Documents from state archives: How Turkey went on alert during the Cyprus Peace Operation

According to information from the Presidential State Archives on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, the documents stored in the archives contain details of the oppression, persecution, and embargo imposed by Greek Cypriots on Turkish Cypriots during the 11-year period between 1963 and 1974, as well as the process leading up to the peace operation.

Details regarding the atrocities committed by Greek Cypriots against Turkish Cypriots are conveyed in detail in a report submitted to the prime minister of the time on August 11, 1964.

In the report, information regarding events on the island stands out, such as "Greek Cypriots opening fire on Turkish villages, food running out in the villages of Poli and Paphos, a truck driver delivering supplies being martyred and blocked, and Greek Cypriots firing on Turkish positions with silenced weapons at the Paphos gate in Nicosia."

The report also includes other details describing the chaos on the island, such as the burning of Turkish-owned businesses by Greek Cypriots and the rejection of food items sent to Turkish villages by the Turkish Red Crescent after they were rendered unusable.

Faced with increasingly inhumane massacres in Cyprus, Turkey exercised its right of intervention as a guarantor state on July 20, 1974, and the Turkish Armed Forces began the Cyprus Peace Operation by land, sea, and air.

In the decree signed by President Fahri Korutürk and members of the Council of Ministers, published one day before the operation on July 19, 1974, the following statements were included:

"Due to recent developments in Cyprus, it was decided by the Council of Ministers on July 19, 1974, to authorize the Prime Minister to order the Turkish Armed Forces to carry out an actual intervention against Cyprus to exercise the right of legitimate defense in accordance with the permission granted by the Grand National Assembly's decision No. 148 dated 17.11.1967, Article 3 of the Treaty of Guarantee, and Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and to take action against Greece in the event of an aggression by that state."

ALL ALARMS ACTIVATED, MOBILIZATION DECLARED

In another decree published on the same day, it was decided that, due to the situation forced by the events unfolding in Cyprus, simple, reinforced, and general alarms belonging to the official alarm system would be put into effect at times deemed appropriate by the General Staff, with all their measures, starting from 00:01 on July 19, 1974, in order to provide further capabilities for the war readiness of the Turkish Armed Forces.

With the decree published on July 20, 1974, the day the operation began, it was decided to "declare general mobilization" to meet the needs likely to arise during the continuation of the operation due to the emergence of a situation requiring war as a result of the events in Cyprus, to provide for personnel needs at the start of the operation according to special call-up plans to be implemented by the orders of the General Staff in accordance with the National Alarm System Directive, and to put into effect the necessary articles of the National Defense Obligation Law with orders to be given by the General Staff.

News Source: 12punto