Honour for Lars
A FORMER UN Peacekeeper, who was sent to jail for helping Turkish Cypriots in 1964, has been honoured for his part in an infamous siege.
Swede, Lars Willy Lindh, was granted honorary membership of the Erenköy Freedom Fighters Association.
Mr Lindh was in charge of 40 UN peacekeeping soldiers in the Erenköy region in August and September of 1964 when Greek Cypriots attacked the strategic village. The little harbour on the north west coast was being used to import food, aid and weapons from Turkey, following a Greek Cypriot onslaught on Turkish Cypriot villages.
Hundreds of Turkish Cypriot students flocked to the village to defend it, many risking perilous sea journeys. The siege was lifted after Turkey sent a warning air strike over the area.
Today, Erenköy, although separated from the rest of North Cyprus, remains a powerful symbol of Turkish Cypriot resistance.
Mr Lindh, now a TRNC resident, was 27 at the time. He said: “Erenköy was a unique experience for me.
“The reason why I decided to help the Turkish Cypriots and not the other community was because UN Headquarters in Lefkoşa always took decisions in favour of the Greek Cypriots, the Greek Cypriot organisations, the Greek Cypriot government and to [Archbishop] Makarios to make him the sole authority of Cyprus.
“And they treated Turkish Cypriots like a group that was breaking up democracy and rebelling. But in a short period, you could see the Turkish Cypriots were not at all trying to break up democracy or rebelling. It was the Turkish Cypriots who were being oppressed. It was natural for us to do what we could to help them.”
He explained how he ordered doctors, nurses, medicine and food to be sent to the Turkish Cypriot enclave.
“It was important in the face of Greek Cypriot armed attacks to help Turkish Cypriots to allow them the opportunity to defend themselves. This was the only way to stop the attacks.
“The first thing that was needed to be done was to carry the guns and weapons brought over from Turkey to Erenköy, and distribute them to regions that were under threat from the Greek Cypriots.”
He explained that on one occasion, whilst transporting guns to the nearby town of Lefke, he was caught and arrested by Greek Cypriot police and the Greek Cypriot National Guard. He said he had appeared at a Greek Cypriot court for going outside the UN orders and helped Turkish Cypriots, and that later, he had been stripped his rank at a Swedish court and sentenced to eight months imprisonment.
“I see this as a small sacrifice for what I did. It was definitely worth it.” He said there had been three-four more military personnel who helped him, adding: “This is not a big deal.”
But he said when he appeared at the Swedish court, he was on the front page of all the newspapers. At the hearing, he was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for “damaging the honour of Sweden”.
Erenköy Freedom Fighters’ Association chairman Şakir Öksüz, said they were “very emotional” having heard the story of Mr Lindh. “We faced a lot of hardship. Sometimes we felt hopeless because our village was completely under siege and surrounded. Mr Lindh did something spectacular, that none of us could have done at the time. We are very grateful for his bravery and courage to help us and our families which he did voluntarily, at a time when we were under attack by Greek Cypriot armed militia,” he said.