Veterans of the Cyprus Peace Operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) on July 20, 1974, to stop the Greek oppression and persecution of the Turkish Cypriot people and establish peace on the island said that with the operation, the island and the Turkish Cypriots attained peace and freedom.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), veterans Besim Faruk Can and Ömer Özyıldırım, who live in the village of Taşkent in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), outlined their evaluations of the Cyprus Peace Operation 48 years ago and the struggle against the Greeks with the support of Turkey.
Can recalled that just before the operation, the Greeks carried out a coup in Cyprus on July 15, 1974, and a curfew was declared after that period.
Explaining that the Greeks began to attack the Turks after the coup, Can said that the Turks' villages and weapons were taken by the Greeks and that the village of Taşkent surrendered under the control of United Nations peacekeeping forces.
"The Greeks fired a barrage on us after a while, we could not respond because we did not have weapons, and the Greeks relaxed a little. The Greeks gathered the 15- to 50-year-old men in our village, took them to a Greek school, and then put them on buses to be taken to the prison camp. These took place on Aug. 14, 1974, and on the 15th they completely massacred these people. When the Greeks realized that they would lose the war, they buried our people in the massacre pits," he said.
Noting that they spent many days in fear during the period, Can said the Greeks harassed and persecuted the Turkish women staying in the villages.
"There are eight martyrs from my close family, my father was also martyred. After the Cyprus Peace Operation carried out by Turkey in 1974, peace came to the island. Peace came not only for the Turks but also for the Greeks. If Turkey had not landed here, Turkishness in Cyprus would have disappeared, and this was the aim of the Greeks. Nearly 50 years have passed since Turkey's intervention, and no one's nose bled in this process. That's why Turkish soldiers should stay on the island. It is a guarantee for us that the Turkish soldiers stay on the island," he said.
Can stated that he believes the two-state solution in Cyprus will be more permanent and peaceful, adding: "I do not support a federal solution in Cyprus. It would be a disaster if the two peoples lived together. I think it is impossible for Turkish Cypriots and Greeks to live together. For 50 years, the Greeks have been living in the south and we have been living in the north, and there has been no problem."
Özyıldırım said the Turks lived in very bad conditions before the Cyprus Peace Operation and that they even felt uneasy going out.
"Between 1963-1974, the Greeks took people from our village and killed them. We were afraid to go out. Just before the operation, we handed over our weapons to the United Nations Peacekeeping Force and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force gave all our weapons to the Greek Cypriot police. That's why I never trust the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, the United States or NATO, I only trust the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish soldiers should stay on the island, if they leave, it means 'We are finished.' After the operation, it was a great relief."
Recalling that the Greeks gathered to take the Turkish men in the village to a prison camp before the operation, Özyıldırım stated that he did not trust the Greeks and fled to the mountains, risking death rather than being captured.
Özyıldırım said that after a while, the Greeks massacred the people of Taşkent who surrendered to them and went to the prison camp.
Explaining that they migrated from the south to the north after the operation, Özyıldırım said they were helped by the founding president of the TRNC, Rauf Denktaş, who was a very helpful person.
"We support a two-state solution in Cyprus, but never a federation. We do not trust any nation, Turkey should never leave us here alone. I have four grandchildren, and I tirelessly tell them what I have suffered. The public and children should know this too," he said.
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the United Nations to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the United Nations' Annan Plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.