According to the 1960 census, the inhabitants of the three villages were entirely
Turkish Cypriots.[16] The total population of Maratha and Santalaris was 207.[17] By 1973, the total population of the villages had risen to 270, with 124 in Maratha, 100 in Santalaris and 46 in Aloda. However, in July 1974, following the first
Turkish invasion of Cyprus, all men of fighting age were taken away as
prisoners of war to internment camps in
Famagusta and from there transferred to
Limassol.[18][19]
Massacre
On 20 July 1974, the men of the villages were arrested by EOKA-B and sent to
Limassol. Following this, according to testimonials cited by
Sevgül Uludağ, EOKA-B men from the neighboring village of
Peristeronopigi came, got drunk in the camp they established in the village coffeehouse, fired shots in the air, and subsequently raped many women and young girls. The rape later included the boys and this continued till 14 August 1974. Upon the launch of the second invasion of the
Turkish Army, they decided not to leave behind any witnesses and killed the entire population of the villages present at the time.[20][21]
In Maratha and Santalaris, 84-89 were killed. The Turkish
imam of Maratha stated that there were 90 people in the village prior to the massacre, and only six people were left.[22] Elderly people and children were also killed during the massacre.[7] Only three people were able to escape from the massacre in Aloda.[1] The inhabitants of the three villages were buried in mass graves with a
bulldozer. The villagers of Maratha and Santalaris were buried in the same grave.[1]
Associated Press described the corpses as "so battered and decomposed that they crumbled to pieces when soldiers lifted them from the garbage with shovels".[22]Milliyet reported that parts of the bodies had been chopped off and sharp tools, as well as machine guns had been used in the massacre.[23]
According to Greek Cypriot writer and researcher Tony Angastiniotis, at least one of the attackers used a mainland Greek accent, which suggested that he was a Greek officer.[24]
Reactions
The
United Nations described the massacre as a
crime against humanity, by saying "constituting a further crime against humanity committed by the Greek and Greek Cypriot gunmen."[25] The massacre was reported by international media, including The Guardian and The Times.[26]
Rauf Denktaş put off a meeting with Greek Cypriots after the mass grave was uncovered.[27]
^L'Événement du jeudi, Issues 543-547 (1995), S.A. L'Evénement du jeudi,
p. 45(in French)
^Documents officiels, United Nations: "Only three of the inhabitants of Atlilar (Aloa) survived this massacre. For the defenceless inhabitants of the villages of Murataga (Maratha) and Sandallar (Sandallaris)..."
^
abPaul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007,
ISBN978-1-84545-228-5,
p. 237.
^Gilles de Rapper, Pierre Sintès. Nommer et classer dans les Balkans (2008), French School of Athens,
p.263: "le massacre des villages turcs de Tochni (entre Larnaka et Limassol), Maratha, Santalaris et Aloda"
^Paul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007,
ISBN978-1-84545-228-5,
p. 69.
^Oberling, Pierre (1989). The Cyprus Tragedy. K. Rustem & Brother. p. 27.
ISBN9963-565-18-2.
^Encyclopedia of U.S. foreign relations. Jentleson, Bruce W., 1951-, Paterson, Thomas G., 1941-, Ριζόπουλος, Νικόλας Χ. New York: Oxford University Press. 1997.
ISBN0-19-511055-2.
OCLC34557986.{{
cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (
link)
^Jaques, Tony. (2007). Dictionary of battles and sieges : a guide to 8,500 battles from antiquity through the twenty-first century. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
ISBN978-0-313-02799-4.
OCLC230808376.
^Coufoudakis, Van (1982). "Cyprus and the European Convention on Human Rights: The Law and Politics of Cyprus v. Turkey, Applications 6780/74 and 6950/75". Human Rights Quarterly. 4 (4): 450–473.
doi:
10.2307/762205.
ISSN0275-0392.
JSTOR762205.
^European Commission of Human Rights. Applications nos. 6780/74 and 6950/75, Cyprus against Turkey : report of the Commission. Council of Europe.
OCLC1084656036.
^"İkinci Katliam", Milliyet, 2 September 1974, p. 10.
^Asmussen, Jan. Cyprus at war: diplomacy and conflict during the 1974 crisis (2008), I.B. Tauris, p. 349: "Angastiniotis relates that at least one of the attackers had spoken with a mainland Greek accent suggesting that he had been a junior mainland officer."
^UN monthly chronicle, Volume 11 (1974), United Nations, Office of Public Information,
p. 98
^Clement Henry Dodd, The political, social and economic development of Northern Cyprus (1993), Eothen Press,
p. 101