Μαρτυρία Τουρκοκυπρίου για εν ψυχρώ σφαγιασμό 320 Ελληνοκυπρίων αιχμαλώτων το 1974. Μια νέα συγκλονιστική μαρτυρία Τουρκοκυπρίου για εν ψυχρώ σφαγή 320 Ελληνοκυπρίων αιχμαλώτων κατά την εισβολή του 1974 δημοσιεύει σήμερα η τουρκοκυπριακή εφημερίδα «Αφρίκα».

Σύμφωνα με την εφημερίδα, ο Τουρκοκύπριος δήλωσε ότι ήταν ένας από τους συνοδούς των αιχμαλώτων, που μεταφέρθηκαν με οκτώ λεωφορεία -40 αιχμάλωτοι στο κάθε λεωφορείο- στο σημείο όπου είχε γίνει η απόβαση, δυτικά της Κερύνειας, προκειμένου να μεταφερθούν με πλοία σε φυλακές της Τουρκίας.

Όταν έφθασαν εκεί είχε καταπλεύσει ένα πλοίο με Τούρκους στρατιώτες, οι οποίοι μόλις αποβιβάστηκαν και πληροφορήθηκαν ότι στα λεωφορεία βρίσκονταν Ελληνοκύπριοι αιχμάλωτοι, τους επιτέθηκαν με ξιφολόγχες και τους σκότωσαν με αγριότητα, μέχρι και τον τελευταίο.

Ο Τουρκοκύπριος δήλωσε ότι η θάλασσα βάφτηκε κόκκινη από το αίμα των αιχμαλώτων. Είπε επίσης ότι και ο ίδιος φοβήθηκε για τη ζωή του γιατί η μανία των Τούρκων στρατιωτών ήταν τόση που υπήρχε κίνδυνος να σφάξουν και τους Τουρκοκύπριους που συνόδευαν τους Ελληνοκύπριους αιχμάλωτους.

Ο αυτόπτης μάρτυρας, που δεν θέλησε να αποκαλυφθεί το όνομά του, δήλωσε ότι οι 320 Ελληνοκύπριοι αιχμάλωτοι ίσως να τάφηκαν σε κάποιο χώρο κοντά στο ξενοδοχείο Μάρε Μόντε, το οποίο είχε λειτουργήσει λίγους μόνο μήνες πριν από την εισβολή.

Στη μαρτυρία του ο Τουρκοκύπριος ανέφερε ότι η σφαγή έγινε στα τέλη Αυγούστου του 1974, δηλαδή λίγες μέρες μετά την ολοκλήρωση της δεύτερης φάσης της τουρκικής εισβολής. Πρόκειται για το μεγαλύτερο αριθμό εν ψυχρώ δολοφονηθέντων Ελληνοκυπρίων αιχμαλώτων, που έχει καταγραφεί με μαρτυρία.

By Kathimerini

The outsized skinhead beside me at the luggage-carousel in Paphos Airport seemed like the kind of British holidaymaker you hope you never meet. Off the same charter flight from Gatwick were several others with identical shaven pates, tattooed necks and truculent scowls, all swigging beer from cans. When our bags were delayed, I wondered if my first visit to Cyprus would begin with an ugly bout of exported soccer hooliganism.

Actually, the whole group couldn’t have been nicer or more patient. As an empty conveyor belt still trundled past, my dangerous-looking neighbour’s only reaction was to break into song. And it wasn’t ”Ere we go, ‘ere we go, ‘ere we go!’ but an old Hollies hit from the Sixties, On A Carousel.

Though I didn’t realise, I was already witnessing the Paphos effect. Maybe it is down to the 8,000 years of variegated religion and romantic mythology that you can feel in the sunlight and the sea air. Maybe it is just because Cyprus at this westerly point is so specially beautiful and the people are so unforcedly kind and hospitable…

Read more »

A team from football minnow Cyprus destroys Danish champion’s 100 million kroner European dream. FC Copenhagen’s Champions League dream came crashing down last night, as it dropped the second leg of its matchup with Nicosia Apoel FC.

FCK lost 3-1 to the team from Cyprus to lose 3-2 on aggregate, and is out of the tournament. Playing in front of a raucous Cypriot crowd, FCK was made to look second-rate in a game it was expected to cruise through on its way to the tournament’s group stage. FCK’s defence was decidedly flat, with the usually reliable Zdenek Pospech and Oscar Wendt playing their worst matches in recent memory. Mikael Antonsson continued to have his problems cooperating with the other defenders.

The 19-year-old Mathias Zanka Jørgensen was the only one to justify his place in the starting back four but worked in vain to keep the Apoel forwards away from goalkeeper Jesper Christiansen. The Cypriots wasted no time in informing the visitors that they were in for a dogfight, scoring a minute and a half into the match. Then Pospech committed a terrible foul in the box, taking down Marios Elia in the 18th minute for a penalty kick that the home team converted to take a 2-0 lead.

Dame N’Doye played a solid match for FCK, scoring in the 22nd minute to cut the lead in half. But a goal to Chrysostomos Michail before halftime gave Apoel a 3-1 lead. A scoreless second half sealed FCK’s fate. There’s no question this is my biggest disappointment ever as a head coach,’ Ståle Solbakken told B.T. newspaper after the match. ‘But when it comes down to it, it’s my responsibility and I’m really, really sorry about the result.’ Team owner Flemming Østergaard was on hand to watch a probable 100 million-plus kroner payoff from group play qualification go down the drain.

‘I’m extremely disappointed. We were very weak and never in the game,’ he said. FCK is, however, still alive in European competition, as the loss sends it directly to the Europa Cup competition’s group round. ‘Now we have to wish OB and Brøndby good luck so we can get three teams in the Europa Cup group play,’ said Østergard. Odense and Brøndby play their second leg Europa Cup matches tonight against Genoa and Hertha Berlin, respectively.

By CPH

Firefighters are battling a huge blaze outside villages in Paphos. The fire has so far resulted in a mass evacuation of residents, many of whom are elderly.

Three helicopters and a firefighting plane are being used to combat the fire, as well as ground forces assisted by local residents. Inhabitants of the tiny Houlou and Lemona villages were rushed to safety yesterday after the fire broke out in nearby Houlou at around 3.30pm. Latest reports suggest the blaze is approaching the outskirts of nearby Lemona and spreading towards the villages of Statos and Ayios Photios.

By FG