Ottoman rule in Cyprus

[Ptolemy]

I have witnessed many times, claims about the tolerance and "freedom" of the inhabitants of Cyprus under Ottoman Rule. Here are some texts, testimonies about Medieval Cyprus and the treatment of Cypriots from Ottoman turks.

The Greeks over whom throughout this land the Latins have dominion, have
thirteen Bishops, of whom one is an Archbishop...
Wilbrand, Count of Oldenburg, Bishop of Utrecht
-visited Cyprus in 1211


...'They were singing in the Greek tongue, so we could not understand them,
because all the people in Cyprus speak Greek...
Jacobus de Vevona, Augustian Monk
-visited Cyprus in 1335


...'The people in Limassol are Greeks and so are all the inhabitants of Cyprus,
and they speak Greek...
Oldrich Prefat, Czech nobleman
-visited Cyprus in 1546


... for of 30,000 or more inhabitants in Nicosia there are scarcely 4,000 or 5,000 Turks, and there are not 12,000 or 13,000 of these in all the island, most of whom are renegades who have adopted Islam to enjoy greater quiet; so that it should not be hard to protect the island from the tyranny of the Turk and to re-establish the Christian faith...
Girolamo Dandini
Professor of Theology at Perugia,
Sent by Pope Clement VIII as nuncio to Lebanon
-visited Cyprus in 1596


... for the Turks have no care themselves for agriculture, and if they see any
of the Greek natives occupying themselves in cultivating the soil, or amassing
wealth, they either harass them with avanie (so the Italians call the fraudulent tricks of the Turks), or drain their resources by exactions, and flay them, so to speak, to the bone... Ioannes Cotovicus
Doctor of Civil and Canon Law, in the University, of Utrecht
-visited Cyprus in 1598-9


... The Greeks and other Christian inhabitants cannot be but poor on account of the ill treatment and tyranny which they suffer from the Turks in their person and property... Very many of them, unable to hear any longer this cruel tyranny, wish to turn Turk; but many are rejected, becausee (say their lords) in receiving them into the Moslem faith their tribute would be so much diminished...
Noel Dominique Hurtrel
"Du Voiage de Jerusalem "
-visited Cyprus in 1670


... Cyprus surpasses every other Greek island in the number of natives
illustrious for their birth, dignity, learning and saintliness...
Abbe Giovanni Mariti
Official of the Imperial and Tuscan
Consulates, lived in Cyprus 1760-67
Author of the "Viaggi per I'Isola di Cipro"


... Marcello Cerrutti, a distinguished Italian, formerly an ambassador, now a
senator who had studied the Cypriots closely, characterized them truly when he said to me a few years ago in Rome: "Cyprus is the noblest aspect of Hellenism."
("Cipro e la piu nobile fisionomia del grecismo.")
Agnes Smith
Renowned British Novelist,
Author of "Glimpses of Greek Life and Scenery " etc,
visited Cyprus in 1883
(Extract from page 225 of her book
"THOUGH CYPRUS "
Published in England in 1887.


1489-1571 AD VENETIAN PERIOD


Venetians see Cyprus as a last bastion against the Ottomans in the east
Mediterranean, and fortify the island tearing down lovely buildings in Nicosia
to bring the city into a tight encircled area defended by bastions and a moat
which can still be seen today. They also build impressive walls around Famagusta which were considered at the time as works of military art.


1571- 1878 AD OTTOMAN PERIOD


In 1570 troops attack Cyprus, capture Nicosia, slaughter the population (20,000) and lay siege to Famagusta for a year. After a brave defense by Venetian commander Marc Antonio Bragadin, Famagusta capitulates to the Ottoman commander Lala Mustafa, who first gives free passage to the besieged but when he sees how few they are, orders the flaying, drawing and quartering of Bragadin and puts the others to death. On annexation to the Ottoman Empire, the Latin hierarchy are expelled or converted to Islam and the Greek Orthodox faith restored; in time, the Archibishop as leader of the Greek Orthodox, becomes their representative to the Porte. When the Greek War of Independence breaks out in 1821, the Archibishop of Cyprus, Kyprianos, three bishops and hundreds of civic leaders are executed.

[Ptolemy]

I have seen no mentions so far about the mass slaughter of at least 20,000 Nicosians and both the pillaging and selling to slavery thousands of Greek Cypriots.

Sth you wont find in turkish propagandistic sites.

From http://historymedren.about.com/library/text/bltxtcyprus5.htm

"Throughout the period of Venetian rule, Ottoman Turks raided and attacked at will. In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpas Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey.

In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. About 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell--September 9, 1570--20,000 Nicosians were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571"

[Ptolemy]

In 1471 The Ottomans massacre the population of Famagousta and flay the Venitian captain Marcantonio Bragadin alive after breaking their word of honour. The Cypriot Christian population is subjected to slavery. Since Christians are forbidden from even stepping onto the socio-political ladder Cypriot society becomes a virtual theocracy.


1572-1668 Twenty eight bloody uprisings occur across the island.


1821 The Ottoman governor Kuchuk Mehmed executes 486 Christians who he accuses of supporting the Greek War of independence. 20,000 Greek Christians flee the island in order to save their lives.

[akritas]

intresting informations perseas :read:

[Ptolemy]

Thanks Akritas...here is a more detailed account on the happenings.

It was in March 1570 AD where Turks sent an ultimatum with insulting terms to the Council of Ten in Venice, demanding the immediate cession of the island. Venice tried in vain to send reinforcements so any resistance was doomed to failure.

The Turks under Lala Mustafa landed near Larnaca, proceeded unharassed and laid siege to Nicosia on 25 July 1570 AD. Having relatively easily conquered that in about one and a half months, they proceeded to Kyrenia
which surrendered without a shot. The same happened in Paphos and Limassol, so Lala Mustafa moved his entire army outside Famagusta on 23 September.


The defence of Famagusta is one of the greatest epics of siege warfare recorded in history. Against Mustafa's 200,000 men, with 145 guns, the Venetians had some 3-4,000 regular Italian infantry, 2-300 cavalry and about
4,000 Greek militia, with 90 guns. The siege lasted from 16 September 1570 to 1 August 1571 when the Captain of Famagusta, Marcantonio Bragadin, of a distinguished Venetian family, offered his surrender. It was accepted by Mustafa in flattering terms. When Bragadin and his surviving officers came out, after receiving the acknowledgement of surrender sealed with the Sultan's seal, Mustafa gave the signal for the massacre to begin. He himself cut off Bragadin's ears and nose, then kept him waiting in this state for two weeks before having him flayed alive. His skin was stuffed with straw and taken to Constantinople in triumph. A patriotic Venetian later stole it and it now rests in an urn in the church of SS Giovanni e Paolo in Venice.


Cyprus was annexed as a province of the Ottoman Empire and Lala Mustafa Pasha became the first Governor.

[Ptolemy]

The Turkish occupation brought about two radical results in the history of the island. For the first time since the late 13th, 12th and 11th centuries BC a new ethnic element (save the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC)
appeared, the Turks.


The second important result of the Turkish occupation benefited the Greek peasants who no longer remained serfs of the land they were cultivating. Now they could acquire it against payment, thus becoming owners of it. At the same time the Orthodox Church was liberated because the Turks were afraid of the presence of the Catholic Church as it might instigate an attack of Western Europe against them. Gradually the Archbishop of Cyprus became not only religious but ethnic leader as well, something the Turks promoted wanting to have somebody responsible for the loyalty of the Greek flock. In this way the Church undertook the task of the guardian of the Greek cultural legacy which is partly carried on even in our days, although diminished after independence.

The Turkish occupation, apart from adding one more possession to the Ottoman Empire, detached Cyprus from the direct influence, cultural and economic, of the West and brought it directly under the influence of Ottoman despotism.

The heavy taxes and the abuses against the population on the part of the Turkish conquerors in the early years after the Turkish occupation gave rise to opposition, following which the Sultan, by order addressed to the
Governor, the "Kadi" and the Treasurer, prohibited the oppression of his subjects and commanded the officers to govern with justice. While the Sultan's orders indicated his goodwill towards the local population, the
Turkish local administration proved indifferent, arbitrary and often corrupt, taking no measures whatsoever for the benefit of the people and the situation was aggravated by the heavy burden of taxes. Those collecting the
taxes were trying by all means to extract as much money as they could by exploiting the local population.


Following the Turkish conquest, many Greek Cypriots and Latins, in order to escape heavy taxation converted to Islam. Many Greek Cypriots who had been converted to Islam remained actually Christians in secret. They were normally called "linobambaki". According to a view expressed for the first time in 1863 AD, and then adopted in the following years, this word was taken metaphorically from a cloth woven with linen and cotton and which had two different sides corresponding thus to the two aspects of their faith. The "linobambaki" turned up during daytime as Moslems, and in the evenings they appeared as Christians, keeping to the
Christian religion, its customs and its habits.

The inhabitants of Cyprus, disappointed at the mismanagement of home affairs by the Ottoman governors, soon turned to Europe in search for help for liberation. Very characteristic is the appeal by Archbishop Timotheos to
the King of Spain Philip II for liberation of the island, in which, among other things, the following is stated: "There have recently been repeated cases of abuse on the part of the organs of the conqueror; in a greedy manner they attempt to confiscate and seize the property of the inhabitants; Christian houses are broken into and domiciles violated, and all sorts of dishonest acts against wives and daughters are committed. Twice until now churches and monasteries have been plundered, multiple and heavy taxes have been imposed whose collection is pursued by systematic persecutions, threats and tortures, which lead many persons to the ranks of Islam, while at the same time the male children of Cypriot families are seized (in order to form the brigades of "Jannissaries"). This most hard practice is the worst of the sufferings to which the people of Cyprus is subjected by the Turkish administration".

[Ptolemy]

Between 1572 and 1668 AD about 28 bloody uprisings took place on the island and in many of these both Greeks and Turks (poor Turks were also exploited by the ruling class) took part. But all of them ended in failure.


About 1660 AD, in order to eliminate the greed of the Ottoman administration and stop the oppression and injustice against the people (who they called "rayahs", sheep for milking), the Sultan recognised the Archbishop and the Bishops as "the protectors of people" and the representatives of the Sultan. In 1670 AD, Cyprus ceased to be a "pasaliki" for the Ottoman Empire and came under the jurisdiction of the Admiral of the Ottoman fleet. In his turn, the Admiral sent an officer to govern in his place.


In 1703 AD Cyprus comes under the jurisdiction of the Grand Vizier who sent to the island a military and civil administrator. The title and function of this officer were awarded to the person who paid the highest amount of money in exchange. As a result, heavier taxation was imposed and the Cypriots became the subject of harder exploitation. About 1760 AD the situation in Cyprus was intolerable. A terrible epidemic of plague, bad crops and earthquakes, drove many Cypriots to emigrate. In addition what was worse for the Greeks and Turks of the island, the newly- appointed Pasha, doubled the taxes in 1764 AD. In the end Chil Osman and 18 of his friends were killed by Greek and Turkish Cypriots alike but the two ethnic elements had to pay a huge sum of money to the Sultan and the families of the victims. It was assessed that each Christian had to pay 14 piastres and each Turk 7. The latter did not accept this judgement and broke into an open rebellion having Khalil Agha, the commander of the guard of the castle of Kyrenia as their leader. Finally the uprising was crushed and Khalil Agha was beheaded.

The Greek War of Liberation of 1821 had its repercussions on the situation in Cyprus. With the Sultan's consent, the Turkish administration in the island under governor Kuchuk Mehmed, executed 486 Christians on 9 July 1821, accusing them of conspiring with the rebellious Greeks. They included four Bishops, many clergymen and prominent citizens, who were beheaded in the central square of Nicosia, while Archbishop Kyprianos was hanged. The property of the Church was plundered and the Christians were forced to pull down the upper storeys of their houses, an order that remained in force until the British put the island under their control almost sixty years later.

Between the years 1849 and 1878 Cyprus witnessed some slow change for the better in the administration section. District councils were set up and consisted of Greek and many Turkish members. Many reforms, however, which were supposed to have been introduced were frustrated by unwilling administrators.

The Turkish occupation came to an end in 1878. In all it lasted for 307 years. During their long presence on the island, the architectural remains left by the Turks included the small fort of Paphos dating to the late 16th
century and largely based on a Lusignan plan, the tomb that was built where Umm Haram, a relative of the Prophet, died in the mid-7th century, which dates to the late 18th century and over which a tekke and a mosque were built 1816 adding Oriental charm to the place, the aqueduct constructed by Pasha Abu Bekr in 1747 in order to bring fresh water to Larnaca. In Nicosia, the capital, there is a 16th century inn called a Khan, a 17th century Tekke of the Mevleri or the Dancing Dervishes and the Arab Ahmet Pasha mosque of the 18th century.

When the Turks were defeated by the Russians in 1877 and the Berlin Congress took place the next year in order to revise the treaty of St Stefano which was signed by Russia and the Ottoman Empire according to terms dictated by the former, it was officially announced on 9 July 1878 that on the 4th of preceding June, the British and the Sultan had secretly countersigned the Convention of Istanbul by virtue of which the possession and administration of Cyprus was vested in Great Britain. The reasons for the detachment of Cyprus from the hands of Turkey can be found in the words of the British Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lord Salisbury, who stressed the following: "The Government has already proceeded to preparations for the construction of a new dam behind the ruined Turkish waterdam". So after considering many other places (such as Crete, Lesbos, Lemnos, Alexandretta, Accra, Haifa and Alexandria), Great Britain decided to obtain possession of Cyprus, which Beaconsfield (Benjamin Disraeli) described to Queen Victoria in 1878 as "the Key to West Asia".

[Vergian Pride]

Turkey will never stop invading your lands until Greece invades Turkey.

[Christov]

Yeah, great! One more war! Are you crazy???

[Vergian Pride]

Yeah, great! One more war! Are you crazy???



Yes, as insane it may seem. But you have to face the grim reality no countries will ever respect Greece such as Turkey, FYROM. That is unless Greece prove thier might by resolving issues with Turkey by INVADING them this time instead allowing the Turkish people invade your lands.

[Christov]

Vergian,

Your words are not only insane, but dangerous! Don’t you know that between a sparkle (like your idea) and a fire there isn’t enough time even for a last prayer? You sound like the dirty politicians and this I dislike. Remember, boy, the normal people and the politicians are not one and same! The normal people never go to high receptions and never receive medals. They live peacefully with what they have at home. The only place they speak about politics is in the pub. But the neighbor is the one who really helps in your everyday life, regardless of its and yours ethnics.

Now remember what The Holy Bible in Mathew VII, 20-21 says:
“Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”

If you don’t understand it, ask someone at home! I strongly believe, that as a human been you can still change your fruits!