Cyprus veteran finds the weapon he used in the operation 50 years later

70-year-old Fikri Özer, President of the Turkey Martyrs and Veterans Foundation, who participated in the Cyprus Peace Operation as a sharpshooter, returned to the lands where he fought 50 years after the Peace Operation carried out on July 20, 1974. Visiting the unit where he completed his 16-month military service in Cyprus, Özer found the machine gun he had used during the operation. The veteran, who still remembered the serial number by heart, posed for a commemorative photo with the machine gun years later.

Turkey Martyrs and Veterans Foundation President Fikri Özer served for 4 months in Manisa during his basic training. Although he heard that war had broken out in Cyprus while he was performing his military service, he thought it would calm down again, just like the tension in 1963. After they remained on alert for a week, a list of soldiers to be sent to Cyprus arrived, and Özer was deployed to Cyprus. After the completion of the Cyprus Peace Operation on July 20, 1974, he served for another 16 months in Cyprus before returning to his hometown as a veteran.

HE WENT TO CYPRUS FOR A MEDAL AFTER 50 YEARS

Unable to return to the lands where he fought for various reasons, Özer went to Cyprus 50 years later to receive a medal. Revisiting the places where he fought years later, Özer also visited the unit where he served for 16 months. When he told the unit commanders there that he still remembered the serial number of the machine gun he used during the operation by heart, the weapons in the inventory were checked. Upon the unit commanders telling him that the weapon was still in use, Özer could not hold back his tears. He posed for a photo again 50 years later with the weapon he never left his side during the operation.

Turkey Martyrs and Veterans Foundation President Fikri Özer stated that when he first heard they would be sent to Cyprus during his military service, he thought the situation would be resolved, but when it continued, he went to the Cyprus Peace Operation. Describing the process of being called to the operation, Özer said:

“After 4 months of basic training, the sounds of war grew louder. The Junta and EOKA in Cyprus had begun to persecute the Cypriot people together. We went to war with the decision of the late Bülent Ecevit and Necmettin Erbakan. I went from Manisa to Ankara. There was a distribution there, and I came to Kırıkkale. I was a machine gunner in Kırıkkale. There was something like an alarm, and they woke us up at 3 a.m. We stayed outside for a week, then they told us there would be a war, but we couldn't believe it.

'WE COULD NOT LIFT OUR HEADS DUE TO THE FIRE'

When we arrived in Mersin, we thought the events would be resolved and 'we would return.' Because the same thing had happened in 1963. But around 03:30 or 04:00 at night, lists arrived and names were read out. They selected 130 of us as sharpshooters. At 05:00, we set foot in Cyprus with special helicopters. In the morning, we couldn't lift our heads due to the fire coming from here and there. We climbed the Five Finger Mountains and stayed for 3-5 days; we were like prisoners. There were Greek soldiers below us and Greek soldiers above us; we couldn't move.

'IF IT HAD LASTED 1 MORE HOUR, WE WOULD HAVE TAKEN ALL OF CYPRUS'

We cleared those areas, went down, and rested. The second operation began again between August 14-16. If the operation had lasted 1 more hour, we would have taken all of Cyprus. We had 198 martyrs in the first landing, but we succeeded together. We reached the Larnaca border with all our teams. We set up positions in Larnaca; we were on one hill and the Greeks were on another. A ceasefire was signed, and we stopped. After the war ended, I remained a soldier there for 16 months. They gave us a 10-day reward leave; my father was sick at the time, so I went to be with him. Then our military service ended and I returned,” he said.