GÜLAY PEKR‹, 65 AND YILMAZ PEKR‹, 78

GÜLAY and Yılmaz Pekri are pleased that Bir Zamanlar Kıbrıs, a 26-part series launched on April 1 and shown every Thursday evening on TRT 1, has shed light on the torment Turkish Cypriots went through in the past.

The first episode showed in graphic detail the attacks by Greek Cypriot Eoka terrorists, led by Nikos Sampson, on Turkish Cypriot villages during the “Bloody Christmas” of 1963. The second episode, broadcast on April 8, was dedicated to the murdered wife and three children of Major Nihat Ilhan, who were found dead in a bath tub, one of the most infamous atrocities committed during the period.

Mr Pekri, who has lived in the UK and Cyprus, said that he followed the situation in Cyprus by radio when he was abroad and shared how troubled he felt in Scotland on his wedding day when his sibling was captured by Greek Cypriots in 1963.

“It is true that the Greeks tormented Turks a lot, but their casualties were a lot more than ours. Local [Turkish] Cypriots did not die as much as Turkish soldiers or Greeks,” Mr Pekri, who thought that the TV series had represented that ratio accurately, said.

Mrs Pekri spoke about the portrayal of violence in the series: “I couldn’t sleep [after watching the TV series]. The younger generations will see that and they feel more . . . they will feel sadness for ‘my mother and my father’ who went through that.

“My whole body froze after seeing the bathroom scene, or when a mother covered her baby’s mouth to survive . . . I guess they [exaggerated] a little bit”.

Mrs Pekri said she “did not see any evil among the Greek [Cypriots] in my village [of Nergisli] when we used to live together . . . they lived below the church and we lived above it, there was only a little path between our neighbours who were always good to us”.

Based on this Mr Pekri stressed that “as civilians, Turkish and Greek Cypriots always got on fine; it was because of the Greeks’ [from Greece] actions that things deteriorated”.

In evaluating the credibility of the TV series based on his experiences, Mr Pekri argued that “Greece’s role in creating the problem was shown in the series” but the civilian “fellowship” of the residents of Cyprus is “absent”.

Referring to relations between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots abroad, Mr Pekri said: “We used to work together in factories in England. It was prohibited to speak about politics.”

It was only after 1974 that “we started not going to Greek coffee shops and they stopped coming to ours. Before then there was friendship”.

Overall, Mr Pekri felt that it is hard to spark the youth’s interest in the past atrocities and that a TV series is a good way of reaching this section of the population, instead of conventional storytelling.

A firm believer that “everyone, including the Greek media, should produce historic series so everyone knows what happened” Mr Pekri said: “I thought the programme was made to show the world the history of Cyprus. I wish they would have an English [language] option.”

The couple complained that what they have seen so far is not “original”, with Mr Pekri claiming that “three quarters of the scenes have been shot in Turkey”.

Asked if anything else should have been done differently, Mr Pekri replied: “Of course it would have been better if Cypriots were casted or if they had been asked to tell [the history] directly.”