TMT and the ENCLAVES

[Orphic_Hymn]

Two NATO Allies at the Threshold of War: Cyprus, a Firsthand Account of Crisis Management, 1965-1968 by Parker T. Hart; Duke University Press, 1990

page 39

The first clash took place without casualties on May 2, 1964, when Turkish Cypriots at Ayios Theodhoros lit bonfires to celebrate the annual Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayram) and fired off blanks. Misunderstood on the Greek side, this developed into an exchange of shooting which did not last. On June 15, 1964, a second and more serious incident was narrowly averted by the UNFICYP, which was able to persuade a detachment of the Turkish Cypriot Gendarmerie to withdraw from hill positions overlooking Ayios Theodhoros that threatened free passage by its Greek population.

From here the record is silent until December 1966, when there were three cases of Turkish Cypriot interference with freedom of movement, two involving Greek Cypriot Police and one a National Guard vehicle. In January 1967, Turkish Cypriots removed road signs at Kophinou bearing the usual English transliterations of Greek place-names and re-erected them with Turkish versions.
The Turkish Fighters Organization ( TMT) began to initiate local actions stemming from island-wide political bargaining or in retaliation for harassment of Turkish Cypriot buses at Famagusta. They exploited their command of Kophinou's strategic location just north of Ayios Theodhoros, astride the main junction of the Nicosia and Larnaca road links with Limassol. In Kophinou, Turkish Cypriots well outnumbered Greeks, 710 to 18.

Under a mainland Turk officer with the nom de guerre "Mehmet," sent from Turkey outside treaty limits to maintain discipline in the TMT but proving to be a hothead, Turks demanded that bus destination signs carry the appropriate Turkish, not Greek names. The National Guard, backed by mainland Greek officers and men introduced into Cyprus far beyond treaty limits, then moved into the area to neutralize this challenge to vital communications. After a few days of standoff, UNFICYP was able to restore the status quo. However, General Grivas, not noted for his coolheadedness, ordered a battalion of Greeks supported by armored cars to Skarinou, where it remained despite UNFICYP objections that it was unnecessary. UNFICYP then increased its own presence between the opposing forces and negotiated freedom of movement.

page 41

UNFICYP, with a sharp reaction behind it from the Greek Cypriot government, informed the Turkish Cypriot leadership that patrols must be allowed to pass. To make the point stick, on September 16 a patrol from Skarinou was escorted by the UNFICYP. On its way south it encountered a road block, which it removed; on the return north, farm vehicles and tractors fully barred passage. Major Charles Huxtable, UNFICYP escort commander, had his men remove the obstacles, but under the order of "Mehmet," he and his company sergeant were pushed, kicked, and spat at by TMT elements. It required strong representations by UNFICYP with Turkish Cypriot leaders and the Turkish Embassy in Nicosia to get the road reopened. Soon afterward "Mehmet" assaulted Huxtable near Kophinou and threatened to kill him. "Mehmet" was then relieved of his command by Ankara and ordered back to Turkey.

It was always clear to the U.S. embassy in Ankara that the basic reasons for TMT intransigeance and troublemaking at Kophinou and Ayios Theodhoros lay in the widespread intercommunal challenge and violent response that had prevailed on the island since December 1963.

[Orphic_Hymn]

Cyprus: The Impact of Diverse Nationalism on a State by Halil Ibrahim Salih; University of Alabama Press, 1978

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The Turkish Cypriots were opposed to the EOKA operations and joined British law-enforcing operations in attempts to crush the guerrilla movement.
At first, the objective of EOKA was to leave the Turkish Cypriots alone and to concentrate on the British; however, when the Turkish Cypriots joined hands with the British in hunting down the guerrillas, they also became targets. The Turkish Cypriots created their own underground organization, known as VOLKAN ("volcano"); and later it changed its name to Türk Müdafaa Teşkilati ("Turkish Resistance Organization") or TMT. TMT was able to organize a united front against the EOKA forces, but it never did become as organized or as disciplined as the groups under Grivas.

page 10

The TMT members did undergo some military training in Turkey, and money and arms were also supplied by the Turkish government. Under the leadership of Dr. Fazil Küçük, the Cypriot Turkish party was organized all over the island and among the Turkish Cypriots on the mainland. The conflict on the island was no longer between the British colonial government and the Cypriots but had shifted to a confrontation of the two major ethnic groups.

page 111

As the EOKA guerrilla warfare intensified against the British colonial administration in all parts of the island, the tension between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots escalated, and civil war seemed imminent. The Turkish Cypriots organized their own underground movement called Volkan (Volcano); later it was named the Türk Müdafaa Teşkilate (Turkish Resistance Movement) or TMT. The objective of TMT was to protect Turkish Cypriots and deter those who challenged the guidance of their leaders. The EOKA members were also antagonized by the willingness of certain Turkish Cypriots to assist the British forces in the interrogation of the captured guerrilla members and to join the sweeping operations in tracking down the terrorists. A number of Turkish Cypriots lost their lives in serving the British colonial government.