Today marks 59 years since August 1964, when the bombing of Tellyria by the Turkish air force began. 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 Kleanthous, speaking to KYPE, said that August 8 is a day of remembrance and honor for the heroic dead who defended Tellyria in 1964 with 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 then burned the entire area with dozens of dead both residents of the area and soldiers of the National Guard 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 59 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, the State's indifference that has existed for 60 years will continue.
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 new life to the region, it is doomed.
He also pointed out that it is the day that Tellyria was trapped, 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."
Specifically, the community leader of Kato Pyrgos Tellyria said 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
Today, Tuesday, August 8, around 08:00, approximately 40 small buses with approximately 900 Turkish Cypriots are expected to start 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.
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.
Moreover, according to the Cyprus website, the event with the participation of 800-900 relatives of the fallen will begin at 9 am with the laying of wreaths at the fallen monument by the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar, the commander of the Turkish occupation forces, the commander of the "security forces, the "mayor" of Karpasia-Gialousa and the president of the "association of Red fighters".
There will be speeches, a tour of the site and a prayer that will conclude the ceremony.