Remembrance events held to mark July 20 intervention
REMEMBRANCE ceremonies were held across the TRNC on Monday as part of the annual July 20 Peace and Freedom Day events.
Wreath-laying events were held at Anıttepe, the final resting place of Dr Fazıl Küçük, the leader of the Turkish Cypriots’ struggle for freedom, and at the mausoleum of Founding TRNC President Rauf Raif Denktaş and the Boğaz Martyrs’ Cemetery.
President Ersin Tatar, Parliamentary Speaker Önder Sennaroğlu, Prime Minister Ersan Saner, President of the Supreme Court Chief Justice Narin Ferdi Şefik, Turkey’s Lefkoşa Ambassador Ali Murat Başçeri, Cyprus Turkish Peace Forces Commander Major General Sezai Öztürk, Security Forces Commander Major General Zorlu Topaloğlu and ministers were among those who attended.
A minute’s silence was held at each ceremony, followed by the singing of the national anthem and the hoisting of the Turkish and TRNC flags.
During the ceremony at Anıttepe, Mr Tatar wrote in a memorial book: “Our leader of the struggle for freedom and independence Dr Fazıl Küçük, your great struggle during the Turkish Cypriots’ darkest days saved our people from extinction.
“Heading down the path you have shown, our people gained their freedom, independence, sovereignty and their state with the July 20 Peace Operation.
“With the strength we derive from your mantra ‘The Cyprus issue cannot be resolved without Turkey’, we are on the path with Motherland Turkey in this struggle.
“As we bow respectfully before you on the 47th anniversary of the
July 20 Peace Operation, we promise once again: we will not become the minority to the Greek Cypriots, we will never give up on our state, our sovereignty and our Motherland Turkey. May your soul rest in peace.”
At the ceremony to remember Rauf Denktaş, Mr Tatar wrote in a memorial book: “Our Founding President, while enduring all kinds of difficulties, the struggle you waged with great sacrifices delivered our people to the morning of July 20, 1974, and with the Peace Operation,
the Turkish Cypriot people attained freedom, sovereignty, their own homeland and state.
“Your words ‘let my people remember me as the person who brought the Turkish soldiers to Cyprus’ cannot be forgotten, and today we live in peace and safety under the security of Motherland Turkey and Turkish soldiers.
“We owe this to your struggle and to our martyrs. We have not forgotten you, nor will we forget you. Sleep comfortably knowing that the state you have established will be kept alive and we will not give up on sovereignty and freedom. We remember you with great affection and miss you. May your soul rest in peace.”
During the ceremony at the Boğaz Martyrs’ Cemetery, where 303 members of the Turkish Armed Forces and 26 Turkish Cypriot freedom fighters who lost their lives during the 1974 fighting are buried, Mr Tatar wrote in a memorial book: “Our dear martyrs who fell for the freedom, independence and sovereignty
of the Turkish Cypriot people; we have not forgotten you and we will not let you be forgotten.
“If we live free and hold our heads high today in our own homeland and our own state, we owe this to you.
“Your sacrifices at the expense of your lives that brought the Turkish Cypriot people to this day will always be remembered with gratitude and appreciation.
“On the 47th anniversary of the July 20 Peace Operation, I bow before you with respect. Sleep comfortably knowing what you entrusted will never be trampled on, and will be kept alive forever. May your souls rest in peace.”