Sevgul Uludag
caramel_cy@yahoo.com
Tel: 00 357 99 966518
00 90 542 853 8436
`There is something that has been bothering me for many years` he says… `I had been thinking of speaking with you and finally I have the opportunity…`
He is a young man whom I know, one of my readers, a Turkish Cypriot who did his `military service` in Varosha…
`I did my military service in the fenced, closed area of Varosha` he says… And he tells me his story:
`It was at the end of the 1990s when I did my military service there. When I had gone there for the first time, I had noticed that the football field of the Anorthosis Football Club in Varosha looked as though it had been ploughed a long time ago. Behind this field was a big school. There were some civilian personnel who served inside the fenced area of Varosha and I said to them, `Of all places, did the Greek Cypriots plough the football field? Were they going to plant something here and when the war broke out they could not?!`
Then they had explained to me that in fact some `missing persons` had been buried here, in the football field of Anorthosis in Varosha. In those times on the road towards the Military House they had put some lamarina to fence off the front of this field. According to these civilian personnel serving there for a long time, in 1974, during the war, there were some Greek Cypriot prisoners of war at the Karaolis Camp in Famagusta area (now called Gulseren Camp). When the massacres of more than 120 women and children of the three Turkish Cypriot villages Maratha-Sandallaris-Aloa came out into the open, there was a big rage all over Cyprus among the Turkish Cypriots. Groups of EOKA-B had raped and killed the women, as well as children in these three villages and then had buried them in mass graves. When this was discovered, according to these people serving in Varosha, there had been orders to kill these prisoners in Karaolis Camp. They had killed them and
buried them in the Karaolis Camp. Afterwards, when Varosha became a `fenced area`, these `missing` Greek Cypriots were taken out of the place where they had been buried in the Karaolis Camp and had been taken with trucks to the football field of Anorthosis in Varosha and buried there. That's why the ploughed field I was seeing looked like that…
For many years, I kept this information locked up inside me but now I decided to share this with you…
Serving in Varosha was a big shock and a big trauma for me – I would enter houses and see how life had frozen where war had intervened… I would see the shoe of a baby or plates on a table – people were cooking and they were going to eat but then all of a sudden they had had to leave… I had entered a house where I saw a room painted in pink – there was a small bed – apparently it was the girl child's room… I saw mattresses in shambles, decayed, the material crumbling, the `susta` sticking out… I saw houses where life had stopped and remained as it is for decades, no one to pick up the pieces to continue – a frozen city in time, which is Varosha…
I felt very bad both during when I was there and also afterwards, for many years Varosha would stay with me, in my dreams, in my thoughts, giving me discomfort as it is… Only now, I am telling you this… If I can at least help a little bit in the search for `missing persons`, I will have a little bit of rest in my heart… Because during my military service, each time I saw that football field, my hair would stand and I would feel very uncomfortable… I hope that you will make your investigations and also give information to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee so that they too can make investigations… I know that at the moment this place, that is the football field might be inaccessible but perhaps in the future they might have a chance to go and investigate and see if there are really any `missing persons` buried there.
I know that there had been some removal of burials in Varosha – we heard this and we also know this from what you have written. I heard of other places in Varosha being `cleared` of remains but I never heard this about the football field. Perhaps they are still there, if that is really a burial site. Please do everything you can to investigate and see if you can have any results…`
I thank this reader for sharing this information with us…
Another reader comes to visit me who also served in Varosha. During his time there, he got a photo and he wants to give back this photo to the family if we can find them. The photo as you will see on this page is of a woman – it has been taken in Alexandria back in 1938… Probably she is not alive but perhaps someone from her family would recognize her and this way we can give back the photograph to the family that it belongs to… If you recognize her please call me on my CYTA mobile number at 99 966518 so that we can arrange to meet and give back the photograph…
Varosha is an open wound for Cyprus – standing as a ghost city where life stopped in 1974, ransacked, looted and left to decay; it is a shame at this time to leave it like that… Varosha could be an opening for all of us in Cyprus: It means so much for those from Varosha, those who were born and grew up there, those who had their houses, who had their land, who had their childhood and youth dreams… No one can erase their memories, no one can take those memories away and yet the city remains a ghost, like a reminder of war and its destruction… Varosha is a scar in the face of our island but it can also be turned into a healing tool, bringing happiness to those who would return to their houses and meanwhile bringing jobs and life to a whole new area if handled properly and bi-communally to benefit both communities…`The Famagusta Initiative`, a Turkish Cypriot association is constantly calling for the opening of Varosha – the leader of this group
Dr. Okan Daghli, in a recent interview with USA Today says:
`There are a lot of agreements where the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaderships recognize that Varosha belongs to its legal owners. Also UN SC resolution (for example No 550) says that Varosha must be given back to its legal owners. ECHR produced decisions with the similar lines.
From my perspective, there is no other way than taking steps forward according to aforementioned decisions if we want to revive the Ghost City. It should be noted that, taking a step forward for the resolution of the problem on Varosha have a huge potential to play a catalyst role for the reunification of Cyprus.
Economic problems and concerns about the future of the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot economy are growing each and every day. Still taking decisive steps for the reopening of Varosha carries important economic returns for both societies such as boost in (re)construction of the abandoned city, opening of the ports, intensifying tourism activity… Activation of the Famagusta Port by giving it a legal status again will serve for the future of the Varosha in particular and Cyprus in general… Finally, we demand that the Old City (Walled City) must be listed on World Heritage List and this demand should also be backed by the Greek Cypriots which will recognize the common heritage of Cypriots. There is potential for economic growth if we approach the issue strategically, but in order to use this trump card we should remove prejudices that we have. Current status quo in the island is not serving the best interests of the Cypriots, and this is the time to
consider a radical change if we want to live in peace and prosperity…`
Varosha could be a fresh start in a 50 year old conflict towards reconciliation and healing of the wounds of this island: I remember its distinct smell of flowers, its sea, its beautiful beach since my uncle was one of the inhabitants at the Euripides Street and I would spend my summer holidays there… I remember how modern it was, how glittery and how natural – wherever I went, the smell of the sea, the flowers and at night the stars would accompany me, barely a 15 year old girl, stunned by the beauty of Varosha… Perhaps with some real, concrete effort it can become as beautiful as it was, instead of how it is now, a ghost city where `missing persons` are said to be buried in its football field…
29.6.2013
Photo: The photo taken in 1938 in Alexandria, found by a reader in a house in Varosha...
(*) Article published in POLITIS newspaper on the 14th of July 2013 Sunday
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