Cyprus – Bell of Remembrance

There rings a bell at six in the morning sharp every July 20th on the Island of Cyprus . Like an alarm , it wakes the inhabitants of the island up , but surprises none of them ! For the older generation it brings back memories of horror , destruction and blood . For the younger generation it brings great sorrow for what could have been !

For this bell is a bell of remembrance . It reminds the people of Cyprus of what happened on July 20th 1974 when the Turks invaded the island . The first Turkish soldier to set foot an Cypriot soil was at six in the morning , to be followed by many others . Also a Turkish armada of 35 ships , including troop transporters and around 30 tanks and a small landing craft landed on the northern coast of the island . They called it operation “ Atila “.

But the Turkish invasion of Cyprus didn’t just happen out of the blue- it was preceded by a military coup carried out by the Greek junta against the lawful president of the island , Archbishop Makarious III – an honourable man long known for his love for his country and his struggle against the British occupiers of the island . Indeed he was exiled by the British in 1956 . In 1959 Archbishop Makarious was elected as president of Cyprus. He pursued a neutralist policy, favoring a peaceful solution between the island’s Greek and Turkish communities and this was one of the reasons for the Greek coup of 1974. The coupists wanted “enosis” or unity with Greece – something that was totally unacceptable to Turkey ( 1960 Treaty of guarantee ) . Makarious was astute enough to know that – and that was the reason they wanted to get rid of him .

The Turkish occupation of Cyprus seized 35 % of the territory of Cyprus in the north and resulted in one quarter of the population of Cyprus being forcibly expelled  from the now occupied northern part of the island. Others were forced through intimidation and fear to abandon their lands. The area that the Turks occupied accounted for 46 % of crop production and much higher percentages of citrus fruit production , cereals , tobacco and green fodder .

That wasn’t all that happened to Cyprus ! Turkey changed even its demography shipping great numbers of Anatolians and settling them in the occupied territory of the island . This large influx of settlers negatively affected the living conditions of the original inhabitants of the island the Turkish Cypriots, for they lived in great poverty and a lot of them were forced to emigrate as a result.

The United Nations passed many resolutions concerning Cyprus – a total of 75 resolutions ! All of them demanding withdrawal of Turkish troops and calling on Turkey to allow Greek Cypriots to return to their homes . Turkey didn’t abide by any of the resolutions !

In 2004, Kofi Annan presented a plan to solve the crisis in Cyprus . It involved turning Cyprus into a federation of two constituent states-the Greek Cypriot State and the Turkish Cypriot state joined together by a federal government apparatus . The majority of Greek Cypriot voted against it as they though it unfavourable to them , while the Turkish Cypriots voted for it .

Up till this date nothing has changed concerning Cyprus . The island remains divided with no hope for a solution in the near future .Round after round of peace talks happen ,but no one is really hopeful !

It seems that the bell that rings at 6 A.M on July 20th , will continue to ring on that date for some years yet to come !!

Reem Haddad

Editor -in- Chief