The story of a mass grave from Kornokipos… Sevgul Uludag Tel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436 These days, there is great sadness amongst some Greek Cypriot relatives of `missing persons` - the remains of their loved ones have been found and they are in the process of burying them… It would be extremely hard to describe how they might feel since all the remains that came out of the mass grave in Kornokipos (Gornech) are a bunch of kneecaps, teeth, small bones – not whole skeletons… Imagine a woman whose husband has been `missing` for the past 39 years and she's informed that his remains have been found and all she would get would be a kneecap or a small bone to put in a coffin and bury… This is so inhuman… Why is this happening? It is because the mass grave in Kornokipos had been emptied and all that could be recovered has been some kneecaps, some small bones and some teeth at the bottom of the grave… I have written a lot about what had happened in Kornokipos back in 2008 and 2009 and recently some of my Turkish Cypriot readers have also told me what they knew… While sharing the deep pain of 29 families of `missing` who are getting back the little remains and having burial ceremonies, I try to contribute with the information of my Turkish Cypriot readers about this mass grave that has been emptied… Perhaps this will not bring any consolation to anyone, it will not lessen the indescribable pain but I believe that the families have a right to know about what happened to their loved ones. That's why I call my readers once again to tell me what they know about this mass grave. One of my Turkish Cypriot readers from Kornokipos, tells me the story of the mass grave in their village… He says: `They were 31 persons, 30 of them Greek Cypriots and one of them Greek. Apparently they were soldiers retreating from the Pachiammos-Kyrenia area and had ended up on a hill near Kornokipos (Gornech). I think it was two or three days after the 14th of August 1974. Some of those Greek Cypriots had been from the Paphos area so they had no clue that where they were standing was a Turkish Cypriot village – they could not differentiate whether it was a Greek Cypriot or a Turkish Cypriot village. One of our villagers had seen them but did not do anything. He had come back to the village and informed the soldiers about what he had seen. The Turkish Cypriot soldiers would go and arrest them. This was an area on the hill called `Tatlisu` (`Sweet water`) – not a village name but the name of the vicinity since there was water here where mountain goats came to drink… They were taken to the headquarters in the village and there started an argument amongst some of the villagers… Three Turkish Cypriots from our village had been killed during the attack of the Greek Cypriots on Chatoz village, Ahmet Ince, Ali Kani and Celal Sari and this had created a shock and deep sadness, as well as anger among some of the villagers. As the argument went on, some of the villagers would say, `Let us give them to the UN` and others would say, `No! Let's kill them, like they killed our villagers!` So they would decide to go to the chief commander of the area in Chatoz. They went to see him. The chief commander told them, `If you do anything to them, we will be in trouble with the UN. You shouldn't do anything to them…` but some of the villagers would not listen to him and started shouting at him… The argument went on and on and finally, the chief commander told them, `Do as you like…` so they would do as they liked. I was not there myself but I was told by those who were present that this had happened. In the headquarters in Kornokipos, this group would be beaten up… They had been arrested around noon and by the evening, they would all be executed...I was only 13 years old at that time and I saw them being put on a trolley, at the back of a tractor and taken to a spot where there used to be a road used by donkeys… We used to call it `The donkey track…` Here, they were executed and buried… Years later when it became clear that the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee would excavate the mass grave in our village, one night a bulldozer and a truck came and the mass grave was emptied. They used the guise of having a `military exercise` to cover up the emptying of the mass grave… Some people said, there were also some policemen but I don't know who were there… What we know is that they emptied the grave and loaded the remains on the truck and the truck went away, we don't know where… Very close to our village there is a military camp – were the bones taken and buried there? Or were they buried elsewhere? We don't know… Then came the excavation team of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee and dug the mass grave… They would only find some knee caps, small bones, some teeth but not the actual remains… The mass grave had been emptied already… There was another group of five Greek Cypriot soldiers who had been caught on a hill on Ay Ηariton (now called Ergenekon). I remember them well, it was around the 14th of August 1974 – I don't know the exact date… I remember these five soldiers crying, their clothes were soaked, they were wet… I don't know what happened to them…` Another reader of mine who had been in Chatoz in 1974, a young boy at that time had told me of a group of 5-6 or 7 Greek Cypriots executed and buried near Kornokipos. I call him again to tell me what he remembers. He says: `What I know is that 5 or 6 Greek Cypriots were executed in the place where there is a military camp now. This place was used for training prior to 1974 and they used to also hold military parades here until 1970… Those who went to watch these executions told me that they were buried under some depots… `We went and watched` they told me and I asked them `How can you go and watch such a thing?` And they said to me `They had told us come and watch so your pain will ease… So we went…` I could not comprehend this – some Turkish Cypriots had been killed during the attack of the Greek Cypriots on Chatoz so there was a lot of resentment, particularly in those days of 1974… Who could have been executed there? There was a group of five or six persons who had been arrested when Turkish soldiers had entered Chatoz. They had been hiding in some straw and the straw was set on fire and some got out and these five or six persons were caught. They were put in a storage and kept there… Apart from these five, there was a sixth person who had come from Kornokipos to Chatoz on the first day of the war on a motorcycle and he had been arrested – he too was kept in the same storage place as the other 5-6 Greek Cypriots. Greek Cypriots had attacked and taken over Kornokipos and half of Chatoz in 1974. This guy did not know that in the other half of Chatoz, there were still Turkish Cypriots so he had got on his motorcycle to go to Chatoz, thinking it was safe. And he was arrested. He was kept in a storage as a prisoner and I would give him cigarettes and my superiors would shout at me not to give him anything… He was about 30 years old, tall – around 1.75-1.80… One day as we left this storage and came back, this group was not there. We were told that they were executed. Was this the group executed and buried under the depots? I am not sure… The group of 5 or 6 or 7 Greek Cypriots were executed and a bulldozer came and buried them, laying them down as in the shape of a horseshoe…` As people will speak up more and more, we will learn the tragic, untold story of this island but for me the time of the war in 1974 and even the inter-communal conflicts beginning in 1963 look like a vicious circle – one action affecting the other reaction, one step affecting the next… The only thing that hurts my heart is how humanity was repressed and how `we can do anything, it's time of war` mentality was upraised in almost all areas where there was war on this land. Those who maintained their humanity were in fact not too many although there were some who saved each other and who helped each other, despite the fact that they could have remained `indifferent`. Could things have been prevented if our communities took other courses rather than the ones they took in the last half century? The only use of asking these questions now is perhaps trying to create a deeper understanding of the whys and hows of these terrible crimes in both sides and learning if and how they could have been prevented for the sake of our common future on this island… 27.4.2013 Photo: Painting of Turkish Cypriot artist Nilgun Guney for the "Color of Truth" art exhibition. (*) Article published in POLITIS newspaper on the 12th of May 2013, Sunday. |
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