Türkiye on Sunday commemorated Turkish Cypriots who were killed 62 years ago during the “Bloody Christmas” massacre carried out by members of the Greek Cypriot terrorist organisation EOKA in 1963.
“We commemorate with mercy all our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the barbaric attacks by Greek Cypriots, and we honour our veterans with deep respect,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement shared on the country’s social media platform NSosyal.
The statement also underscored that Türkiye would never forget the “martyrs who sacrificed their lives” for the “national cause in Cyprus.”
Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz also paid tribute to the victims, describing Bloody Christmas as “an indelible black stain in history.”
In a post on NSosyal, Yilmaz said the massacre symbolised EOKA’s attempts to eliminate Turkish Cypriots and occupy the island, but added that the effort failed, “thanks to the determined resistance of the Turkish Cypriot people, standing shoulder to shoulder with Motherland Türkiye.”
Yilmaz commemorated those who lost their lives in the massacres, as well as Turkish Cypriot leader Fazil Kucuk and founding President Rauf Raif Denktas, saying: “Türkiye and the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) will stand shoulder to shoulder forever.”