The secret of a 60-year-old photograph: Denktaş's former advisor explains

The resistance shown by TMT Mujahideen in Cyprus against Greek gangs also features in the archives. Sabahattin İsmail, former advisor to the Founding President of the TRNC Rauf Denktaş, shared the story of one of the historical frames from those days on his social media account.

In his social media post, Sabahattin İsmail wrote the story of one of the symbolic photographs of the resistance shown by Turkish Cypriots against Greek gangs. Stating that the photograph, taken by photographer Don McCullin during the 1964 Bloody Christmas attacks, also won an award, İsmail wrote the following:

"The story of the award-winning photograph by British war correspondent Don McCullin, which immortalized the 1964 Limassol resistance:

Upon the start of the Bloody Christmas attacks in 1964, Don McCullin, a young war photographer, comes to Cyprus. On February 10, 1964, the Greeks who attacked the Turkish quarter in Limassol encounter a great resistance put up by the TMT, street by street, house by house. The attacks, which lasted until February 13, are repelled. 10 TMT members and civilians are martyred.

During the resistance, amidst a hail of bullets, Don McCullin immortalizes TMT member Enver Korkmaz, who is running to another position with a Sten submachine gun in his hand from the back door of the Limassol Şahin cinema, with the photograph frame below. The TMT member standing at the door with an infantry rifle in his hand is Refet Hulusi. Enver Korkmaz is wearing a raincoat because the weather is cold and rainy. Under the trench coat, his jacket and tie are visible. In the other photograph below, Enver Korkmaz (with a hat and tie) is resisting with 2 other TMT members at a street corner to prevent the Greeks from entering the Turkish quarter. The TMT member holding an infantry rifle is Muharrem Besim, and the elderly resistance fighter holding a shotgun is Raşid Barudi.

Heroic TMT members who did not take off their ties, white shirts, or jackets even in war, and who went to their deaths with their ties on. Don McCullin wins the photo of the year award with this. Retired police sergeant Enver Korkmaz is now approaching 80 years old and lives in Famagusta. Don McCullin explains how he took this photograph in the documentary titled "War Wounds: Don McCullin on Photography", which is available on YouTube. You can watch the documentary on YouTube."