A telegram from the US CIA, addressed to Henry Kissinger, refers to the transfer of Turkish Cypriots from British bases through Turkey to the occupied territories. It also refers to the death of Panikos Dimitriou by the British (January 17, 1975).
The document based on information and assessments expressed concerns about any incidents and clashes between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, while not ruling out the intervention of the occupying army. All this, of course, was not confirmed in the process.
Also of interest are the discussions that took place about the separation of populations and the imposition of division. The US Secret Service document was recently declassified, along with many others.
The CIA document states that an air bridge was set up in January 1975 to transport Turkish Cypriots from the British base (document title: Inter-Community Conflict and Turkey's Further Intervention in Cyprus). We are concerned, it is reported, that the angry reaction of the Greek Cypriots to the transfer of the Turkish Cypriots could lead to new inter-communal battles and possibly provoke a violent reaction from the Turkish forces in Cyprus.
The same document points out that there were demonstrations by Greek Cypriots against the British move to relocate Turkish Cypriots living in the villages of Limassol to the areas occupied by the Turkish occupation forces in July and August 1974. The first demonstrations took place in the city of Limassol. , then transferred to the bases.
According to the document, Greek Cypriot protesters broke the perimeter of Akrotiri (military base). As reported, Greek Cypriot protesters managed to block the road that the (T / C) "refugees" would have to travel to reach the boarding point for the flyover that had been set up to be transported to the Turkish hinterland (and from there to the occupied ).
Protesters reportedly clashed with British troops using water and tear gas canisters "in an attempt to contain the mob". A Greek Cypriot was killed when he was hit by an armored vehicle (refers to Panikos Dimitriou, the 17-year-old student of Laniteio High School in Limassol). So far, according to the US intelligence document, "there is no indication that Greek Cypriots will turn their anger on the approximately 12.000 Turkish Cypriots still living in Greek-controlled areas of the island."
What emerges from the CIA document is the concern that the reactions of the Greek Cypriots to prevent the operation set up with the flyover would increase and lead to clashes between the Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots in various other areas. Interestingly, an estimate was expressed that Turkish troops ("some of the 34.000 troops" already in the occupied territories) could be sent to the area to protect the evacuation of the Turkish Cypriot population.
As noted, no significant Turkish fleet has been identified in the area. The US agency estimates that while protests will continue but will not be large enough to stop.
It is reported that "both Cypriot communities are well armed, although the Greek Cypriot National Guard will probably be deployed in an effort to prevent serious incidents." It is also briefly mentioned that Clerides and Denktash met that day during the discussions on the Cyprus problem.
The British killed Panikos Dimitriou
Panikos Dimitriou was born in Famagusta on February 10, 1957. His parents George and Konstantia Dimitriou lived, before the Turkish invasion and occupation, in Agios Memnon, Famagusta. Panikos was the second child of the family and had 4 other brothers. The house where he spent the first years of his life and his first student years was at 193 Esperidon Street in Agios Memnon.
He finished the Primary School of his parish with honors and then studied for 5 years at the XNUMXst High School for Boys of Famagusta, in the practical department, because his dream was to study architecture. He was a quiet child who never caused problems for his family and school. His only concern was to be a good student and to become an honest citizen and a good scientist. In a peaceful demonstration of the students of Limassol, an English chariot dragged him deadly. In fact, the pilot of the chariot, after hitting him and dragging him, did the opposite, hitting him again.
Denktash, accompanied by a Turkish officer, visited the bases
Journalist Filippos Stylianou wrote, in volume B of the history of the Republic of Cyprus, that the Turkish side seemed determined to proceed without delay in the implementation of its separate plans on a geographical and demographic basis. He had already started using the term 'bi-zonal' and with this immediate perspective he exerted on the one hand unbearable pressure on the Greek Cypriots trapped to go south and on the other he was hurting the people so that the Turkish Cypriots would not be prevented from moving freely from the occupied soils. As for the latter, the reality is that the vast majority of them were under constant threats and blackmail from the Denktash leadership to leave their homes in order to gather the entire Turkish Cypriot population in the occupied north.
The same terrorist tactic was applied to the thousands of Turkish Cypriots who had taken refuge for safety, either on their own or under an organized plan, at the British Cape / Diocese Base. Over time, and especially after Makarios' return, many of them asked to return to their villages and homes in Limassol and Paphos, but were not allowed to leave the Bases.
Apart from the people of Denktash and TMT who were not absent from there, Ankara - like Denktash himself - urged the British government to allow the transfer of Turkish Cypriots from the Bases to Turkey. From there, of course, they would be transported to the occupied territories of Cyprus to occupy the homes of Greek Cypriot refugees.
Denktash himself visited their camps in Happy Valley and Paramali, accompanied by a Turkish officer of the invading troops. The conditions of the visit remain unclear. When President Makarios tried to visit the refugee Turkish Cypriots in Akrotiri - by road - the extremist elements among them organized violent demonstrations against the visit, forcing him to return.
… At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in December 1974, Kissinger urged his British counterpart James Callahan to send Turkish Cypriot "refugees" from Akrotiri to Turkey, arguing that this would push the latter to help himself to oppose efforts in the US Congress to impose an arms embargo on Ankara due to the invasion of Cyprus.
"And this despite the fact that many (Turkish Cypriots) had clearly expressed a preference to stay in their ancestral homes," notes Hitchens.
Finally, the decision to evacuate the Base by the Turkish Cypriots was announced on January 14th and began to be implemented the very next day with a massive air operation. According to Turkish journalist Ali Birand, whose books on the Turkish invasion made him famous, the decision was conveyed to Ankara by British Ambassador Philip Horas, who said: "Tomorrow the 8.000 Turkish Cypriots on British bases will be released. They will be transported by air bridge to Turkey and from there you will take them wherever you want ".
Source: Liberal