Abstract:
In this article, excerpts are given from the various editorials,
main titles and news of “Cumhuriyet”, a weekly Turkish Cypriot newspaper, which
was published 89 issues between 16 August 1960 and 23 April 1962.
The main contributors were the two lawyer-owners Ayhan
M. Hikmet and Ahmet Muzaffer Gürkan, (who were both murdered), his dentist
brother Haşmet M. Gürkan, Dr. İhsan Ali and the trade-unionist Derviş Ali
Kavazoğlu, who wrote without a signature about “Labour Life”.
The opinion of the “Cumhuriyet” writers are given on
the following subjects like the responsibilities of the citizens and the press,
the cooperation of the journalists, the constitutional problems, the problems
of “Enosis” (union of Cyprus with Greece) and “Taksim” (partition of Cyprus),
the warnings to the both leaderships.
Keywords: the policy of the newspaper, responsibility
of the press, warnings, constitutional
issues, cooperation of the journalists
The “Cumhuriyet”
newspaper published its first issue on 16 August 1960, the date when the
British colonial administration ended on the island of Cyprus and when the
Republic of Cyprus was established as an independent state.
Reviewing all
the 89 numbers of the newspaper provides us with important information about
the first two years of the Republic of Cyprus. In this paper, I shall try to
point out how this newspaper dealt with the problems of cooperation and co
-existence of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities during the
years of its publication.
This weekly
newspaper was issued by a group of Turkish Cypriots who believed in the state
of the Republic of Cyprus, which would be ruled by the Greek Cypriots and
Turkish Cypriots. Its permanent writers were the following persons:
The editorials,
signed as “Cumhuriyet” were written by Ahmet Muzaffer Gürkan, who worked as a
columnist in previous years. Ayhan
Mustafa Hikmet, who studied law later like Gürkan, wrote on unemployment,
peasant’s situation and other economic problems in the Turkish Cypriot
community. Ahmet M. Gürkan’s brother, Haşmet Muzaffer Gürkan wrote under the
title “Thoughts” on page 2 and he also prepared the weekly news summaries and
comments with his pseudonym “İlhan Gündüz” under the title “Panorama”. Dr.
İhsan Ali, who was known for his opposition to the separatist policies of the
Turkish Cypriot leadership was among the writers of the newspaper. On page 3,
the “Labour Life” corner was prepared by the trade-unionist Derviş Ali
Kavazoğlu, but his signature was not used. On the same page, news from the
Greek Cypriot press was translated from the newspapers of the previous week”.
The path and ideal of the newspaper
The first issue
of “Cumhuriyet” was published on 16 August 1960 in the M. Fikri Printing House
in the Turkish quarter of Nicosia. It had four pages in tabloid form.
The first
editorial had the title “Our Path and Our Country” and it stated that the
newspaper had started its publication life in order to fill a gap that would
not be underestimated for the Turkish Cypriot community and to complete the
lack of an independent Turkish newspaper. The editorial continued as follows:
“Cumhuriyet”,
which was put into the life of the Republic of Cyprus with a historical event
such as the declaration of the Republic of Cyprus, would keep up with the
principle of “peace at the homeland and peace in the world” and it will make an
effort to give our country a best example of peace in the Mediterranean.”
In the editorial
titled “Two Anniversaries” on 14 August 1961, a year of experience was
summarized as follows:
“….We believe that if the two communities act with the
mentality of cooperation based on mutual respect and the reign of peace and
order in our country continue and if the economy of Cyprus is planned, a
solution can be found to the economic crisis. Our newspaper celebrates the
anniversary of the Republic with all citizens in the hope of seeing better
days.”
Haşmet M.
Gürkan, in his article titled “The Day of Independence”, after mentioning the
explanations that the anniversary of the Republic of Cyprus would not be
celebrated, he asked the question “Is there a country that does not celebrate
the anniversary of its independence?” Later, he expressed the negativities of
the government of the republic in one-year performance as follows:
“The implementation problem of the 30-70 percent
proportion or the separation of the municipalities, where satisfactory progress
could not be reached in the solution of these problems, the inability to
prevent the incidents that shook the public order thoroughly, the fact that
there are no remedies for economic crisis and for unemployment. These are the
unsuccessful examples of one year’s performance.”
Responsibility of the Press
The “Cumhuriyet”
newspaper criticized the writings in the Turkish Cypriot press as well as those
in the Greek Cypriot press that were inclined to disrupt the relations between
the two communities. For example, in the newspaper dated 13 September 1960
(Issue 5), the editorial titled “Destructive debates” wrote:
“Some of the Turkish and Greek newspapers are
unfortunately printing some detailed articles that can wear out the young
structure of the Republic of Cyprus. This must have sadden every Cypriot, who
thinks reasonable in terms of the future of our young republic. In order not to
concern this sadness, it is necessary for the responsible personalities from both
main communities to come together and agree on a cooperation program, which
will help them to relax the stretched nerves. Because every day the nerves are
stretched a little more and the difference between emotions and thoughts
between the two main communities is increasing.
As citizens, who do not want the come-back of the dark
days of the past, we believe that the time has already passed away for both
communities in order to give up the extreme national feelings and irrelevant
hatred against each other. If we do not walk on a responsible road for our new
state as citizens of the young Cyprus Republic, it may fall back into the dark
cliff of the past, and the gangrene gnawing Congo today can gnaw the body of
the young Cyprus Republic as well.
The duty of every Cypriot is to leave aside the
extreme emotions, to forget the past and make an effort for the economic
development of this beautiful homeland, and to hold the helping hand of the
United Nations as mature citizens. The most urgent case is that our island
should get free from the economic crisis. Not to increase chauvinism!”
An opposition party was also established
The editorial of
the Cumhuriyet newspaper dated 3 October 1960 (Issue: 8) wrote the following
under the title of “Towards Democracy”:
“The Turkish
Cypriot People’s Party, which we learned with pleasure that it was established
in Limassol last Tuesday and organized in Nicosia yesterday, Sunday, is the
main audit party or - as the public say - the main opposition party, born from
the hearts of our people.”
It was also
announced that Ahmet Muzaffer Gürkan was elected as the Secretary General at
the party’s founding meeting. Under the
title of “Appeal of the Turkish Cypriot People’s Party to our people”, the
party’s declaration said the following under the title of “Internal
Politics”:
“It is essential in the field of domestic politics to
indicate our attitude to the Republic of Cyprus, which is a result of Zurich
and London agreements, and also to express our commitment to the letter and
spirit of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus.”
Unending warnings of the “Cumhuriyet”
In the headline
of the “Cumhuriyet” on 14 November 1960, there was the following warning:
“Warning to those, who hope to benefit from inter-communal clashes… The chauvinist
publications should be ended.”
The following
views were included under the headline:
“In recent days, chauvinist publications that made
harm to the interests of all Cypriot people have been accelerated by some
writers from both sides. As it is known, the reason for accelerating these
publications is that the idea of a “Cypriot Nation” was put forward by some
political circles of foreign countries. These publications were taken forward
to cursing the nationality of the other. According to the statement made by the
Foreign Office of the Turkish Government, this ability to blur the harmony and
the mutual trust between the Turkish and Greek community is harmful and it is
too dangerous since it can prepare a new collision ground between the two
communities. (…) In the Constitution of Cyprus, there is no article that denies
the Turkishness of the Turkish Cypriots and the Greekness of the Greek
Cypriots. The Republic of Cyprus is an entire state that has been formed from
two national communities. There exists no Cypriot nation, but the Cypriot
State. A multi-national state has not been seen for the first time in history.
Whether Turkish or Greek, the patriotic and national duty of the press and the
responsible circles is to keep the Republic of Cyprus alive and to evolve it.”
“Enosis and Taksim ideals should be abandoned”
Starting from
the first issues, the “Cumhuriyet” newspaper constantly advocated the integrity
of the island and the continuation of the new state and opposed the ideal of
Enosis and Taksim, advocated by both community leaderships.
In the introduction to the article titled “Studies on the Constitution: Integrity of Cyprus” published in Cumhuriyet newspaper dated 23 August 1960 (Issue: 2), the following important article in the Zurich and London agreement was quoted:
“The country of the Republic is a whole and cannot be divided. The union of Cyprus, in whole or in part, with any state or independence resulting from separation is excluded.”
The article
ended by stating that this article shouted the following truth:
“In this country that has entered a new era, there is
no room for extremist ideas such as two communities cannot live together. In
this homeland, which is an inseparable whole, the two communities will take
great steps towards a more democratic and prosperous life by respecting the
rights of the two communities in the private field, helping each other in the
public field, cooperating and strengthening their friendship.”
“Citizen’s duty”
The editorial titled “Citizen’s Duty” and
published in the newspaper dated 5 June 1961 stated the following:
“We believe that when peace and tranquility become
established on our island and intercommunal relations become completely normal,
the problems that will arise in the implementation of the Cyprus agreements
will disappear.
However, in the current situation, talking about any
change in the island status and going further and expressing the longing for
statuses in two different poles such as partition and enosis can neither be
considered to serve the interests of the people of Cyprus, nor of Turkey and
Greece.
Expressing such extreme aspirations can only serve the
insidious and subversive purposes of some foreign states that are the enemies
of the Cypriot people. This should be known as such, and every Cypriot citizen
should understand his responsibility within the framework of the Republic
regime and always avoid expressing destructive and divisive aspirations.”
The following
warnings were included in the article titled “The Future of Cyprus”, which
appeared next to this editorial in the newspaper of the same date:
“Life has proven in practice that the independence of
our beautiful homeland – the Pearl of the Mediterranean – Cyprus depends on the
sincere cooperation of the two main communities living in Cyprus – the Turkish
and Greek people – based on mutual understanding and respect. (…) The dreams of
Enosis and Taksim, which are rejected by the Constitution signed by all
relevant parties, must now be put to an end. Historical events have also proven
that these two slogans do nothing more than create hostility, hatred and bloody
incidents between the two communities.”
“Cyprus belongs to Cypriots”
In the article
titled “Cyprus belongs to the Cypriots” in the Republic dated 2 January 1961
(Issue: 21), the formula of the independence of the island was given as
follows:
“The duty of every Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot
who loves his homeland and nation is to respect each other’s rights, to work
with all their strength to ensure the survival and evolution of free Cyprus,
and to lead their communities to a more democratic, more prosperous, happier
and more peaceful life. To claim otherwise means – in our opinion – not seeing
the truth, not understanding the truth, or deliberately turning a blind eye to
the truth.
In short, the independence of Cyprus does not mean its
annexation to any nation or state, but to be ruled by the Cypriots. Moreover,
this, as a fundamental principle, was also included in the Cyprus Constitution
and signed by those concerned.”
Constitutional Issues
The problems that arose during the implementation of the Cyprus Constitution were evaluated objectively and with common sense by the writers of the “Cumhuriyet” newspaper. The headline of the newspaper dated 3 April 1961 (Issue: 34) was as follows: "The bill of tax law has not passed through the parliament.”
In the details
of the news, it was mentioned about the demonstration held by the young people
in Nicosia, who wanted to resolve the Municipalities issue as soon as possible
with the 70-30 percent ratio, and the news that “Berberoğlu resigned from the
Parliamentary Group” was given with the following reason:
“He resigned from the Parliamentary Group because he
did not like the attitude and the system followed by the Turkish group in the Parliament
during the group negotiations, and he did not approve of the fact that the
group still did not have a charter.”
“On the President’s words”
Haşmet M.
Gürkan, author of the “Thoughts” column in “Cumhuriyet” dated 8 May 1961
(Issue: 39), wrote the following under the title “On the President’s Words”:
“President Archbishop Makarios painted a realistic
picture of the intercommunal situation in Cyprus in an interview he gave to a
foreign journalist a while ago. Stating that there is a kind of racial separation
in Cyprus and that Greeks and Turks are not integrated neither socially nor
commercially, the President said that he hoped that this situation, which
started during the “State of Emergency”, will improve over time when the
Cypriot people, both Greek and Turkish, realize that they are a new people.
The President expressed a painful truth. Until the
days of emergency, relations between Greeks and Turks in Cyprus were normal.
There was never any social cohesion between them, but the level of normal citizenship
relations reached in those days was at a level that could be considered ideal
for today.
There is no use dwelling on what has passed. The
important thing is to start a new life in this new era of Cyprus. The
government of the Republic must make special efforts in this regard. In our
opinion, the first thing to do today should be to ensure that the issues under
discussion, that is, some articles of the Constitution that have not yet been
implemented, are implemented first. In this way, issues that are easily the
subject of discussion and unrest will be eliminated. (…) Let the state
undertake initiatives that make people love and accept it, let all Cypriots,
Turkish and Greek alike, see the practical benefits of their common state, then
who will listen to the politicians who hope to benefit from bringing down
politics and who will listen to incitements and provocations?”
Common works of journalists
While the
“Cumhuriyet” newspaper criticized the publications of Greek and Turkish
newspapers in Cyprus that would disrupt the relations between the two
communities, it followed a policy in favour of the cooperation of journalists
from both sides.
For example, the headline news in the issue dated 23 January 1961 (Issue: 24) was as follows:
“Positive steps in inter-communal relations. Turkish and Greek journalists held a joint meeting. Dr. Küçük’s statement was well received.” In the news, Vice President of Cyprus Dr. Fazıl Küçük’s return from his visit to Lebanon was appreciated, because he showed the cooperation of the communities there as an example.”
In the newspaper
dated 15 May 1961 (Issue: 40), it was announced that the delegation of Greek
Cypriot and Turkish journalists would depart from Cyprus to Ankara by plane on
17 May. According to the news, the journalists would stay in Turkey for 12
days, make contacts, visit Istanbul and Izmir, and then go to Athens on 29, and
also make a trip to Western Thrace. Returning to the island would be on June
10. The report stated that Haşmet M. Gürkan would attend the trip on behalf of
Cumhuriyet newspaper.
Haşmet M. Gürkan
started to write his impressions about these trips in the “Thoughts” column of
the newspaper dated 5 June 1961 (Issue: 43), under the title “Notes from a
“goodwill” trip: 1” and continued in 8 articles until 24 July. In his first
article, under the title “The need to live together”, Gürkan referred to the
conversation Turkish Foreign Minister Selim Sarper had with Cypriot journalists
and conveyed his impressions under the following subheadings: Living together,
It is easy to destroy, It is difficult to build and Pending issues.
In this article,
Gürkan also published the “Joint Declaration” of Greek Cypriot and Turkish
Cypriot journalists and quoted the following common wish: “Although there are difficulties that naturally occur in newly
established states, we are sure that mutual understanding and good-will
will compensate for them in a short time.”
Representatives
from the following newspapers participated in these trips to Turkey and Greece:
Bozkurt, Fileleftheros, Kypros, Cumhuriyet, Haravghi, Phos, Nacak, Mahi, Halkın
Sesi.
In the newspaper
dated 19 June 1961, Ayhan M. Hikmet, who represented the Cumhuriyet newspaper
in the Cyprus press delegation that went to Cairo with President Makarios, who
visited the United Arab Republic on 3 June, shared his impressions under the
title “Notes from the United Arab Republic Trip” in three articles.
Dr. İhsan Ali’s warnings
Dr. Ihsan Ali,
who was among the authors of “Cumhuriyet”, criticized the statements made by
some Greek Cypriot politicians to the Greek Cypriot press in his article titled
“Our Greek citizens should follow a policy based on reality”, which was
published on 20 February 1961 (Issue: 28). He wrote:
“What is done is done; Even if this Republic is a
freak, it is the duty of everyone living on this island, whether Turkish or
Greek, to keep it alive. Every individual should act with a Cypriot mentality
and work for the progress and improvement of the country. Running behind other
dreams only creates restlessness and disorder. However, the melting of the ice
that has formed between the two elements is only possible if these two elements
approach each other and revive the old friendship. For this, mutual goodwill is
essential. Of course, one-sided sacrifice and compromise cannot be expected.”
Dr. İhsan Ali,
in another article titled “Political Unrest in the Homeland” published in the
newspaper’s issue dated 21 August 1961, stated that Turkish Cypriot and Greek
Cypriot press should not fuel political unrest in the country and he continued
as follows:
“Turkish and Greek press have been in a duel for a
while. Ironically, the tense situation between them has become even worse after
the goodwill trips. (...) Creating general unrest with inappropriate and
indecent polemics will not benefit this country at all... In order to put an
end to this situation, Turks and Greeks need to work together. (...) At the
same time, chauvinists and demagogues on both sides should now remain silent
for the sake of the interest of this country. Enosis and Taksim have now been a
dream for both sides. There is no reason why the two elements, who have lived
as friends and brothers in Cyprus for centuries, should not live the same way
from now on...
As a result, in order to eliminate the political
unrest in the country, the Enosis and Taksim theses must be left aside and
those in power must prevent threats and intimidation and give up actions such
as partisan treatment of citizens.”
Giving importance to Turkish language
In the article
titled “Theme of the Week: On Television” on the front page of Cumhuriyet dated
6 February 1961 (Issue: 26), Haşmet M. Gürkan stated that a separate “Turkish
Broadcasting Directorate” should be established on television, as in radio. He
emphasized and said, “I guess there is no
other way to improve Turkish programs and raise them to a quality level.”
In the article
titled “Far-fetched Turkish” on the 4th page of the newspaper dated 5 March
1962, it was complained that the official newspaper did not show the necessary
respect for Turkish, and therefore it stated that words that do not comply with
the Turkish legal language were used in the text of a law dated 1 March. It was
emphasized that “legal texts should bear clear and precise expressions.” The
article warned:
“Since attention is not paid to writing the language
in its best form, texts full of grammatical errors in Turkish are published as
law... It is time to prevent them from making further disrespect for our
language.”
“The duty of the press”
Ayhan Hikmet’s
article in the issue of Cumhuriyet newspaper dated 2 October 1961 had the title
“The Duty of the Press” where the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot press were
accused of “incitement”. Ayhan Hikmet included the following views in his
article:
“For the future of the country, the entire Cypriot
press, both Turkish and Greek, has a great responsibility: It will bring peace
and tranquility to the country, it will pave the way for economic development,
it will provide the greatest service in eliminating poverty. Today, every
Cypriot, whether Turkish or Greek, poor or rich, young or old, expects this
duty from the press. Today, with all our sincerity and good will, we call out
to all local press, Turkish and Greek, to establish friendly relations, and we
continue to publish within the framework of previously reached agreements, away
from any kind of provocation, and taking into account the high interests of the
country and communities. The interests of our country expect this from us.”
The newspaper’s
headline dated 16 October1961 was as follows: “Intercommunal relations should
not be undermined. Issues of disagreement and tension should first be addressed
by the authorities.”
The headline of
the newspaper dated 23 October 1961 had the following warnings: “The Turkish
quarter should not be isolated from other elements. Let us know how to defend
our rights with dignity, not with exuberance.”
In the news, Dr.
Küçük made a call for Greek Cypriot tradesmen to return to the central market
of Nicosia, whereas Denktaş’s statement to Bozkurt newspaper that “if they
return, serious incidents will occur” was criticized. The news in the headline
ended with the following wish: “It will
be ensured that Turkish quarters become regions where various elements come
together and shopping increases to an ideal level, as before.”
The news under
this headline in “Cumhuriyet” of the same date was as follows: “Is our community being dragged into new
adventures? Destroying the Zurich and London Agreements would mean the
destruction of our community.”
In the news, it
was stated that three Turkish Cypriot ministers held a meeting with their
senior officials in the previous week and suggested that they should not listen
to the Greek Cypriot chiefs and ministers and that a kind of civil disobedience
campaign should be launched, and the opinion was expressed that “Common sense
has prevailed for now.”
Warnings to the Greek Cypriot press
In a comment
titled “Eleftheria’s Strange Attitude” published in Cumhuriyet on 6 November
1961, the newspaper wrote a comment that after the Greek general elections, the
Greek Cypriot people together with the Greek government and opposition should
demand a foreign policy that targets the reconsideration of the “strange Zurich
and London agreements on the basis of “justice and morality” and it continued
as follows:
“The fanatical circles that want this to be done today
may also want the agreements to be terminated tomorrow. We are not going to
claim that the Zurich agreement is perfect. But it is a fact that this
agreement provided Cyprus first with peace and then with independence. The
London agreement and the constitution prepared later provided the opportunity
for the two main communities in Cyprus to join hands and establish a
self-governing state on the lands they own. The one-year history of the
Republic of Cyprus has shown that the Republic is capable of survival, despite
various internal and external negative influences, suggestions and
provocations. “It was the Zurich agreement that provided the appropriate
environment for the Republic to survive.”
The commentary
article said that Eleftheria newspaper should “desist from negative
publications” and ended as follows:
“Those who do not want painful and dark times to begin
again in these beautiful lands, where peace came late, must respect the Zurich
agreement, just by looking at its peaceful character.”
In Cumhuriyet
dated 13 November 1961 (Issue: 66), criticisms of Greek Cypriot newspapers were
continued under the following headings: “No digging in ashes Mahi”, “What does
Eleftheria say to this”, “When it comes to them” (to Eleftheria’s article),
“Opinions that do not agree with the facts” (to Kypros’s article).
The headline of
the newspaper dated 20 November 1961 was as follows: “Our pure advice to Dr. Spiridakis
is not to blur the atmosphere of the country for the sake of political success.
Attacking the agreements while defending the Greek Community Chamber is
incompatible with political maturity.”
Crisis in the House of Representatives
The headline of
Cumhuriyet dated 25 December 1961 was “The Income Tax Bill could not be passed”
and the following warning was made:
“While the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot people
are struggling with the economic crisis, members of the House of Representatives
should not try to create a political crisis. What is expected from political
office holders is to act with restraint. The spirit of the Vice President’s
statement is such that it can set an example for those in charge of the
government.
Let us state in advance that today’s political crisis
is caused by, on the one hand, some chauvinistic Greek (-Cypriot) deputies, who
are in the complex of “Are we going to say yes to every request of the Turks?”
and, on the other hand, it is the result of the stubborn attitudes of some
Turkish members, who act under the directives of well-known circles with their
ideas and actions that hinder the normal functioning of the Republican regime.
How sad it is that even the efforts of Berberoğlu, a Turkish member known for
his constructive ideas and actions, could not affect this stubborn attitude.
(…) What adds a bigger link to this chain of mistakes is, of course, the
chauvinistically written articles of the “Ethniki” newspaper, the organ of the
Greek (-Cypriot) opposition party.”
The headline of
the newspaper dated 1 January 1962 (Issue: 73) was “The strange situation
caused by the non-passage of the Income Tax Bill” and the following warning was
made:
“The government mechanism will be disrupted and the
citizens will pay double taxes. “We invite the members of the House of
Representatives to fulfil their duties towards the people.”
Cumhuriyet
newspaper used the following headline in its issue dated 8 January 1962 (Issue:
74):
“Logic, not emotion, should dominate the President’s
words... The Cypriot press should seriously focus on the country’s issues.”
The news stated
that Makarios, in his speech at a religious institution meeting, said that the
Cyprus Agreements were a stepping stone to victory and that he would try to
change the constitution, and that he laid the groundwork for trade unions to
send a telegram to the UN and demand a reconsideration of the 70-30 percent
ratio. The newspaper ended its news with the following words: “The duty of the Cypriot press, which is
responsible for shedding positive light on general opinion, is to avoid all
kinds of publications that may incite unrest in our country.”
In the article
titled “Yorgadjis’s unforgivable blunder” published in Cumhuriyet dated 12
February 1962, it was announced that the Minister of Internal Affairs gave a
speech at an opening ceremony in Limassol that hurt the feelings of the Turkish
Cypriot community and was full of accusations about the Turkish nation. A week
later, Haşmet M. Gürkan, in his column titled “We are fed up”, made the
following warning: “Politicians in
responsible positions should put aside the war of words and resolve the issues
at the table.”
In the news
titled “Public disorder must be prevented” in the same newspaper, the following
warnings were made: “It is reported that
some Turkish street vendors who went to Greek neighbourhoods to shop were
insulted and expelled by some Greek youth... The Police Commander and the
Minister of Internal Affairs did not deny these news, otherwise, are the police
incapable?”
In the issue of
Cumhuriyet newspaper dated 19 February 1962, an article titled “On the occasion
of Küçük’s application to the Constitutional Court” stated the following: “He applied to the Supreme Constitutional
Court, claiming that neither he nor the Turkish ministers were given the right
to speak on many issues related to the foreign policy of Cyprus. The
development of inter-communal relations cannot be served by ignoring the
Turkish officials in the government of the Republic.”
The headline of
the newspaper dated 12 March 1962 was as follows: “President Makarios and the Vice President will meet again. Does
rapprochement between communities come at the expense of curtailing some
freedoms?” The news continued as follows: “The meeting that Makarios and Küçük
held a week ago was the first meeting that led to inter-communal rapprochement.
They will meet again this week and thoroughly review some pending issues
between the two communities.”
There was
another warning at the end of the news: “Achieving intercommunal peace at the
expense of citizens’ freedom of thought and speech can never be considered a
gain for the country.”
In the issue of
Cumhuriyet newspaper dated 26 March 1962, there was the following important
news: “As a result of the assault at
Bayraktar and Ömerge mosques, Bayraktar’s tomb was destroyed and the minaret
suffered significant damage. We strongly condemn this heinous assault.” (…) “As
a newspaper that longs for the positive development of relations between the
two communities, we strongly condemn the confusing mentality that creates these
encroachments that constitute a conspiracy against the inter-communal
relations.”
Pressures and threats to the newspaper and its writers
In the article
titled “Oppressors and Idealists” published on the front page of the newspaper
and without any signature, in its issue dated 18 September 1961, “Cumhuriyet”
announced that “the distribution of the newspaper and the sharing of its ideas
were wanted to be prevented.”
The statements
in the relevant paragraph referring to the publications of “Nacak” newspaper,
the voice of the Turkish Cypriot leadership, were as follows: “Well-known oppressive and terrorist circles
have launched a new campaign against the “Cumhuriyet”. Their aim is to prevent
the “Cumhuriyet” from being read, distributed, and the ideas it wrote from
being disseminated at all costs.”
Under the
newspaper’s headline dated 1 January 1962 (Issue: 73), it was noted under the
title “Citizen, be alert: Terrorism is on the loose” that there was an attempt
to damage Lawyer Ayhan Hikmet’s car on the night of 28 December. On the 2nd page, Ayhan Hikmet’s article had
the title “The road to fascism”.
Haşmet M. Gürkan
wrote the following in his article titled “Because of the Extremists” in Cumhuriyet
dated 9 April 1962: “As a newspaper that
sees the fact that there are extremist elements on both sides we already
started a struggle with them for the sake of the interests of the country and
community. We would like to point out the diagnosis of Mr. President (given as
a statement to the Istanbul newspaper).”
Two lawyers were killed and the opposition was
silenced
Regarding the
bombs placed on Ömerge and Bayraktar Mosques, Cumhuriyet made the following
call in its last issue dated 23 April 1962 (Issue: 89) under the title
“Citizens should say what they know”:
“It is essential that the citizens who have
information about these events should report them to the Investigation
Commission without hesitation, for the sake of our country and the establishment
of peace on our island.”
In the article
titled “We remind Nacak” published in the same newspaper, it was said:
“Yes, we repeat: Everyone with common sense has
guessed who the low, mean and sold-out guy responsible for the bomb incidents
is. The day is near when the mask on this scoundrel’s face will be taken off.
And when that day comes, we will be the ones who will be able to state with
certainty that the Turkish (-Cypriot) community cannot be held responsible for
these despicable bomb incidents.”
On the night
that these lines appeared in the newspaper, Ahmet Gürkan, who arrived home with
his car at around 20:30, was shot and killed with an automatic weapon. Later at
night, around 01:45, Ayhan Hikmet was shot to death with a hunting rifle in his
bed at home, in front of his wife’s eyes. From now on, all the opposing voices
that existed within the Turkish Cypriot community were buried in a deep
silence!
Contributor:
Ahmet Cavit An
is a retired paediatrician by profession and has written since 1971 many
articles and studies on the Cyprus problem and the history of the island in
various newspapers and journals in Istanbul and Nicosia. He published 25 books
(in Turkish) in Cyprus and in Turkey about the history of the Turkish Cypriots
in the political and cultural field.
(This paper was read at the international conference on “The Period of Co-Existence of Greeks and Turks in Cyprus (1960-1963)”, which was held in Nicosia on 1 – 2 December 2023 by the Cyprus Society of Historical Studies in collaboration with the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, and the School of Law, University of Nicosia.)
