List of massacres in Cyprus

Summary

The following is a list of massacres that have occurred in Cyprus:

Name Date Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
Jewish massacre of Greeks[1] 117 CE mainly Salamis 240,000[a] Jewish rebels After the revolt had been fully defeated, laws were created forbidding any Jews to live on the island.
Massacre in Lefkara 1570 Lefkara 400 Venetian army against Cypriots of village[2][3]
Massacre in Nicosia[4] September 9, 1570 Nicosia 20,000[5] Ottoman army The city was looted following its fall to Ottomans, the figure is an estimation of deaths.
9 July Massacre of Greek-Cypriots[6] July 9, 1821 Nicosia 486 Ottoman army Hundreds of prominent Greek-Cypriots including Archbishop Kyprianos were executed by the Ottoman Turks during the Massacres of the Greek War of Independence.
Massacre of Greek-Cypriot unarmed civilians June 12, 1958 Kioneli 8 Turkish Cypriot Civilians On June 12, 1958, eight Greek-Cypriots out of an armed group of thirty five were killed by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, after having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos in suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura.[7] Part of Cypriot intercommunal violence
Monasteri massacre 1 January 1964 Mosfiloti 3 Turks of Cyprus Turks attacked a monastery massacring three unarmed Greek monks with shotguns and injuring additional four. [8]
Limassol massacre 13 February 1964 Limassol 16 Greek Cypriots The Greeks and Greek Cypriots used tanks to attack and massacre the Turkish Cypriot quarter of Limassol, killing 16 people while injuring 35.[9]
Bloody Christmas 21–31 December 1963 Nicosia 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots[10] Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots Greek Cypriot irregulars committed a massacre in Omorphita, killing Turkish Cypriot women and children indiscriminately.[11][12] 25,000 Turkish Cypriots fled and were displaced into enclaves.[13] Thousands of Turkish Cypriot homes were ransacked or destroyed 364 Turkish and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed in total, Around 1,200 Armenian and 500 Greek Cypriots were also displaced as a result.[14][15]
Massacre in Famagusta May 12, 1964 Famagusta 17 Greek Cypriot militia The event happened as an act of revenge for the killing of 2 Cypriot soldiers and 1 police in city at 11 May.[16][17]
Massacre in Akrotiri and Dhekelia May 13, 1964 Akrotiri and Dhekelia 11 Greek Cypriot police forces and civilians The massacre was committed as an act of revenge for the killing of 2 Cypriot soldiers and 1 police officer in Famagusta on 11 May.[18][16]
Massacre in Alaminos[19] July 20, 1974 Alaminos 13 or 14[20][21] Greek Cypriot militia 183 Turkish Cypriots and 350 Greek Cypriots used to live in town before massacre. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Massacre in Sysklipos[22] August 3, 1974 Sysklipos 14 Turkish Cypriot militia and Turkish army 14 Greek Cypriots were killed in a house and their bodies were buried in a mass grave on August 3, and those who remained at the village disappeared on August 26, they are still missing. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre August 14, 1974 Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda 126 EOKA B Almost all of the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the villages were killed and their bodies were battered. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Tochni massacre[23] August 14, 1974 Tochni 84 EOKA B EOKA B took 85 hostages from the village of Tochni and the nearby village of Zygi, mainly men and minor boys who were 13 years old, to the village of Palodia for execution with automatic guns. One of them managed to escape.[24][25][26][27][28][23][29][17] Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Massacre in Prastio August 16, 1974 Prastio, Famagusta 8 Turkish army Execution of eight civilians who were taken prisoner by Turkish soldiers. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[30] Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Massacres of the people of Asha August, 1974 Asha and Sinta 83-84 Turkish army 17-18 men were taken to Sinta as prisoners of war and they were shot there. Other villagers were deported in two buses and they were shot on the way back from the police headquarters in Nicosia. Total number of missing from the village is given as 83-84. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[31][32][33]
Massacre in Eptakomi[34] August, 1974 Eptakomi 12 Turkish army and militias 12 Greek Cypriots were executed while their hands were tied and their bodies were found in a mass grave. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
Massacre in Angolemi[35] August, 1974 Angolemi 5 Greek Cypriot militia A family of three (father, mother and teenage daughter) and two men killed. Part of Turkish invasion of Cyprus

Notes edit

  1. ^ This estimate comes from the Roman historian Cassius Dio.

References edit

  1. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - CYPRUS, Dio Cassius, lxviii. 32
  2. ^ Hill, George (2010), Luke, Harry (ed.), "The Church under the Turks (1571–1878)", A History of Cyprus, Cambridge University Press, pp. 305–400, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511751738.011, ISBN 978-0-511-75173-8, retrieved 2020-03-25
  3. ^ "A History of Cyprus. By Sir George Hill. Volumes II and III. (New York: Cambridge University Press. 1948. Pp. xl, 496; vi, 497–1198. $23.50 per set.)". The American Historical Review. July 1949. doi:10.1086/ahr/54.4.865. ISSN 1937-5239.
  4. ^ US Library of Congress Federal Research Division,Library of Congress.
  5. ^ Hopkins, T.C.F. (2007). Confrontation at Lepanto: Christendom vs. Islam. Macmillan. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-4668-4149-9. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Cyprus - OTTOMAN RULE". countrystudies.us. Retrieved 2016-05-20.
  7. ^ The Outbreak of Communal Strife, 1958 Archived November 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine The Guardian, London.
  8. ^ Newspaper "Eleftheria" January 3rd 1964
  9. ^ Stephen, Michael (1997). The Cyprus Question. British-Northern Cyprus Parliamentary Group.
  10. ^ Oberling, Pierre (1982). The Road to Bellapais: The Turkish Cypriot Exodus to Northern Cyprus. Social Science Monographs. ISBN 978-0-88033-000-8.
  11. ^ Borowiec, Andrew (2000). Cyprus: A Troubled Island. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-96533-4.
  12. ^ Richter, Heinz (2010). A Concise History of Modern Cyprus, 1878–2009. Verlag Franz Philipp Rutzen. ISBN 978-3-938646-53-3.
  13. ^ Bryant 2012, p. 5–15; Hoffmeister 2006, p. 17–20; Risini 2018, p. 117; Smit 2012, p. 51; United Nations 1964: "The trade of the Turkish community had considerably deciined during the period, due to the existing situation, and unemployment reached a very high level as approximately 25,000 Turkish Cypriots had beccme refugees"
  14. ^ "REPORT BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON THE UNITED NATIONS OPERATION IN CYPRUS" (PDF). United Nations. 10 September 1964. Retrieved 17 December 2018. The trade of the Turkish community had considerably declined during the period, due to the existing situation, and unemployment reached a very high level as approximately 25,000 Turkish Cypriots had become refugees.
  15. ^ Bryant, Rebecca (2012). Displacement in Cyprus Consequences of Civil and Military Strife Report 2 Life Stories: Turkish Cypriot Community (PDF). Oslo: PRIO Cyprus Centre. pp. 5–15.
  16. ^ a b "Rumlardan 44 yıl sonra gelen 'Kıbrıs' itirafı". Fikriyat Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  17. ^ a b "Katliam emrini Rum Genelkurmay'ı vermiş". CNN Türk (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-03-24.
  18. ^ sabah, daily (2018-08-08). "'Kill 10 Turks for each slain Greek,' Greek Cypriot forces told amid pre-division violence". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  19. ^ Documents Officiels, United Nations Security Council, p. 82: "Alaminos village has already been in the news because a massacre of 13 Turkish Cypriots was discovered there"
  20. ^ Impact: International Fortnightly, Volumes 4-6: Fourteen Turkish Cypriots were murdered in the village of Alaminos on 20 July.
  21. ^ Massacre of Turks alleged (St. Petersburg Times, 29 July 1974)
  22. ^ Uludağ, Sevgül. Stories from Agios Vasilios, Shilloura and Sysklipos… (published in Politis newspaper on 10 February 2013).
  23. ^ a b Paul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84545-228-5, Massacre&f=false p. 61.
  24. ^ Δημητρίου, Μάριος (21 August 2016). "Μια παλιά μαρτυρία στην Τόχνη". sigmalive.com. Sigma Live. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  25. ^ Δημητρίου, Μάριος (20 March 2014). "Κηδεύτηκαν έξι Τουρκοκύπριοι της Τόχνης". sigmalive.com. Sigma Live. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  26. ^ Κουκουμάς, Γιώργος (2 August 2015). "Σφαγές Τ/κ από τον ελληνοκυπριακό φασισμό". Διάλογος. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
  27. ^ "Τουρκοκύπριος συγκλονίζει: Έτσι έγινε η σφαγή της Τόχνης". Πρώτο Θέμα.
  28. ^ "Remembering the Tochni Massacre". T-Vine. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  29. ^ Gisela Welz,European Products: Making and Unmaking Heritage in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2015, ISBN 978-1-78238-823-4 p. 53
  30. ^ lobbyforcyprus (2017-08-14). "The terrible secrets of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus". Lobby for Cyprus blog. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  31. ^ Uludağ, Sevgül. "The story of Assia (Pasakoy) and Afanya (Gazikoy)". Hamamböcüleri Journal.
  32. ^ "European Parliament resolution on mass graves of the missing persons of Ashia at Ornithi village in the occupied part of Cyprus (2015/2551(RSP))". European Parliament. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  33. ^ "Protest for the missing of Assia". Cyprus Mail. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  34. ^ "Angelique Chrisafis on finding her uncle's remains from Cyprus' 1974 ethinic killing". the Guardian. 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  35. ^ Records: Volume 1, Part 1-Volume 3, Part 1, UNESCO, p. 319