A certain part of us is making every effort to join the Republic of Cyprus, which was usurped by the Greeks, with the support of the USA, Russia and the European Economic Community (EEC), at the UN on March 4, 1964, by the abolition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Their so-called targets are to receive a salary in Euros, to hand over our freedom and sovereignty first to the Greek Cypriots and then to the EU, to live happily as a minority in the EU.
In order to make our people accept these goals, they receive money from the EU under the guise of contributing to their activities through the associations they have established, and they are putting before our citizens what we will gain if they unite with the Greeks. In our schools, some teachers tell our little children about our national struggle and the genocide we suffered, and they tell us about the dream that we will gain something if we unite with the Greeks, but they never say that we will lose our freedom and sovereignty, and that we will live under the rule of the Greeks as a "minority" deprived of all rights, just like in Western Thrace.
My own personal experiences and experiences give me clues about what will happen in United Cyprus. It is unlikely that it will happen, but if it does, it is certain that the views of the Greeks, "we are the majority, it is our right to rule the island" that they have been expressing for almost 2 centuries, will painfully materialize.
What I will tell you is my experience. And I live the comment to you...
At the beginning of the 1970s, there were an estimated 20 duty-free shops "Duty Free" in the free zone in Famagusta Port. Almost all of them belonged to the Greeks. A single shop was run by a Turk. The price was the same in all stores, since no store could sell a carton of cigarettes at a wholesale price of 20 shillings and a retail price of 22 shillings for a lower price because the profit margin was so low.
The Turkish store owner suddenly realized that even Turkish ships never arrived. He surprised. After doing some research, he learned that the Chikko Monastery had instructed the Greek store owners to reduce the retail price to 20 shillings by paying the difference. After our Turkish compatriot's shop went bankrupt and the square was left to them due to the loss of customers, the cigarette prices were 24 shillings and the 2 shillings subsidized by the Chikko monastery were repaid to the monastery. The intervention of the Chikko Monastery, the center of the Greek Orthodox Church, to sink and bankrupt this Turkish store, was an indication of how cruelly the Greeks treated the Turks in economic life.
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While I was working as a civil engineer in Famagusta before the Peace Operation, I made the static calculations of the 10-storey building, which is used as a dormitory today, opposite the Ordu Evi in Maraş, and I carried out the control engineering during the construction. Meşşios, the contractor who undertook the construction, would ask me for help when he had a shortage of masters and workers. I, too, would recruit masters and workers from Turks living in Famagusta and help reduce the labor shortage. Over time, the number of Turks working in construction increased significantly and things started to gain momentum. One morning, EOKA's manager for the Famagusta region came to the construction site and instructed the contractor Meşşios to fire all Turks. All the Turks were fired that day, and I was told that there was no need to control the construction and that I should not come to the construction site. I was fired…
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My life based experiences are not over...
In 1972, when the Municipality of Famagusta (Greek) opened a civil engineer or architect position to work in public works, I applied because I had the qualifications to meet all the requirements. I was registered with the Chamber of Engineers and Architects of the Republic of Cyprus, I had the right to sign, I knew English and Greek and I was residing in Famagusta. Apart from me, there was only one person suitable for the qualifications sought: the architect Constantinos Lordos, son of the famous Lordos family.
Since Constantinos Lordos, the son of one of the wealthiest families in Cyprus, did not need such a job, he did not apply.
On the first business day after the closing day of the vacancy, I went to the city hall to discuss the details and conditions of the job I was going to do with the mayor, making sure I was hired. After waiting at the door for about 4 and a half hours (because I am Turkish), President Bambos accepted me. After I asked the questions in my mind, the mayor stood up, came towards me with both hands wide open and said, “Gray (Mr.) Atun, you are exactly the man I was looking for. You comply with all conditions. It will be a great pleasure for us to work with you. Look, Glafkos Clerides and Rauf R. Denktaş are discussing the Cyprus issue. Let the negotiations end with an agreement, come the next day and start your work" and put me in front of the door. It's been exactly 50 years. Negotiations are still ongoing. If I were Greek, I would have been hired the same day. But I have a contract, if I'm alive on the day the negotiations end with a deal, I will go to Bambos' grave and say, "I came here to start the job you promised me, Bambos in Grey."
Here is the future that awaits us in “United Cyprus”, to experience similar events, to be in a minority position in all conditions and places…
Let this article be dedicated to people, organizations and non-governmental organizations that cooperate with the Greek Cypriots and the dream of the union of Cyprus with the EU.