By Chris Elliott….
Almost a week ago we saw an outpouring of emotion and joy as hundreds and thousands of Turkish Cypriots and Turks celebrated Peace and Freedom Day in North Cyprus and no more so than in the early hours of the morning of 20th July at 2.30am when so many people gathered at Escape Beach, Alsancak to remember those young men from Turkey 
who gave their lives in mounting a peace operation “Atilla” to liberate Turkish Cypriots from the tyranny they had been enduring for so many years in Cyprus whilst the world stood by and took no decisive action to stop the bloodshed.
Much has been said and written about those sad times but in this modern world opinion has been manipulated into believing that history started on the 20th July 1974 when a so-called “invasion” was mounted by Turkey. Strange that President Makarios stood before the UN on the 19th July 1974 and stated that my country Cyprus has been invaded by Greece aided by the terrorist organisation EOKA B and action is needed by the United Nations to safeguard the safety of both Turkish and Greek citizens of this island.
Perhaps our readers would like to watch the following video which can be found on Youtube that puts into perspective what really happened all those years ago but whatever the reasons for the peace operation being mounted by Turkey in 1974, Cyprus really has enjoyed “Peace in Our Times” from 1974 to 2014.
To read the full speech by President Makarios to the UN please click here and for those that are not aware of it, do please also read the Cyprus Akritis Plan which was formulated to plan for the removal of all Turkish Cypriots from Cyprus and is attached to an article by Ersu Ekrem titled “The Cyprus Catch 22” click here.
To read and experience the emotion of the Dawn Vigil on 20th July 2014 please click here
We apologise to the Association of Turkish Cypriots Abroad (ATCA) for a misunderstanding in placing a link to an unofficial Youtube upload of their video Homeland on Youtube in this article and in view of copyright restrictions this video link has now been removed.
To learn more of ATCA, they can be found on Facebook by clicking here
Well put together. Thanx Chris.
Thanks for your appreciation oxolobs.
Chris, as you know, Peter and I are great supporters of North. Cyprus. This article is very good and really shows what went on and what has been hidden by certain parties over the past forty years.
Thank you Pamela for you kind comment and yes, let’s try increasingly to bring the truth into the open. When this is achieved then people can learn deal with the hard fact, live with it and move on into a world where people can at last learn to accept each other and live in peace and harmony even if they are in two separate states.
Chris, thank you for a well thought and researched article that hits the nail on the head , well done. I love the heading Peace In Our Time , very appropriate for the 40th year of the turning point in history of Cyprus .
Thank you for your comment Sermen it makes the time spent working on such articles so worth while.