Going to Komikebir, once a mixed village of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots…

Going to Komikebir, once a mixed village of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots…   Sevgul Uludag   caramel_cy@yahoo.com   Tel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436   On the 31st of May 2013 Friday morning, we set out for Komikebir in order to show a possible burial site to the officials of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee, Xenophon Kallis, Murat Soysal and Okan Oktay. With me is also Christina Pavlou Solomi Patsia whose father and brother are `missing` from Galatia. We have been working on the Karpaz area for many years now – Karpaz is actually a very difficult area – it is still sort of cut off from the rest of the island – more isolated and a bit far away from the current discussions in daily life. It has its own pace, Karpaz and finding witnesses from this area always needs hard work. For the witnesses to speak to me it takes guts since particularly in Galatia, they are stigmatized if their identities are compromised. Some of the witnesses had bad experiences: Gossip were circulated in coffee shops in the village that they were `traitors`, `sold out to the Greek Cypriots` and so on… Actually this is not a `unique` thing only for Galatia or Karpaz – wherever there had been a `pure` Turkish Cypriot or `pure` Greek Cypriot village, life has proved to get difficult for the witnesses who try to speak up. On the contrary formerly mixed villages where Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots lived together tend to be more relaxed, more confident and much less `dangerous` for my readers who speak to tell the stories of what happened in 1963 or 1974. In the former mixed villages of Cyprus, people got used to living with each other and helping each other… There are many stories of how a Greek Cypriot midwife would help the birth of Turkish Cypriot babies or how Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots would celebrate weddings or the religious holidays of each other. During the Bayram, Greek Cypriots would show respect to the Turkish Cypriots and they would be offered ekmek kadeyifi and the same would happen for `Paska` (`Easter`) when Greek Cypriots would offer `pilavouna` to their Turkish Cypriot neighbours. In mixed villages, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots would work side by side in the fields, tending each other's children or if a woman would give birth, the neighbour would cook and take care of the kids. Recently there was the Potamia Festival and there an exhibition of old photographs of living together in Potamia was opened. Ibrahim Aziz from Potamia had gathered these historical pictures in a book – it showed Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots working in building of roads together back in 1933 or the joint football club where they played football together… Christina's father Pavlos Solomi would even help during the burials of the Turkish Cypriots – when a Turkish Cypriot would die of old age in Komikebir, Pavlos Solomi would voluntarily go to help dig the grave together with his Turkish Cypriot friends. Christina would grow up playing with Turkish Cypriot kids and speaking a few words of Turkish, just as her Turkish Cypriot friends would speak a few words Greek… They would make up `communities` the co-villagers and would get along fine, until `politics` or those from outside the village with power would intervene to disrupt the peaceful life… Occasionally there may be a few crazy youngsters trying to create trouble but otherwise life would flow with its own problems, its own difficulties and villagers would struggle in poverty, trying to make a living and take bread home for their families. The Turkish Cypriot `mammou` Huriye from Kuchuk Kaymakli (Omorphita area) would also be a healer for pains or cracks in the bones for the villagers from both communities. In the same way, Mirofora, another `mammou`, would help deliver babies from both communities in many villages, including Kaymakli. She would go around the villages, first with her donkey, later on with a Lambretta, not fearing anything but doing her job she had been trained for… Mirofora would help deliver the babies of Musa's wife – Musa being a famous and colourful figure in Kaymakli, a yogurt maker, an amigo of the Kaymakli football team… Mirofora would tell me the stories from her younger years, showing me her photo on the Lambretta and her diploma of midwifery… Particularly if the village was not split into two distinct parts and where people lived in mixed neighbourhoods, the relationship would be more than `neighbours` but rather like `relatives`. In Lefkonico, long before I was born, the mammou Areti would be going round the villages while my grandmother Faika whose house was just next to Areti's house, would take care of the kids of Areti. By coincidence, I would meet Areti's son last year in Pyrgos while holidaying there and I would be touched by the stories he would tell me about Lefkonico, my grandmother and my grandfather, about my father who would write letters to him while he had gone to study… Areti would prepare some curtains and tablecloths and sheets as `dowry` for my father when he got married with my mother and I would still keep these wonderful handiwork from Lefkonico, reflecting how close my family and Areti's family used to live in my father's village. In those times, people did not have the mentality of today, poisoned by politicians and propaganda and the whole education systems and the media… In those times, Areti and Faika would help each other and children would sleep in each other's homes or run in and grab a piece of bread and a handful of olives to go out and eat while playing. No one would question that. All doors and all windows would be open to let the air in, to let the sunshine in, to let children in, the children of own and of the neighbours… There would be many instances when the leadership of Turkish Cypriots or of Greek Cypriots would send messengers to disrupt life in these mixed villages but in many cases, the villagers would stand together, the mukhtars would stand together and defend each other. In Vitsada, the Greek Cypriot mukhtar would defend the Turkish Cypriots against Greek Cypriots coming from outside to attack, in Strongylos, the mukhtar Poyrazis would save the lives of Turkish Cypriots both in 1963 and 1974… In Lapathos village, the mukhtar Andreas would have the guts as well as the wisdom and cleverness to stop anyone touching his Turkish Cypriot villagers. In Muttayiaga, the Turkish Cypriot mukhtar would help Greek Cypriot refugees in 1974 fleeing from the northern part, not because someone asked anything of him but because he would be kind enough to think and feel the misery of the refugees and the villagers would contribute by donating sheep, goats, blankets, food, some basic needs of the refugees. In many instances in mixed villages, there would be no problem amongst the villagers and life would only change through intervention and directives from outside. In many mixed villages where Turkish Cypriots had been a minority within the village, Turkish Cypriot leadership would order them to go to a bigger, `pure` Turkish Cypriot village for `security` reasons. In Kollosi, an order would come to move the villagers to Episkopi and the Greek Cypriot mukhtar would beg the Turkish Cypriot mukhtar not to leave. The Turkish Cypriot mukhtar would say, `We know that no harm will come to us from you, from our Greek Cypriot villagers. But what if some Greek Cypriot groups would come from outside and try to do something against us? Will you be able to stop them? Perhaps you would be powerless in face of such danger so we have to leave…` In 1963-64 in Palekythro too, the Greek Cypriot mukhtar would visit the Turkish Cypriot mukhtar and ask him not to leave. The Turkish Cypriots of Palekythro had been told by Turkish Cypriot leadership that `Turkish planes will bomb Palekythro so you better leave!` So the villagers, not having much choice would leave and become refugees in different villages, losing their homes and their land… No one would leave their houses, their mandras, the place they had been born willingly – but even unwillingly, in lack of safety, they would leave and become refugees in their own country. In some cases like in Kutrafas, as soon as the Turkish Cypriots would leave, some Greek Cypriots would demolish their houses in the next few days in order to ensure that they would not come back! But these would not be the ordinary villagers tending their own work and their daily lives – these would be groups with a political aim, with an agenda… Same thing would happen in Lefkonico: Many Turkish Cypriot houses would be demolished in 1964-65 in order to make sure that they would not return… In mixed villages, ordinary villagers would not attack each other – in Komikebir after 1974, some Turkish Cypriot young villagers would do things in order to take "revenge" of 1963 because their families had suffered – not in the hands of Greek Cypriots of Komikebir but the suffering came from other Greek Cypriots – they must have kept the bitterness inside them and at the first opportunity, they would do things to hurt their co-villagers, like the family of Christina… We drive through Vatyli to see the excavations going on there and then go to Komikebir, Christina's village. Next to the cemetery there are two wells – one of them had been filled twice by a Turkish Cypriot from the village. When villagers asked him why all of a sudden he was filling the well with earth, he would say `In order to prevent animals from falling in, I had to fill this well…` Recently one of my readers in Galatia village where Christina's father and brother were held as prisoners of war told me the story he heard: According to this reader, one of his villagers told him that Christina's father and brother were sent back to Komikebir and killed there and buried in a well. We don't know if this story is true or not but the filling of the well had created a lot of suspicion in the village in those days… We are showing this possible burial site to the officials of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee the second time: We had shown it some years ago… They need to investigate and perhaps check why this well had been filled and whether any `missing persons` are buried in the well… As we approach the well, three white owls, disturbed by the sound of our footsteps fly out of the well – the Turkish Cypriot who had claimed that he was filling this well so that animals don't fall in did not fill it up full – it is half filled so still animals can fall in! We observe the beautiful flight of the white owls, one after the other, perching on trees nearby and eyeing us from where there are… `Is this a sign?!...` Christina says to me… As we travel back to Nicosia, Christina tells me stories from Komikebir, stories from her childhood, stories she heard from her mother and I listen, amazed at how life was once upon a time in this mixed village called Komikebir… With the partition of the island, we have lost all the good qualities and all the good relationships established in mixed villages and re-creation of such relations now would be more difficult, almost impossible… But this should not stop us from working for peace and peaceful relations on this island – on the contrary we have good examples from the past and we know exactly how these good examples were destroyed. We can learn from all of these in order to build a better future where people would trust each other like Areti the mammou from Lefkonico trusted my grandmother Faika in the past…   13.6.2013   Photo: From the book of Ibrahim Aziz a photo from 1933 showing TC and GC workers in roadworks in Potamia...   (*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 30th of June, 2013 Sunday.

The eternal beauty with stains…

The eternal beauty with stains…   Sevgul Uludag   caramel_cy@yahoo.com   Τel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436   What is it about this country that makes us fall in love with it so desperately, so much that it hurts? Is it the colour of the sky, such a blue that reflects our sea? Is it the stars we look up at night, the moon that shines on us, the sun that touches us, burns us and yet gives life to everything? Stops us from staying depressed for a long time since so long there is the sun shining, we forget the misery, the rains, the storms, things that had upset us and find the energy to carry on… Is it the waves telling us stories from centuries ago about how pirates used to attack, how ships used to come and go, how everyone wanted to get hold on to this land and how they came and how they remained and later became part of us? All their remnants are here in the form of historical remains or names in our geography, words we use – sometimes well hidden and yet if you look close enough, ready to show its colours and tell you its stories… Is it the olive oil, so clear and so beautiful made of our olives collected from trees that had been here for centuries standing in the fields, offering us their olives and their leaves to burn and pray against the evil eye? Is it the food, a mixture of Turkish-Ottoman-Greek-Arabic-Middle East-English-Italian-French, the story of centuries of people coming and going from this island and leaving with us such a taste that can't be found anywhere else? Is it the food we cook with so much love and care and offer to family and friends in order to celebrate life? Is it the smell of the kleftico, the shish kebab, the juicy lamb, the smiling chubby tomatoes that had acquired so much sun to turn red and give us all its juice and taste of the sun? Is it our oranges and tangerines with a distinct smell, offering us all their energy that they got from the earth? What is it that makes us love this country so much as we love nowhere else on earth like this? Is it the seashore that I walk on, the turquoise colour of the water, the frothy waves, the smell of salt and the rocks I climb on here at Agia Irini, behind me the forest, under me the ancient tombs, in front of me the waves telling me they had always been here and welcoming me, whispering to me, the wind caressing my hair? Is it the tiny purple flowers, the colour purple spread out in dots above the green? Is it the green fields very quickly turning into yellow, being born and reborn again and again for so many centuries? Is it the Kochino Gremmo and Aspro Gremmo hills above Agia Marina village that takes your breath away when it's springtime with its purple and pink and yellow tulips (laledes), wild artichokes and asparagus, offering the best view overlooking the Morphou Bay? What is it that makes us love this country more than anywhere else on earth? So much that it hurts sometimes and yet puts a smile on our lips and our heart pounding with each new discovery of eternal beauty of this land… I go to Agia Irini in search of the `missing persons` and this place mesmerizes me… I discover a beach untouched, under protection, a beach where sea turtles come to lay their eggs between June and September… It stretches for around eight kilometres with nothing but emptiness and beauty, an untouched corner of Cyprus not yet spoiled by buildings or tourism… It stretches all the way from Cape Kormakiti to the Bay of Morphou – in the summer, I am told, sand lilies blossom on the beach turning it to a dazzling white, elegant flowers that grow naturally on the sand here… In winter I am told, the sea takes the sand away and all you can see are cobblestones but as summer approaches, the sea that has hidden the sand gives it back so the beach becomes sandy – otherwise the sea turtles could not come to lay their eggs if there was no sand here… I discover a restaurant on the beach, the only one, built like a rotund, a round building with wood and glass called `Caretta`… It serves fresh fish from these shores – there are only two or three fishermen around here and they catch the Milekopi to serve cooked on charcoal, a delicious fish for me to taste… I take my husband, and then a Greek Cypriot friend who had come for holidays from Germany, and then an Armenian Cypriot friend Nouritsa, a Greek Cypriot friend Christina and a Turkish Cypriot friend Ferah… I show them the beauty, the reason why we love Cyprus so much and can't ever leave and even if we leave, we seek it in our dreams and everywhere, missing it, longing for it and eventually finding a way to come back to it… I want to show this eternal beauty to everyone I know, to share it so that they can become happy like me… We sit to look at the sea and let the breeze caress our hair… This whole area is under protection just like Karpaz. An assault is already underway from building roads and hotels in Karpaz and environmentalist groups are trying to defend the natural beauty and the historical heritage of Karpaz… In about ten years, after they have finished with Karpaz perhaps they will turn their eyes and their greed on Agia Irini (Akdeniz) area and this eternal beauty will turn into something that you can find on any seashore in the Mediterranean, an ordinary place with hotels and peripteros and kiosks and bungalows and fast food and we might forever lose its natural beauty… The village itself is unique in the sense that no outsider lives here – all who live in Agia Irini (Akdeniz) are the local villagers – originally a mixed village until 1974, Agia Irini had Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living together here… In 1974, there has been bloodshed in the village and two Turkish Cypriots, Erdogan Mustafa and Fikret Mehmet Kalyoncu have been killed and taken and buried on this beautiful beach by some Greek Cypriots and they are still `missing`… Some other Turkish Cypriots have also been killed in 1974 in this beautiful village by some Greek Cypriots. There have been excavations here for the two `missing` Turkish Cypriots but not yet with any results and the excavations continue… In 1974, Vasilou Piperari, Charalambos Kelepeshi, Christodoulos and Maria Tylliros have been killed in the village by some Turkish Cypriots and they too are still `missing`. Although with the help of my readers from this area we had shown some possible burial sites and there have been some excavations, nothing has been found yet – perhaps they changed their burial site and reburied them elsewhere… There are still some possible burial sites that we showed that have not been excavated yet so we will see what might come out… There are three other `missing` Greek Cypriots, taken from Kormakitis area to this village and killed in Agia Irini by some Turkish Cypriots. They are Andreas Siekkeris, Christakis Panteli and Pantelis Hadjichristoforou, again all civilians… We have shown with the help of my readers some possible burial sites for them – we know now that their burial place have been changed not only once but two times and with the help of a reader from the area, we have shown to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee this third possible burial site – there has not been excavations here yet so we wait to see when they excavate whether their remains will be found… The dilemma of this island is that despite such beauty that makes us love this country, there are such tragedies within the picture that hurts… Places like Agia Irini are very rare to find on earth with such natural beauty and yet the humans have managed to spill blood over it… What a shame that we could not protect our beautiful country from such tragedies – perhaps that's why loving Cyprus also hurts our hearts… Perhaps one day we will realize that we don't need anything but only each other as Cypriots living on this land in order to protect this unique island from all sorts of evil, greed and conspiracies… Perhaps one day, we will realize that the only thing we need to do is to protect our historical heritage stretching for centuries back, waiting to be shown to the whole wide world –sitting in the centre of the Mediterranean we have harboured so many civilizations and our historical heritage and our natural beauties are more than enough for our grandchildren to survive on this island, doing nothing else as in the words of a dear friend… Perhaps one day we will realize that spilling each other's blood has brought nothing but pain and has stained our homeland and learn to avoid conspiracies and manipulations at the click of fingers of some who have used both communities to their own ends… Perhaps one day our great grandchildren will enjoy this eternal beauty without feeling hurt inside that is if anything remains of it for the future…   29.5.2013   Photo from Agia Irini-Akdeniz…   (*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 23rd of June 2013, Sunday.

Remains of six `missing persons` from Lyssi on their return…

Remains of six `missing persons` from Lyssi on their return…   Sevgul Uludag   caramel_cy@yahoo.com   Tel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436   One by one, your remains are coming back in small coffins to your relatives, to the ones who have been waiting for you. We could never say `Yiassou! Hello!` to each other, we never met. We never had a sketto coffee with you. We never shared a conversation during dinner. When you went `missing`, I was only a 15 year old young girl – some of you had been married with children, some single… I look at your photographs: How young you were, how bright, who knows what sort of big hopes you had about life… I ask my dear friend Kyriacos Andreou from Lyssi to find your photos – he finds your photos and sends them to me… Now I know you from your photos and what I have been told by your relatives. Your photographs are your profiles in black and white, you will never be able to brush your hair again, never take such photographs. These photos are like footnotes to history – you will never grow old, your hair won't turn to gray, your skin will not wrinkle – you won't have rheumatic pains on your knees or your back. Your right to age peacefully has been torn away from you – you had been arrested by some Turkish Cypriots from Sinda in the mandra of Attas – you were civilians, you were not soldiers, you did not carry guns. The only reason you were there was that Costas Attas had gone back a day ago to his farm in Lyssi from Xylotimbou where all the Lyssi people were staying as refugees – Costas Attas had gone back to feed and water his animals but did not come back. His brother Chambis had become worried and had gone to his friend Giangos Geropapas also from Lyssi and had said, `My brother did not return, let's go and take him back…` It was the 18th of August 1974 – for a few days now, people from Lyssi were going back and forth between Xylotimbou and Lyssi, trying to feed and water their animals left behind, perhaps take a few things from their homes, a few blankets, a quilt or a pair of shoes and some food… The refugees not only from Lyssi but from other villages as well were out in the open under the trees in Xylotimbou… So you had set out to go to Lyssi, Giangos had his smaller brother Antonis, there was Chambis Attas, Xenis Rousos and Panayis Spirou in the car – you were five persons. As you came close to the mandra in Lyssi, you saw a Greek Cypriot hiding behind a big rock. `Yes I saw Costas feeding his cows` he had told you, `but I also saw some soldiers. So I hid here… I wait for darkness to fall so I can leave… You, don't go to the mandra!` He had warned you… But how can someone leave behind his brother? Chambis could not do that so he said, `You stay here, I'll go and check to find Costas…` You had stayed all together about 400 meters from the farm while Chambis went to find Costas. When he went there, he had called you to come… But a group of Turkish Cypriot soldiers from Sinda had set up an ambush for you so you were all caught as you reached the mandra. You were arrested. You were civilians, without uniform, without guns. They had taken you to Sinda and later on executed you and had buried you at an unknown mass grave. They had not buried you properly though and one of you had your shoe sticking out of the earth – later on an old Turkish Cypriot would see this and his heart would not permit that you were buried in such a haphazard way – he would go and find a bulldozer and bury you properly. Years later as we were searching for you and other `missing persons` from Lyssi, this old man would show this mass grave to one of my readers from the area. And this reader would show me this place as well as another place and I would show these burial sites to the officials of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee – when exhumations took place, remains of six of you would be found, as well as another two `missing` persons buried a bit further up in a different place. But you were all there – Giangos and Antonis Geropapas, the two brothers had met death together. Costas and Chambis Attas, again brothers had gone to death together. And Panayis and Xenis who were also close relatives (Panayis was the brother of the wife of Xenis) had gone to death together… The brother of Giangos and Antonis, George Geropapas had made a lot of efforts together with our friend Kyriacos Andreou from Lyssi in order to find any information about what had happened to you. I had met George Geropapas in Larnaka, in the office of Kyriacos Andreou and had interviewed him – as I would show to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee various possible burial sites pointed out to me by my readers in the area of Sinda, Lyssi and Kondea sometimes we would meet with Kyriacos and George Geropapas and they too would show us possible burial sites that they knew of. While excavations were taking place, we would meet with Kyriacos and George and visit these sites – we would also show the possible burial site of Dimitris Strouthos, another `missing person` from Lyssi to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee, together. So both the officials of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee as well as the archaeologists would get familiar with both Kyriacos and George Geropapas, as well as my dear readers showing us the possible burial sites in this whole area. Finally in the two places we showed to the Committee, the remains of all six of you, as well as another two `missing persons` were found and exhumed. After the DNA tests now your return process to your relatives are beginning. Already some funerals for some of you have taken place and these will continue throughout these summer months. You will no longer be in an unmarked mass grave but in proper graves with your names and photos on them and we will lay flowers on your graves as you are buried. There are also stories about what happened to the ones who had killed you: Whoever had pulled the trigger had strange things happening to them and to their families – somehow the earth has punished them in various ways. Of course this does not bring any `comfort` because the whole idea is not `revenge` - the whole idea is to make sure that such horrible murders will no longer be committed on this island, that no one will be executed in such a haphazard and cold blooded manner… Your blood was spilled on the soil of Sinda – Cyprus is such a beautiful island and yet it is full of blood stains… Same thing happened to women and children in Maratha-Sandallaris-Aloa who were unarmed civilians with no guns – they were executed by a group of EOKA-B and their blood spilled on the soil of Maratha-Aloa-Sandallaris… Same thing happened to two busloads of Turkish Cypriots from Tochni, Zyggi and Mari and their blood was spilled on the soil of Palodia, Gerasa and Pareklisia… The unarmed, civilian Greek Cypriots of Karpasia with no guns were also killed in Galatia and their blood was spilled in the lake of Galatia and they were called `missing`. Wherever we go in this country, whether from 1963 or 1974, whether they are Turkish Cypriots or Greek Cypriots, we will find that the blood of the `missing persons` was spilled in every corner of this island, in fields, in wells, in mass graves in quarries and lakes… Shall we be able to draw any lessons from all of this? How many years have to pass until we realize that we don't need anybody else but each other and instead of seeing each other as `enemies`, unless we think together, move together and care for each other, only then `peace` will come to this island… How many generations of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots will grow with suspicions? How many more generations will be raised with half-truths and lies and how much longer the `fears` will be fed? We don't want to take back any Cypriot – whether Turkish Cypriot or Greek Cypriot – in small coffins… We don't want to meet death by receiving remains in these small coffins – we want to embrace life… Our beautiful country has seen more than enough death and bloodshed and per capita pain is so high as one poet friend had pointed out… Our children should never meet such pain, no one should be executed, no one buried in a mass grave – our children should never see such days… The six sons of Lyssi, you are now beginning to go back to your families in small coffins – to your relatives who went through this horrible tragedy and who waited for your return for so many years... Perhaps the only hope out of this tragedy is for your death to be a lesson to future generations: Perhaps the only thing that your small coffins are telling us is this – that we should allow no one to turn this island to bloodshed again… There are no winners in any war – the losers have always been the people of this country – the children left as orphans, women left as widows, youngsters whose lives and happiness stolen from them… The only hope we can amass from your tragic return is this: We should NEVER allow this to happen again…   2.6.2013   Photo: The six sons of Lyssi whose remains are being returned to their relatives...   (*) Article published in POLITIS newspaper on the 16th of June 2013 Sunday.

Memories from Kaymakli…

Memories from Kaymakli…   Sevgul Uludag   caramel_cy@yahoo.com   Tel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436   Dervish Erel was a carpenter… He was from Ortakeuy, his wife Bahire from Istinco-Paphos… Around 1955-56 he had bought land in Kaymakli and built a house and they had moved there from inside the walled city… This had been a mixed area, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living together and the Erel family had Greek Cypriot neighbours, both good and bad as it happens in all the communities of the earth. Dervish Erel had five kids so he had bought land and built five houses, one house for each kid… He was a hardworking man and since the big house they were living in was built with cement, when the inter-communal fighting began on the 21st of December 1963, around 40 Turkish Cypriots would come to take shelter in this house… Most of the Turkish Cypriots from other areas of Kaymakli (Omorphita) had left for Hamit Mandrez but the Turkish Cypriots from this area could not leave – not that they did not try… They tried to leave twice with cars but the Greek Cypriot police would intervene and stop them and told them to go back home, they could not leave… This was happening around the area where there is a bus terminal now in Kaymakli. So they had to go back and continued to stay in the house of Dervish Erel. There were women with small babies who needed milk but there was no milk, no food whatsoever… Bahire, the wife of Dervish Erel would make pittas from flour since they could not find bread. The good Greek Cypriot neighbours of the Erel family would try to help, bringing to them eggs, bread and other stuff to eat while the bad neighbours would be shooting at the kids playing in the street as Ali, one of the sons, remembers… One day Sampson himself together with 20-30 of his men with machine guns would come and surround the house, they would take all males above 14-15 years old away… Ali was in a neighbour's house but he watched the whole scene with horror and fear – Ali was barely an 11 year old kid and he saw how the men of Sampson rounded up around 15 males including Dervish, the father of Ali and put them in cars and took them away… Ali would find out later what had happened from his father. Sampson and his men would take this group inside Omorphita to a spot and line them up against a wall… They would give a cigarette each – the last cigarette to smoke before they were executed or at least that had been the impression they wanted to create. But the Turkish Cypriot group had been `lucky` since just at that moment two British women officers were passing by and saw the scene and started a big argument with the Sampson group about the Turkish Cypriot prisoners. Perhaps the group was `saved` because of this coincidence of the British passing through there – the group would be taken to the Regis Ice Cream Factory and they would be beaten severely… Later on, a Greek Cypriot police sergeant would accompany the group back to the house of Dervish Erel, telling them that `They cannot leave, they should stay where they are…` Perhaps because of the British women officers' worries, a British soldier would be sent to sit in front of the house in a jeep 24 hours a day and sort of `guard` them… Dervish Erel would send a message to the then leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Dr. Fazil Kuchuk to inform him how they have become a hostage but Dr. Kuchuk would send news back that they cannot do anything for them. But the bigger family of Dervish Erel would continue to try to find a way to get them out of there – but until the 10th of January 1964, they would remain in the house, the 40 Turkish Cypriots who could not leave Kaymakli. Ali remembers that around the 10th of January 1964, there came a truck to take them away… The truck was accompanied by a British jeep and they were told, `We will take you to inside Nicosia…` A British officer would accompany them, probably Major Macey who had been the liaison officer of the British for Dr. Kuchuk – Macey would become `missing` later on together with his driver, while investigating the cases of some `missing` Turkish Cypriots… Dervish Erel's relatives had found the truck to take them away… Ali would wear his football shoes and take his football while his little sister Hale would ask for her teddy bear – her mother would come down from the truck and unlock the door and find her teddy bear and give it to her, again locking her door, never believing that this would be the last time she would lock her door… They would go inside the walled city but while going there again there would be arguments with the Greek Cypriots at the makeshift checkpoints they had created but the British officer would tell them not to stop, simply drive through… Now that Dervish Erel had lost all the five houses he had built in Kaymakli, he would become a refugee with his wife and five kids, living in his shop inside the walled city… He would continue to work hard to survive… In 1968 as things eased among the two communities, they would drive to Kaymakli to look at their houses – they had no access to the houses there from 1963 until 1968 – but the house of Dervish Erel had been ransacked, all doors, all windows, even the tiles on the floor and the tiles on the roof had been stolen, even the electricity mechanism of the whole house was gone, as well as all the furniture – nothing remained but a carcass from the house he had built… He would take permission from Denktash to rebuild his house and go back there to live since some Turkish Cypriots had started doing the same… He would take his two sons, Ali and Hasip who had practically grown up in his carpenter shop and they would start rebuilding the house in Kaymakli, with some money he had saved during those years. They would rebuild the house, they would make furniture and buy refrigerator and cooker and get everything ready, even the carpet and the next day they would move there… In 1969, just one night before they would move to the refurbished house they had rebuilt with their own hands in Kaymakli, they would receive news that it was set on fire! They would run in early morning hours to see the burnt house in early February 1969 – all their efforts burnt in one night and again they would still remain refugees… It wasn't clear who had burnt the house; there were rumours that some Turkish Cypriots had burnt it to prevent Turkish Cypriots from returning to Kaymakli, there were similar rumours claiming that some Greek Cypriots had burnt it to prevent Turkish Cypriots from returning there… Whoever had burnt it, the fire brigade did not go there to stop the flames, neither the Greek Cypriot nor the Turkish Cypriot fire brigade… Everything had been burnt down to ashes… Dervish Erel would have to restart again from scratch, having lost everything… He would buy a house from an Armenian Cypriot in 1970 and would move there… `It is a miracle that my father lived up to 60 years old – we lost him when he was 60. He had been born in 1927 – imagine this he had been around 37-38 years old in 1963 and had lost five houses and had become a refugee with five kids… He could only survive until he was 60 years old` says Ali, his son… I am sure that there are hundreds of examples like Dervish Erel amongst both the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – we all lost starting from the 1950s, continuing to lose in 1963-64 and finally in 1974… Ali could only save his football and his sister Hale only her teddy bear from her house… My husband who is also from Kaymakli had locked his new bicycle and could only save the key to his bicycle that he still keeps today… But the bitter memories of fear, of losing, of having to struggle for survival without food, without a house, without furniture, without the basics for life will always remain with them – perhaps that's why people like Ali will always struggle for a better island, for peace, for the reconciling of the two main communities, for being sincere about what happened in Cyprus and how we ended up with this partition… And unless we are sincere about the past, we will always lose a chance of building a better future…   7.5.2013   Photo: Dervish Erel with his wife and five children…   (*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 9th of June 2013, Sunday.

Notes from the funeral of Nicolas Kaniklides from Kythrea…

Notes from the funeral of Nicolas Kaniklides from Kythrea…   Sevgul Uludag   caramel_cy@yahoo.com   Tel: 00 357 99 966518 00 90 542 853 8436   Only now he is coming back to his family, 39 years after he had been killed… Only now he is having a funeral – he's been taken from the unmarked burial site to this place in a small coffin. He had been 77 years old when he was killed, the `missing` Nicolas Kaniklides – a civilian shot on the veranda of his house in Kythrea from a military jeep passing by, opening fire on him… Today, on the 25th of May 2013, his family is holding a burial ceremony for him in the church at the Agios Constantinos and Eleni Cemetery in Nicosia. Nicolas Kaniklides had only been 15 years old when he went to Nicosia to his uncle to apprentice to become a goldsmith – but this profession proved to be difficult for him and he gave it up, going to America for work. In America, he never forgot his beautiful village Kythrea… Even if you live in the most beautiful country, you always take your homeland in your heart and you look at the sky and you search the sky you were born under, you look at the mountains and you miss your own hills – one can never forget the place one is born in and that's why perhaps, missing Kythrea and the Kefalovriso he would come back from America to settle in his village, get married with the sister of Kypros Kolios, Mirofora and start his own farm… He would grow corn and cabbage, molohiya and all sorts of vegetables. He would have his own farm and lots of land around the Turkish Cypriot village Beykeuy. Therefore there would be Turkish Cypriots working for him, in his farm. Since he was a generous person, people would love him and respect him. Today, in this funeral, we are finding out details of his life that we didn't know – I have come here together with my dear friend, relative of `missing`, Maria Georgiadou who is from Kythrea. Her uncle Giannis Orphanides had been married with the sister of Mirofora Kaniklides… `The Kolios family is a very big family` she explains to me, `and so are the Kaniklides…` The little church is packed so people also stand or sit outside in the yard, under the shade of the trees. It is hot but we can't feel that since the pine trees refresh the yard… I go to meet the son of Nicolas Kaniklides, Andreas and his beautiful wife Despo… Despo must have been extraordinarily beautiful and this is still so visible… Despo is from the Roussou family Maria explains to me. I also meet Ritsa, the daughter of Nicolas Kaniklides – both thank me for attending the funeral. Mirofora Kaniklides passed away years ago with a broken heart – she could not see this day when her husband's remains are being returned to the family. One of the sons of Nicolas Kaniklides, Costakis who had owned a bookshop had also passed away… He could not see also the return of his father's remains… If it is one thing to make people `disappear`, it's another crime to make them wait for 40 or 50 years to determine their fate and return their remains – already not only the wives but also the sons or daughters of the `missing persons` in both sides are passing away and this inhuman, almost endless waiting is passed on to the next generation, that is the grandchildren… Already Andreas Kaniklides, the son of Nicolas Kaniklides is approaching his 70s, the age when his father went `missing` and has been waiting almost 40 years to get back the remains of his father, just like other children of the `missing persons` in both sides. Maria tells me that Ritsa Zambakides, the daughter of Nicolas Kaniklides has had many painful infortunes in her life – her father was `missing`, her husband died at a young age, her son was killed when a bomb exploded during a military exercise… I shake the hand of this painful woman and she smiles at me, thanking me for coming to the funeral. We started actively searching for the burial site of Nicolas Kaniklides together with Maria Georgiadou back in 2006 when I had an interview with her late uncle Giannis Orphanides – he had told me how he had seen Kaniklides killed and lying on the outside steps of his house and how he and Andreas Pantazis Pramadeftis had been buried by some villagers and some Turkish Cypriots. When we investigated with Maria, we found out that the possible burial site of Kaniklides and Pramadeftis was behind the Alaminos Martyrs' Monument in Kythrea, in the backyard of a house. In January 2009 we had shown this possible burial site to the officials of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee together with Maria and in the following days, we also arranged to take some witnesses to confirm this burial site to the Committee. Excavations began and on the 27th of January 2009, the remains of two `missing persons` were found in the site we had shown. Now with the DNA tests, it has been confirmed that one of them is Nicolas Kaniklides. For the second person, more DNA samples are being sought from the family of Andreas Pantazis Pramadeftis. I see the son of Pramadeftis, George Pantazis at the funeral. `Soon my sisters are coming from abroad and they will also give DNA for testing` he says – he's waiting to get back the remains of his father and bury him after 39 years… When the ceremony begins, the church choir starts singing hymns… Maria roughly translates for me the words of one of the hymns that she likes: `When death comes, nothing remains but the shadows… Where is the gold? Everything has become dust… When death comes nothing remains… Neither the riches, nor the glory… I saw some bones in a grave and I wondered If this person was rich or poor Was he a king or a slave?` The first speech is from the Minister of Economy, Harris Georgiades – he is from Kythrea and I had listened to his speech in another funeral as well, on the 21st of April 2013 when we had buried eight `missing` persons from Neachorio Kythrea whose remains we had found with the help of one of my Turkish Cypriot readers. Harris Georgiades makes a beautiful and sensitive speech - `It is impossible to describe those days` he says, `now we must not be divided, we must move unified… We must move together so that such terrible things don't happen in our country again… We must take responsibility and be sensible so that such terrible things don't happen in our country in the future…` The mayor of Kythrea, Petros Kareklas also speaks – he tells us of the life of Nicolas Kaniklides, starting from his youth… `We can't bury Nicolas Kaniklides in the Kythrea cemetery` he says, `which is an indication of why we must solve the Cyprus problem. We are a partner of the European Union; we must ask from them to do everything they can to solve this problem… The solution must be just so that it would have meaning for all the lives lost…` Then Lucas Orphanides, the cousin of Maria speaks in the name of the Kythrea Association – his brother Nicos is also here – they are the sons of the late Giannis Orphanides… Nicos works in the Ministry of Education and publishes literary magazines. Then comes the emotional and touching speech of the grandson of Nicolas Kaniklides, Marios Zambakides… Maria roughly translates for me all the speeches… Marios Zambakides says, `Our grandfather is a hero for us… He did not leave the village; he remained to protect everything… Grandfather you will always be for me my beloved grandfather, my friend. I will never forget the stories you told me… I can't believe that you have been killed; I still think that you are living in Kythrea and have gone to collect corn from our farm… I used to go everywhere with you, in the streets of Kythrea, in the coffee shop, in the farm… You helped a lot of people grandfather – you helped also Turkish Cypriots in their difficult days, taking to them cigarettes and food. You were never afraid of anything; I think that's why you have been killed… Thanks to those who helped to find and identify his remains…` The ceremony ends and as our names are announced we go to lay flowers and wreaths in front of the little coffin containing the remains of Nicolas Kaniklides and look at his photo for a few seconds… Today, one more family is getting back the remains of their `missing` relative – since we have been able to contribute to this together with Maria, we are both happy although we are also sad because of the funeral… From now on he won't be lying in an unmarked burial place but in a cemetery where all his family, grandchildren and the 20 sons or daughters of grandchildren can visit him… Another wound will start slowly closing, tears will gradually stop and one more family at last will find a little bit of peace on this earth…   25.5.2013   Photo: Nicholas Kaniklides   (*) Article published in POLITIS newspaper on the 2nd of June 2013, Sunday.