Today marks 60 years since August 1964, when the bombing of Tellyria by the Turkish air force began. Memories flash back to the deadly bombings in Tellyria. For three consecutive days, from the 7th to the 9th of August, the Turks bombarded the area with napalm bombs raining down.
The President of the Community Council of Kato Pyrgos Tellyria, Nikos Cleanthos, speaking to KYPE, said that August 8 is a day of remembrance and honor for the heroic dead who defended Tellyria in 1964 from the turcantarsia and for all the residents of the area who resisted and kept the their place free until today, he said. For us, he said, "it is a sad day, which awakens the memories of the destruction of the region because it was the beginning of the sufferings that occurred then, and to this day continue to plague the region".
The bombings of Tellyria which burned down the entire area at the time with dozens of dead both local residents and National Guard soldiers are the beginning of the problem and then we have continued the condemnation of the area which has since remained at the mercy of decay and time.
Tellyria, Mr. Cleanthus said, paid a heavy price in an effort to keep the region intact and free from Turkish expansion.
The memories, he said, go back 60 years, with the old ones remembering the crimes committed by Turkey in the area of Tellyria, with the murderous bombings of the Turkish air force in August 1964 against the civilian population of the area. In 1964 he continued, Tellyria paid a heavy price which it pays to this day.
He also added that if the current situation continues, the area will be led to final annihilation. It is an area he noted that is declining and if immediate measures are not taken and the indifference of the State that has existed for 60 years continues, this will worsen.
Unfortunately, Mr. Cleanthus continued, Tellyria continues to fight for survival alone, adding that despite the years that have passed, the wounds are still open and the world is fighting tooth and nail to hold on to the land of its fathers. If the noted region does not enter a special regime of measures and incentives and exceptions which will give it new life, it is doomed.
He also pointed out that it is the day that Tellyria was trapped, since then it has been cut off from the rest of the axis of Cyprus and since then it remains trapped, neglected and abandoned to its fate. He added that since then the residents have been facing enormous difficulties and are trying tooth and nail to hold on to their place. Our area, he continued, “is neither included in the occupied areas, nor in the trapped areas. The difficulties are enormous."
In particular, said the community leader of Kato Pyrgos Tellyria, the events of 1964 have excluded the area of Tellyria and from the east to the area of Limnitis.
In addition, he referred to the biggest problem of the area which has to do with the Kokkini enclave, saying that since then the road that connects the area to Paphos and Paphos to Nicosia remains closed, causing enormous difficulties for the residents of the area.
Despite this, added Mr. Cleanthus and despite the difficulties, "we continue to stay in our place".
Tatar in the "celebrations" with a military helicopter
In the meantime, today, Tuesday, August 8, a special ceremony and celebration is being organized for the 60th anniversary of the tragic events in Tellyria by the occupying forces. The ceremony will take place at 1000 in Kokkina. The events are expected to be attended by "state officials" from the occupied territories, as well as the leader of the T/k Ersin Tatar, who is expected to go to the area in a military helicopter, shortly after the arrival of the Turkish Cypriots by bus and by sea. The ceremony will begin with the laying of wreaths at the monument to the fallen and the signing of the special book. Afterwards, there will be speeches by the president of the "Association of Red Fighters", Mustafa Arikan, the "mayor" of the occupied Yalousa-Karpasia, Hamit Bakirci and Ersin Tatar. There will be a tour of the site and a prayer that will conclude the ceremony .
Bus Passage
Moreover, today, Tuesday, August 8, around 0800, approximately 42 small buses with approximately 650 Turkish Cypriots are expected to begin crossing through the Limnitis roadblock to go to Kokkina where they will attend the "celebrations", which take place every year for the anniversary of the bombing of Tellyria by the Turkish air force, according to the President of the Committee for the opening of the Tellyria barricades, Andreas Karos. The crossing, he said, is done in parts.