters from every fence and wall,

flowers of a dozen varieties shot up from the dark, rich

almond, plum and cherry blossom

filled the fields

w ith

soil.

brightness.

The village is set in mountain-backed, rolling countryside that would make a visitor from Perthshire in Scotland think he was home. Ni a deeper link with Scotland. The skull of St. beautiful the Andrew. saint, lies in patron Scotland's Bvzantine-style church of that

name

in

Patras. built

on the spot

Harry Scott Gibbons where the X-shaped

saint

was

cross,

Roman emperor Nero on

crucified by the

giving

291

Scotland

emblem, Union flag or,

national

its

incorporated in the United Kingdom's flag, the is

an

later

as

it

popularly known, the Union Jack.

When George Papadopoulos was few days by his John having been born With such

born, he had to be wet-nursed

aunt, Athanassia Andreopoulos, his cousin

for a

few days

a

earlier.

a healthy countryside to

roam

young

devils,

pranks were

boys of

free in, the

Eliakhoron grew up tough and hardy. But even

in a

generation of

young Papadopoulos was outstanding. His daredevil talked about 50 years later. He could get up to

still

more mischief, the old timers

told

me, than the

of the village

rest

boys put together.

The one person young Papadopoulos completely was his father, Christos.

respected, and

loved,

Christos Papadopoulos

men even

that

was one of

had saved sufficient from his earnings in

Eliakhoron.

the toughest and proudest

proud and tough area had seen.

Then he

built

it

when his son took over Greece, man who built it.

to

with his solid

A

schoolteacher, he

buy materials

own

hands.

It

for a school

stood there

and uncompromising,

like the

Their house was a split-level, red-tiled cottage enclosed by a high wall. Inside the courtyard, an unusual feature house, flowers grew

among

the walls the spring rains

a

in

Greek

the citrus trees. In the dirt track outside

formed a rambling stream.

was a strict disciplinarian. Twirling his waxed moustaches, he snapped out orders and the village boys jumped to attention. Christos Papadopoulos

bristling

That he was also completely sons

worshipped

heartbroken

He had

when

him. he died,

fair is

George still

evident in the

Papadopoulos

fierce,

still

upright,

way

his three

was

almost

still

unbroken.

lived to see the revolution, and his son ruler of Greece and

the centre of the world's attention.

As

principal of the village school he had built himself, Christos

marks well below his was a sign of the boy's

deliberately gave his eldest son examination

worth

in

order not to

show

favouritism.

It

292

The Genocide Files

perception that he accepted this state of affairs and neither sulked

nor bore any resentment.

When new

his father

was

transferred to another school nearby and a

teacher installed, George suddenly found himself top of the

class.

The years of

had installed

in

discipline and attention to

him had paid

their dividend.

schoolwork

his father

The new teacher

said

he had found the boy quite brilliant.

At the age of twelve, Papadopoulos went with to

High School

lived a

in

Patras,

where they

his cousin

lived with relatives.

John

Nearby

boy three years younger, Tony Scarmaliorakis.

George quietened down and applied himself to He was an outstanding pupil, well ahead of the others for the six years he was there.

Patras,

In

serious study. in his

up

one

class

was born

who would grow

In

1919, another boy

to

be the opposite of Papadopoulos, Makarezos and Pattakos,

who would come

manage

to

become

in

Greece, one

be reviled by the Greek people, yet

to

their unlikely leader.

Andreas Papandrcou was born on February

5,

1919, the only

George and Sophia Papandrcou. The father was at that time the Prefect (chief government official) of the island of Chios, in the Aegean close to Turkey. He was five when his parents were divorced and although the mother was given custody his father child of

stayed close to him throughout his

The Papandrcou family

life.

were well off and respected, and the son wanted for nothing. His father became Greek Minister of Education, and Andreas

and

his

mother,

whom

he adored, lived

in

the affluent Psychiko

suburb of Athens along with other wealthy Greek families and

European and American residents. youth,

that

members

he

call

Communism

turned

It

was

at this

towards that brand

Trotskyism,

in

order to

per se, though frankly

Oddly, he blamed his choice of

show

of

that

it

time, while

still

Communism is

a

its

not as nasty as

don't see the difference.

I

political

opinion on the foreigners

of Psychiko. "Their lifestyle," he said

many

Greeks as coarse" made him very their attitude,

years

later,

"and their view of the

hostile to them.

It

was because of

he maintained, that he developed the xenophobic

Harry Scott Gibbons slogan, "Greece for the Greeks,"

created

many

203

used by the socialist party he

still

years later and which,

at

the

moment,

rules

Greece

after his death.

Today,

would

he

have

socialist," or, as Pattakos the

been

described

cavalryman put

it

as to

a

"champagne

me, "Communist

du salon."

When

General loannis ("John") Mctaxas took power in 1936, he George Papandreou and other anti-monarchists to the island

exiled

of Andros, the northernmost and largest of the Cyclades Islands the

Aegean Sea. He had already been

being involved

A

year

in

exiled ten years earlier for

in anti-royalist politics.

later, his

son Andreas

left

grammar school and

entered

Athens University Law School. He joined a Trotskyist group which an

published

underground

newspaper attacking

security forces, he said,

knew of

1939 he was arrested.

In prison,

his activities,

and

The

summer of

he signed a confession repenting

and named others of

his Trotskyist activities

Mctaxas.

in the

He was

his group.

released and went back to his studies.

1936, General Metaxas had begun to re-organise the Greek

In

army. Unlike the British Government, he foresaw the

real

menace

of Hitler, and discreetly trebled the intake of the Military College.

The new disciplined army began to attract active young men, and in 1937 George Papadopoulos easily passed his entrance exams and went

to military college in

From

other pupil

who

friend, Nicolas

From

Athens.

The only

the beginning, he stood out from his colleagues.

could keep up with his examination results was his

Makarezos.

the wild

boy of

Papadopoulos came

his village days,

to

be

pointed out as an example to other youths.

When officer

he returned to Patras on vacations, proudly wearing his

cadet's

uniform, people stopped and spoke to

whispered about him

to

remembers coffee-shop when Papadopoulos walked

Tony

him or

each other.

Scarmaliorakis

sitting past.

in

a

pavement

The Genocide Files

294

that

The restaurant owner watched him, then turned to Tony. "See young man?" he said, "He'll go places, mark my words. Be him, boy, and you'll go places, too."

like

May, 1940, with Europe reeling before the Nazi onslaught Italian army poised on Greece's northwest border, Andreas Papandrcou decided it was time to get out of Greece. In fact, out of In

and the

Europe altogether, and as gave as his reasons

friends for having betrayed

he could from the war zone.

far as

he

that

among

discredited

felt

them and

He

his Trotskyist

that the security forces

were

watching him.

still

Could

it

have been

Mctaxas, realised

that he, like

Axis powers, Germany and

the

was

Italy,

that

inevitable

war with and

that,

despite his much-vaunted rallying cry, "Greece for the Greeks," he

would simply leave

and die for

to others to fight

it

while he scarpered off

to the safe

haven

was

that

New York

At the age of 21, he sailed for

his country

the United States?

with the reluctant

consent of his father and his doting mother who, surprisingly, he

decided to leave behind. Later, he said he had arrived penniless, but

somehow managed Columbia

not only to support himself but also enroll at

The

University.

helping

hand

of

his

father

was

apparently there.

Papandrcou alleged

working

in

later

he

that

on campus.

a library

had supported himself by

knew

I

Lebanese millionaire

a

who came to prominence in the American 1950s. One U.S. magazine reported that he had

businessman politician press in the late

worked

his

way through

American University of

the

college,

Beirut, as a waiter in a local restaurant. This

American

Great

presidents,

Democracy,

in

is

poor

at

menial, low paid labour.

Lebanon. What did happen was

that

had paid for the politician's education. He told at

a description of the

boys

can

become

having paid for their university fees and supported

themselves by toiling

happen

where

I

simply didn't

It

met the man who

me

he

was shocked

the rags to riches story. I

am

either.

inclined

not to believe

He had no GI

for service in the

Papandrcou 's education

grant to rely on.

Royal Air Force.

I

story,

had a one-year college grant

When

I

tried to

continue for a

Harry Scott Gibbons BSc,

found

I

it

impossible to pay the fees, board and lodging by

working part-time

money

the

I

am

295

at

any

And my

of job.

sort

parents did not have

to help.

sure this

is

what happened

in

Papandreou's case. His father

was wealthy and adored his only son. What parent would not help a favourite child? Mine would have had he been more affluent. (As it happened, was able to continue my education in Denmark, where the firm worked for very generously paid my fees). 1

I

Andreas Papandreou was safe

settling into his new life in America, from the war approaching the country he had deserted, when

Makarezos and Papadopoulos graduated

as second lieutenants in

July, 1940.

Makarezos joined went

to

The

Italian

mountain

a

heavy

field

artillery

unit.

Papadopoulos

artillery.

army attacked

Kingdom of Albania on

the

April 7,

1939. Still

then

arrogant from their success, a few years earlier,

known

various

as Abyssinia,

where they used poison

Ethiopia,

in

gas, torture and

forms of execution, including throwing people out of

aeroplanes, to subdue the primitive inhabitants, the Italians quickly

brushed aside the ragtag Albanian army and added the one million popujation to the Italian Empire.

King Zog, the former soldier who had declared monarch eleven years earlier, fled into exile, dying in years

22

later.

When Nazi

himself Paris

in

September, 1939, Britain and France declared war on

Germany, Benito

dictator,

turned

his

Mussolini,

eyes

south

the to

fat

Greece

blue-jowled

and

the

Italian

Eastern

Mediterranean.

When

France collapsed

in

June, 1940, and Britain stood alone,

even America adopting a wait and sec

attitude,

Italy

bravely

declared war on beleaguered Britain. Seeing Hitler preparing to

move

his

armoured divisions down

determined to beat him

to

it.

into the Balkans,

Mussolini

Apart from the prestige he

felt

he

296

The Genocide Piles

would gain by such

move, the

a

Ducc' firmly believed

Italian

Greece would put up no more opposition than

tiny Albania.

Mussolini had observed the usual fascist preliminaries to the

which followed the now classic Communist

attack,

September, 1939, Greece.

In April,

headlong

their

pattern.

In

had made a declaration of friendship with

Italy

German hordes were

1940, as the

through

charge

Belgium,

preparing for

Greece

formally

-

peaceful

recognised the Italian Empire.

Having thus established - on paper, Mussolini

intentions,

provoke Greece

into

then

at

least

began the moves

such actions as would give

his

hoped would

he

Italy the

excuse

to

invade.

August, 1940, an

In

"Helle."

The Greeks

When

Italian

would reach

October,

In

overt reaction.

German army took over Rumania and King Carol

the

also fled into exile, Mussolini that Hitler

submarine sank the Greek cruiser

made no

carefully

1940,

British warships to use

with Albania.

In

grew impatient with Greece, fearing

the Eastern Mediterranean before him. Italians accused Greece of allowing Greek waters and causing border troubles

the

an ultimatum, Mussolini

demanded

that

Italian

troops take over Piraeus (the port of Athens), part of northwest

Greece and the islands of Corfu and Crete.

The the

reply from General Ioannis Metaxas, the prime minister,

shortest

in

known simply

as

history. Greece's National

Day, October 28,

is is

"No" Day.

That same day, the

Italian

Greece with eight divisions.

army plunged across

And

the border into

Mussolini discovered abruptly

Greece was neither Abyssinia nor Albania. For the Greek army

that

was waiting In

for him.

1935, a year before Metaxas took over, a French magazine exist. This was largely manpower, but it was not capable of main functions of any army - the defence of the

had reported that the Greek army did not true.

It

existed on paper and in

carrying out the country.

The troops

did not even have proper uniforms.

Harry Scott Gibbons Metaxas

of

first

all

297

trebled the intake of officer cadets by the

Military College. In 1937, '38, '39 and '40, over

enrolled each year.

and

conditions

better

factories.

It

was

The army was intensive

due

entirely

to

built

training.

him

300 students were

up by vigourous

that

He

built

recruiting,

ammunition

Greece was able

to

meet

the Italian attack.

When

the Italians invaded Albania in 1939,

Greece would be next

that

Metaxas reasoned

for inclusion into the Italian

had been secretly preparing the Greek army to Secretly, so as not to provoke the Italians before he

1940, the Greek army

late

In

some 75,000

officers and

Empire and

resist

was

invasion.

ready.

had over 5,000 professional

troops, conscripts and volunteers. All

communists and their sympathisers and republicans had been removed from the officer ranks. The Venizelists, or Democrats, were not republican as such. The army which met the Italians was firmly right-wing. Metaxas had also secretly placed his divisions to meet the

Italian invasion

which, being an intelligent politician as

well as a practical military man, he

Two Greek when

border

certain

was coming.

divisions were waiting just south of the Albanian

the Italian army,

them. And,

into

was

in

unaware they

existed, drove straight

Tennyson's immortal words,

into the

jaws of

Death, into the mouth of Hell!

When the Italians attacked, Pattakos was immediately given command of a cavalry company. The following day he embarked by train with his men and horses for Larissa, north of Athens, where, is said, the most beautiful women in Greece come from. it

From

there they rode, crossing the Pindus mountain range from east

to west,

and on

to the

Albanian

front.

Makarezos was in Athens with his regiment when the attack came. He also went by train to Larissa, then by truck over the mountains to Yannina. The Italians were 10 miles inside Greece

when he

arrived at the front.

reserve officer,

His high

first

was already

His elder brother, Athanassios, a

there.

view of the fighting came when he made camp on

plateau

in

the

wild

forested

area

known

as

a

Katarra

The Genocide Files

298

When

(Damnation).

whole area heavy

awoke

he

pitted with

bomb

morning, he found the

the next

craters.

He had

arrived just after a

Italian air attack.

What Greece

he

that

remembers most vividly about

fighting

the

women

winter was the sight of the

inside

of the Greek

mountain villages, volunteering as human pack animals, carrying the shells strapped to their backs

up

to the big guns.

Despite the efforts of Metaxas, the Greek army was

armed, not only

in

comparison

standards of that time.

It

to the

Italian

mainly ox-drawn Its

few old planes.

Its

It

supply transport was

carts.

main armament consisted of small arms carried by

striking

field

had no tanks or

infantry. Its

poorly

had only a few German and French

and mountain guns, with limited ammunition. anti-tank guns and only a

still

army, but by any

arm was

the highly trained

Greek cavalry.

the

299

Harry Scott Gibbons

CHAPTER THREE officer sat his horse among the trees. His uniform was worn and stained. Despite the freezing wind pressing inexorably down from the Albanian hills, his greatcoat was tied behind his saddle.

The

Behind him, the horses moved faintly,

could hear the puffs as the the

restlessly,

their

harness rattling

shaking their manes as the excitement caught them up. He

stamp of

their feet

men blew

into their

on the frozen rocky

cupped hands and

earth.

The officer sat up straight as the rumble of the first tank came to him through the ground mist. The noises behind him ceased and he

knew

that his

men had

heard

it,

too.

He

strained his eyes towards the pass, blue-shrouded and bleak dawn. Then he saw the squat, ugly metal creature edge its way into view. It stopped, silent and ominous, and waited. A trick gust of wind scattered the mist for a moment and he saw the Italian in the

officer with the hated ridged helmet, sighting with his binoculars

down

the valley.

The mist obscured the pass again, and he continued to sit there, unmoving. After a few minutes, the chink of harness came again, but he did not look round. Five minutes passed, and still he sat there, waiting, like the

enemy somewhere

in the

mist ahead.

He

thought of the classic charge - cavalry against cavalry - which he

knew now he would never

see enacted in Albania

He grinned inwardly when he remembered his years of training. The cavalry had reached its peak of effectiveness during the Napoleonic wars, but with the appearance of the tank in World War it had largely lost its value. Between the wars, however, several I

European divisions,

countries

and

ox-carts for

in the

its

continued

to

train

and

maintain

cavalry

case of Greece, where the army depended on

supplies, the cavalry

became

a most

important

striking arm.

The

officer

knew they would never

traditional charge

- a broad,

flat plain,

find the essentials for the

two columns of horsemen

The Genocide Files

300

approaching each other, three abreast, the shouted order

swords

rows,

at

two hundred yards

and the ranks swiftly fanning out

elbow

packed

glinting,

to

elbow;

to

apart

form twin

scream

the

"Charge!" echoing, the thunder of hooves, the front rows low over the horses' necks, the

swords stretched; the second rows upright, to catch the sun, to flash and demoralise

swords held high, twisting

enemy; then

the

rows,

still

two

the noise like a clap of thunder as the

tight-packed,

smash

into

front

each other with a force that

drives horses clear into the air and swords through bodies up to the hilt;

another thunder-clap as the second rows, only two yards

behind,

with a solid thud the jagged line of carnage;

hit

men

impaled, horses screaming,

hacking; then

it

is

side has broken through, the side with the least

wounded: years of training

man and

for

down, dead or

horse for the grand finale;

no friendly preliminary, no dress rehearsal; begun and ended

few minutes;

men

over and one

in

a

brutal, suicidal, magnificent.

They were known

to

be

Albania with their splendid horses,

in

but so far the officer had only had reports of them from his scouts, for by the time they had reached the scene, prepared and eager one - oh God, just one classic charge - the Italians had gone.

So

Greek cavalry

the

and the cavalry companies

division,

attached to the infantry, forgot their training

and

charged anything they

saw,

for

tanks,

in traditional

trucks,

methods and

gun-posts

infantry.

The

cry

single-file

"Charge!"

could

on the treacherous

might be spotted

in

sound

at

any

moment; walking

hillside tracks, the

a tree-dotted valley; or a call

enemy

from

infantry

a lookout

on

would send horsemen on a shortcut up the slope, a gasping shortcut that would decrease the life expectancy of the animals until finally they would spray blood, somersault and die as their great a hilltop

hearts burst under the strain.

Horses brained as they

hit

the tanks and trucks full

tilt,

horses

sandbag gun emplacements, horses shattered by bullets. And Italians run down, trampled by the sharp hooves, Italians impaled, hacked, cleft by the cavalrymen, Italians, so brave when conquering barefoot tribesmen broken

in

as

they

Abyssinia and

smashed

illiterate,

against

the

rock

unarmed peasants

in

or

Albania, running.

Harry Scott Gibbons

301

from those savage avengers, screaming as they realised

terrified,

that these

were the Horsemen of Death and

nightmare was

that this

real

and for them there would be no tomorrow. And no tonight.

And

nothing after this

moment

The magnificence of the great, traditional charge was not there. What was left were the basics of war, blood, death and horror. The begun

officer heard the

slightly

sound he was waiting

move down from

to

to

the

right,

the pass.

eyes

his

The

fixed

for.

The tank had

officer turned his head

He spoke

ahead.

softly.

"Mount!."

The sergeant standing behind him turned and ran back through Without turning round, the officer knew that the sergeant had waved his arm, and waited for the noise of the men mounting. There were 62 horses out of the original 135 still left. The others the trees.

had died under their riders or frozen or starved

to death

the

in

inhospitable mountains.

The

clash of booted feet hitting the stirrups, the creak and groan

of saddle leather, the jingle of bits sounded like a crash after the

prolonged silence. But the officer knew the their

As

modern

the

steel,

men mounted, he

encased

in

heard the simultaneous

rattle

of the

rifle

were driven home. Gradually, the sounds decreased

bolts as bullets until his

Italians,

deafened by their engines, would hear nothing.

company

The sound of

sat silent like the officer.

the tank

grew

nearer.

Above

its

grind he heard

another sound, and nodded to himself with satisfaction as he the rest of the tanks

were moving down from the pass behind

knew their

leader.

He

waited

until the first

he drew his sword.

He

tank was almost level with him. Then

slashed

it

above

stamp of hooves as the horses were reined

He spoke

were watching "Charge!."

head and heard the

second time. Once again

it was one word. was almost lost in the roar of hundred yards away. But he knew the sergeants

for the

Although he shouted the tanks three

his

up.

his

it,

he realised

sword.

it

The Genocide Files

302

He dug was out

his blunt spurs into the horse,

into the open, riding

down

dropped

officer in the leading tank

came

and

catapulted out of

it

Behind him, he heard the yells of the sergeant, then he

the trees.

to the first tank.

The

Italian

his binoculars as the apparition

The mounted man charged straight at him, moment swerved aside and charged past. To the

out of the mist.

then, at the last

astounded

was only

Italian, the rider

a blur, but as he passed he

above the roar of the tank, the hideous scream as the

heard,

mounted man slashed

him with

at

his

He

sword.

did not

know

the

scream was a war cry from the Cretan mountains. he had

If

it

would not have mattered

him high

a bullet took

there, half out

of his

to him, for at that

moment

forehead, and he jerked back and lay

in the

turret.

Through the mist the cavalry charged, the horses'

legs sprouting

beads of blood from the lashings of the sharp mountain scrub.

men

leapt

from

their horses onto the first tank.

Two

They grabbed

dead man, pulled his legs clear and tossed him on

to the road.

the

One

of them ripped a hand grenade from his belt, tore the pin free and

dropped

it

through the

turret.

Before the other closed the hatch, he

heard briefly the startled staccatto Italian questions from the crew

Then

inside.

were cut

their voices

positions on the tank until they

off.

The two men held

grenade exploded inside, then they jumped off nimbly, their in their

their

heard the muffled roar as the rifles

hands, and rushed behind the cavalry.

The tank

hesitated

controls died, then ravine. For a

poised high,

the

brains guiding the

hands on the

gathered speed and rushed to the edge of the

it

moment

its

as

it

hung

useless gun

there,

one of

its

caterpillar tracks

pointing to the friendless sky.

Then

it

vanished over the edge.

The the

officer swept

pass.

continued pistol

up the

He dismounted its

last tank, a

expertly

at

bare hundred yards inside

speed and, as the horse

riderless gallop, he ran behind the tank,

and firing

Then he was on

at

the protruding

body of

the tank

the tank, slashing with his

desperately trying to drag

down

sword

the turret cover.

drawing

his

commander. at

the hands

Harry Scott Gibbons

Then other

soldiers

303

were beside him, tearing back

the cover

and

slipping the deadly grenade inside.

He stood on

the

moving

still

tank, his bloodied

sword

in

his

hand, and watched the battle.

Some

of the tank crews had leapt out onto the track and run

trees. He watched as the horsemen expertly them off and shot them or cut them down with their swords.

screaming towards the cut

Two

A

line

them.

of the tanks had managed to get their machincguns

firing.

of horses went down, screaming, as the bullets tore through

Men

died as hundredweights of horseflesh rolled on them

and drove the hard saddles into

their wriggling bodies.

For five more minutes the noise continued, the

rattle

of the

machincguns, the crack of the carbines, the screams and curses,

Greek and

Then

it

men

Italian, as

smoke

up, the blue

was

killed

and were

over.

The tank on which

gently to a standstill by the side of the track

Two

The

dust broiled

air.

the officer stood rolled

away from

the ravine.

other tanks were also stopped, their tracks driven hard

against the rocks.

since ceased

The

killed.

puffs from the gunshots filled the

its

officer

jumped down

He

horse alongside. the blade

sheathed

it

The one which had gone over

the edge had long

thrashings. stiffly.

ran the finger and

of the sword and flicked in its

A

mounted man brought his thumb of his left hand along the blood away. Then he

scabbard behind the saddle and pulled himself up

on the horse. "Sergeant!."

A man

broke away from a group of soldiers and ran towards

him.

The

officer did not look

down

as he asked.

"Casualties?"

The sergeant practice. "Five

rattled

men

off his answer with the brittle ease of

dead, three wounded, one seriously. Twelve

horses dead, four injured, one will have to be shot."

The Genocide Files

304

The

officer almost smiled. Five

good morning's

Then he did one

for four tanks.

It

was

a

quick mental calculation. Twelve horses dead and

a

be shot

to

men

spoil.

left

49. Three injured and

fit

only for baggage

wounded left 46 for a charge. He was down company strength, and the winter of 1940 stretched

animals or carrying the of his

to a third

endlessly ahead.

He spoke

again.

"Shoot the horse. See

if

the three injured ones will carry the

wounded. Men afoot take up positions

in

Tend

the pass.

to the

horses. Eat."

He

sat

looking

at

the dead tanks for a

to the sergeant for the first time.

men

the

"Tell

He

moment. Then he turned

smiled.

have once more upheld the honour of

they

Greece."

The sergeant The

saluted, turned

horseless

men

away and began shouting

orders.

stripped their gear from their dead animals

and moved up the pass.

The rider.

his

dismounted again and handed the reins

officer

He

sat

down on

to a

a rock opposite the last tank, took a

nearby

pad from

pocket and began to write.

He shouted

for an orderly.

"Ride back

to the infantry

H.Q. with

this

message. Eat while

you're there."

He watched

as the orderly spurred his tired horse

and vanished into the

still

down

the track

hovering mist.

Back where the orderly had disappeared, many miles back, was Argyrokastron, a Greek-populated town inside Albania, captured or liberated, depending

which way you looked

attacking Italians by the Greek army.

moving

north,

From

it

- from the

were homeland by

there the infantry

smashing the invaders, defending

carrying the attack into an alien land.

at

their

Hurry Scott Gibbons Lieutenant

commander,

Stylianos

sat

down

Pattakos,

305

cavalry company men and waited for the

28,

with a group of his

food to be prepared. In a

few hours the infantry would

then he and his remaining plain

beyond

arrive to take over the pass,

horses would descend into the

the pass and seek out the Italians.

He ordered The

men and

Then he

the graves to be dug.

ate.

navy had shelled them all night and the men were which probably accounted for their carelessness in the early morning. At any rate, when the big gun started slipping over the cliff, the four-man crew didn't get out of the way quick enough, and they went over with it, down to their deaths on the sea-splashed Italian

sleepless,

rocks far below.

The commanding

officer of the heavy artillery unit,

Lieutenant Nicholas Makarczos, 21, sent

men down

Second

the cliff to

attach ropes to the bodies.

He was worried about

the

number of

expended during the night duel with the had withdrawn

at

dawn from

was having

to

shells

squadron, which

the Albanian coast to the horizon.

Perhaps the Italians guessed that the Greek coastal road

precious

the

Italian

eke out

its

ammunition

artillery

on the

for, as the

bodies

were being brought up, a shout from one of the men turned the officer's anxious gaze to sea.

The

Italians

were headed

for the coast

again, rapidly approaching within range.

Makarezos ordered the guns brought

to bear

He had no

only feeling was one of annoyance.

on the ships. His

fear of the Italians,

few shots were all that was needed to keep the ships on the move. But ammunition was desperately low, and was needed to

for a

support the Greek infantry up ahead.

With

a sigh, he

edge watching the

gave the order Italian

to load, then stood

squadron through

on the

cliff

his field-glasses.

"A

plane!."

Young Makarezos had grown interested markmanship of the Italian air force and discussed

in

the

this often

poor with

The Genocide Files

306

men

his

bombing and raise their was a daunting one. wheeled him round, and he saw several of his soldiers lessen their fears of aerial

to

morale. But a concerted attack from sea and air

The

cry

pointing back

Through

in the

direction of Greece.

his binoculars, he

watched as the plane approached

slowly, hugging the coast. "It's British!."

His yell brought an answering cheer from the company. The plane drew level with them, banked and headed out to sea. ships were already scattering as the

bomb went

clown

The

among them,

sending up a great plume of water. The Italians turned

tail,

racing

towards the horizon.

The Greeks roared with

laughter.

The plane turned back towards them, waggling its wings in it drew near the cliff road. The Greeks cheered and waved their helmets. The plane, keeping to the sea, flew back to Greece. The burial of their four colleagues by the side of the road, in salute as

shallow graves covered with rocks to protect the dead from the

scavenging jackals that haunted the Albanian the spirits of the

was

battlefields,

men. But not for long, for death on

as inevitable and everpresent as the searing

down from

dimmed

that battlefront

wind

that shrieked

the snow-covered Albanian mountains.

An hour

later

they were cheering again as past them

came

another column of Italian prisoners, being escorted back to the prison

camps

in

Unkempt, fear-filled,

northern Greece.

from

disillusioned, the Italians shot sidelong glances

haunted eyes

at

the taunting

Greeks manning the big

guns.

"Welcome

to

Greece!"

and

"Viva

Mussolini!"

shouted

the

Greeks, and occasionally an Italian would answer with a fawning smile to

show

that

he was a good sport.

Or perhaps he thought him,

in

his gesture

the eyes of his captors,

cowardly cruel

Italian

soundly thrashed for

army

its

that

would somehow separate

from the sleek,

strutting, bullying,

had invaded Greece, and had been

impertinence.

307

Harry Scott Gibbons

Up

Second Lieutenant George Papadopoulos the same position of being short of

the mountain slopes,

found

had

himself

in

ammunition. The oxen pulling the supply carts from Janina and

away

Fiorina and even as far

as Larissa, practically

on the Aegean

Sea, paid no attention to his exhortations to hurry.

As other,

the carts

came up

to the positions, he rushed

checking the calibre of the

from one

when

shells, cursing

to the

they were

not for his mountain artillery..

In the

middle of December, Lieutenant Pattakos was moving up

to

the front after a rest behind the lines.

remaining

His

horses

were

and

sleek

well

fed.

Near

Argyrokastron he camped with his company.

The

was going

battle

well.

Prisoners were pouring past

The

in

Italians

were being swept back.

a long stream.

Greek morale was

high. In

Albania, Pattakos and Papadopoulos met for the

Pattakos told

me

about

In the officers'

first

time.

it.

mess

tent, after

bean soup and warming Greek

brandy, the young officers discussed the war and their various exploits.

They vied with each other, commending their own units.

One young second

lieutenant

knowledge of the war and

"What

are

"Mountain

you

at

seemed

have a surprising

the politics behind

artillery," replied the

to

war

will do, in

it.

young

officer.

lines," snorted Pattakos.

"You ought

to

be up

with the cavalry."

The banter went

own

young men

in?" asked Pattakos.

"Well behind the in front

as

on, the

young second

lieutenant holding his

and gathering an increasingly attentive audience.

The Genocide Files

308

The next morning, young

to the front, the

into the

as Pattakos prepared to lead his talkative officer

company up

approached him. He shouted

wind.

"Good

luck!"

"Thanks," yelled back Pattakos. "What's your name?"

"Papadopoulos. George Papadopoulos."

They shook hands. "Keep us covered with your old mountain guns, George." Pattakos mounted.

"Sure you wouldn't like to join us?" he shouted.

Papadopoulos grinned and waved. He watched as the company trotted his

away. Then he returned

own company

to get

to his tent

ready to move.

and gave instructions

to

Harry Scott Gibbons

309

CHAPTER FOUR On

paper, the

days of the

Greek army should have been annihilated within

Italian invasion.

At

the Italians pressed the

first,

Greeks

back, but always to previously prepared defence lines. Knee deep

mud,

Greeks held on

the

them only when being overrun became

When ammunition

in

to position after position, relinquishing

inevitable.

ran out, the Greeks used their bayonets, that

most feared war weapon.

When

food ran out, the Greeks starved -

and kept on fighting.

The cavalry charged again and columns,

The

field

guns and by advance,

Italian

gradually slowed. Italian dictator,

The

it

Italians

garrison

town

of this incredible opposition,

face

in

On November

had moved between 30 and 50 miles

in

two main

capital,

Sea,

v

ranting

into Greece,

northwest Greece, and Fiorina, 10 miles south of in

Greece's Lake District.

days of fighting, instead of having entered Athens, the

and Salonika

the

little

objectives, Jannina, the major

Yugoslav border and the main town In ten

horror of the

7, to the

halted completely.

but had failed to take their

the

again, against tanks, motorised

this time, the fear-filled Italian infantry.

Italians

in the northeast, the

found

themselves

main port on the Aegean

with

only

a

precarious

bridgehead inside Greece and, moreover, with a badly mauled invasion force which

was by

this

time quite terrified of the Greeks.

What Mussolini had not realised, and did not up to his death, was the poor calibre of the Italian as a fighting man. Against the practically unarmed Ethiopians, the Italian soldier was a supreme fighter, a cruel

and merciless

victor.

After the easy victory against the hapless Albanians, the Italians

could not constrain themselves.

II

Duce, the strutting

screeched glorification of his troops from favourite square in

Rome. The

Italian

the

dictator,

balcony of his

people believed him.

The Genocide Files

310

Mussolini's mistake, a fault to which feu petty dictators seem to

immune (Nasser of Eg\pt was own propaganda.

be

a

prime example) was

that he

believed his

Greece, the Italians met their masters. Outnumbered four to

In

one. completely outclassed in weapons, the Greeks dug their heels

snow

the

into

smashed

The

and

itself to a

mud. and the

Italians called in reinforcements,

the field ready for another 14.

much-vaunted

Italian

army

pulp against them.

and had 15 divisions

in

push into Greece when, on November

under the superb leadership of General George Papagos. the

Greeks attacked.

The Italians reeled under the blow, and eight days later the Greek army was well inside Albania, scattering the Italians. It captured the main Italian invasion base of Koritsa. smashing tank

regiments and infantry alike. After a brief pause, the Greeks, augmented by reinforcements now available under complete mobilisation, attacked again.

On December 8, Argyrokastron was overwhelmed and by December 28 the Greek army was thirty miles inside Albania. It

There

was here is little

that the lack

of armament held up by the advance.

doubt that with the proper arms the Greek army could

have swept the Italians right out of Albania. Not even the savage weather,

the

unusually

heavy snows, the lack of food or the

weariness of the troops, would have prevented

it.

But the lack of supplies, even bullets for the infantry, finally halted the

Greek advance. And the

Italians again

began

to gather

reinforcements.

Both Prime Minister Metaxas and General Papagos wanted Hitler no excuse to attack Greece,

to give

and so had repeatedly refused

British offers of troops.

But by January 1941, the tiny Greek

from the to

skies,

Greece. But

air force

and four squadrons of the British still

fearful

had been beaten

RAF

of provoking Germany,

were flown the

Greek

Harry Scott Gibbons

Government would

311

bomb

not allow the British planes to

targets

inside Albania. In the

made

little

On

middle of January, the Greek army attacked again, but more headway through sheer lack of heavy weapons.

January 29, Mctaxas died and was succeeded by Alexander

Koryzis, the Governor of the

Bank of Greece. But before any was taken on how much more help should be asked from the British, General Papagos resolved to make one more offensive to try and smash the Italian army. decision

By

February,

Mussolini had assembled 21

90,000 troops, on the Albanian

divisions,

about

Greece had 14 divisions,

front.

roughly 60,000 men. The Italians had several hundred aircraft, the Greeks none, but the British RAF was still not allowed to operate

over Albania.

The Greek army had already covered Britain

in

itself in

glory. Just as

northwest Europe fought by herself against the Axis

powers, so did Greece

in the

enemy from

of

control

southeast, between

the

North

them keeping the and

Atlantic

Eastern

the

Mediterranean and the Middle East.

A

schoolboy

Edinburgh

in

that

at

time,

remember being

I

ordered by one of our teachers to read a newspaper every day, to learn of the progress of the war.

I

read "The Scotsman" newspaper

of Scottish version of the London Times), and

(a sort

thought then,

when

I

I

never

read of the Balkan fighting, that one day

would not only have the pleasure of meeting but becoming friends with many of these remarkable

I

the real honour of soldiers.

Pattakos and Makarezos all received battle checked on the Albanian career of Nicholas Makarezos,

Papadopoulos, honours.

I

the shy, self-effacing one. the first

was

in the forefront

He

As

Greek counter-attack

firing officer for his in the

company during

middle of November, 1940, he

of the battle of Kalpaki, a major Greek victory.

celebrated his 21st birthday during a major Greek push with

an extra salvo officer of an

at

the

enemy.

In early January, 1941, as

independent heavy

victorious battle at Chimara, a

miles inside Albania.

artillery

town on

unit,

commanding

he fought

the coast road

at

the

some 40

The Genocide Files

312 Before the

last

Greek offensive had died down from want of his first award for bravery, the

armament. Makarczos had won

Military Cross. Pattakos and Papadopoulos had also received this

prestigious medal.

as

inwhile,

the

homeland.

Andreas

describing

his

somewhat

Greek army fought the invaders of their Papandreou wrote letters to his parents

loneliness.

As

assuaged.

But

was soon

loneliness

his

countrymen,

his

to

including

be his

schoolfriends. died in their tens of thousands in defence of Greece,

Papandreou

1

met

He wooed

Rassias.

wonder

if

a

young Greek-American

her relentlessly. She

fell in

woman.

Christine

love with him.

he told her his ambition was to realise his dream of

"Greece for the Greeks?"

On

February 13, Papagos launched his attack. The Greeks struggled

through blizzards and snow

only outnumbered and badly

drifts, not

armed, but also poorly clad and

many

in

cases actually starving.

They stumbled up to the Italian guns and. overwhelmed the frontline but actually gained But

it

armament

Then ch

1

incredibly, not only a few

more

was in vain. The Greek army simply did smash the Italian heavy armour.

miles.

not have the

to

Hitler

made

allowing the

his

move. Bulgaria signed an agreement on

German arms

to pass

Greece. Turkey had already declared

through Bulgaria into

itself neutral.

Greece

agreed to the repeated British offer of help and the troops landed

in

Greece on March

5.

nwhile. highly embarrassed

army having

to

open up Greece

to

at

the thought of the

German

conquest over four months after

the Italians had launched their attack. Mussolini determined final offensive that

As

finally

British

first

would take him

to

on the

Athens.

the first British troops arrived in Greece. Mussolini himself

flew into Albania to take charge of operations.

1

Ready for the offensive, he had this time 28 divisions, about XX) men. and 300 aircraft. Opposing him were the same 14

Harry Scott Gibbons

313

Greek divisions, with great gaps torn in their ranks by guns during the February Greek offensive.

On March

9, the Italians

the Italian

launched an all-out attack.

was at Teplene, the Albanian town where the Greek offensive had ground to a halt, when the attack came. After four months on horseback, the horses constantly replaced as bullets, cold and hunger took their toll, he had been put in reserve. Stylianos Pattakos last

When

the

news spread of

of an infantry

company when

March

the Italian preparations for a

was

offensive, Pattakos volunteered for the front and

in

command

the attack began.

The Greek army, bearded,

filthy,

hungry, their torn uniforms

unpatched, watched as the Italians advanced over a twenty-mile

wide

Barrage after barrage of

front.

Italian

trenches, sending bodies flying, smashing

Then

the Italians hit the

Greek

shells

tore

up the

gun emplacements

front line.

But the slight pause while the

Italians, directed personally

by

Mussolini, gathered for their final onslaught, had been enough to build up the

Now,

Greek ammunition

at last,

had a chance

to

when the Italians show their worth.

Makarczos, with right

reserves.

his

on the enemy front

attacked, the

Greek

computer mind, slammed lines,

Papadopoulos, the enemy

only yards

in clear

in front

view from

artillery

his shells

of the Greek

men

down line.

his nearer position,

cheered his gunners from behind field glasses as

Italian

armoured

cars and personal carriers slewed and capsized or exploded in

flames.

The medical The

the bodies.

orderlies crawled through the carnage, turning over

cry of "This one!" would bring a stretcher, and on

hands and knees they would push and

Greek

pull the load

back from the

front trenches.

Often, after a hundred yards of grunting, wheezing exertion, an

would examine the wounded man again, call out "Dead!." The body would be rolled on to the ground, and the team would crawl back, seeking the wounded living to salvage from the orderly

The Genocide Files

314 butchery.

crews

The small

Italian tanks slithered into the tank traps, the

leapt out in Latin frenzy,

and were shot down.

Line after line of infantry, stretching into the distance, charged at

the Greeks, stumbled

wounded growing

and

in front

mounds of

the

fell,

Trenches were overwhelmed and then retaken.

Greeks used bayonets.

out, the

When

enemy, they swung

breasts of the

dead and

Italian

of the Greek trenches.

When

bullets ran

the bayonets broke off in the

their rifles like clubs,

smashing

young

Pattakos and thousands of other

officers,

many

As

was overrun,

a sector

of them

men

old campaigners under the age of 21, encouraged their

goaded them, coaxed them, and

at

went down.

the Italians until they, themselves,

on,

led them.

the

Greek

sobbing with weariness, too exhausted

lines behind, desperate,

to yell a battle cry,

stumbled

forward, shooting, bayoneting, clubbing, clawing with their bare

hands

at the

hated invaders.

The Greek

line held.

But though the Greek

artillery

behind the

lines, the pitifully

few

guns they held, wrought a certain amount of havoc among the advancing

Italians,

ammunition had

still

to

be conserved to the

utmost.

On

the coastal road,

young Makarezos had limited himself

five or six shells a day, just, as he put

we were

"to let the Italians

target, he

found

attacks,

when

that, after carefully

a

barrage

to

be taken by the infantry, without

now, with supplies

ammunition

seem

to

artillery

enemy

position

backing. Even

up during the lull before this offensive, guns was running desperately low again. Italian

prisoners

have the highest propensity of

be taken prisoner.

called for

built

for the big

But day and night, the Italians

was

bracketing the target the

day's quota of ammunition had been used up, so the

had

to

know

there."

still

Even during the Greek on a

it,

straggled all

through.

military

men

to

G cd Vi

C

U 6 u U p

5

a -a

c

as

&0

aCku>.

Stylianos Pattakos, wife

Mimi and daughters

Pattakos and mother

in

house where he was born, Crete

3ft£ Pattakos in civil war, North Greece (centre, seated)

P

Makarezos

at

Military

Academy, Athens

I