The Battle of Tillyria ( gr, Μάχη της Τηλλυρίας) or Battle of Kokkina ( gr, Μάχη των Κοκκίνων), also known as Erenköy Resistance ( tr, Erenköy Direnişi), was a conflict in August 1964 between units of the
Cypriot National Guard
, name2 = National Guard General Staff
, image = Emblem of the Cypriot National Guard.svg
, image_size = 100px
, caption = Emblem of the National Guard of Cyprus
, image2 = Flag of the ...
and
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...
armed groups in
Kokkina
Kokkina ( el, Κόκκινα []; tr, Erenköy or ) is a coastal exclave (pene-exclave) of the ''de facto'' Northern Cyprus, and a former Turkish Cypriot enclave in Cyprus. It is surrounded by mountainous territory, with the Morphou Bay on its ...
area of
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
. The latter were supported with air strikes from
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
Location
In 1964, at the time of the battle, Cyprus was governed by two
sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'.
The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...
state entities—the
Republic of Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
and the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Sovereign Base Areas
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory ...
. The areas under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Cyprus included a number of large and fortified
enclaves
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
, inhabited by the island's
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...
minority, which had receded into defensive positions around
Turkish controlled villages following a major outbreak of civil unrest in 1963.
The Tillyria region of Cyprus was largely enclosed within the
Morphou
Morphou ( el, Μόρφου; tr, Omorfo or ) is a town in the northwestern part of Cyprus, under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. It is the administrative center of the Güzelyurt District of Northern Cyprus. Having been a predominantl ...
Administrative District in the north-west of the island, forming a large portion of the southern coastline of Morphou Bay. Located on this coastline at
Kokkina
Kokkina ( el, Κόκκινα []; tr, Erenköy or ) is a coastal exclave (pene-exclave) of the ''de facto'' Northern Cyprus, and a former Turkish Cypriot enclave in Cyprus. It is surrounded by mountainous territory, with the Morphou Bay on its ...
was a heavily fortified Turkish enclave with between 750 and 1000 inhabitants.
Political context
In November 1963, President of the Republic of Cyprus,
Archbishop Makarios III
Makarios III ( el, Μακάριος Γ΄; born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos) (Greek: Μιχαήλ Χριστοδούλου Μούσκος) (13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Cypriot politician, archbishop and primate who served as ...
, proposed 13 constitutional
amendments An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
to the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
of the country's Government. These amendments were primarily aimed by the Makarios Administration at reorganising and regulating the distribution of
Greek Cypriot
Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...
and
Turkish Cypriot
Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...
manpower and voting power in the Government, civil services, military and police forces. These proposed amendments would also have affected the distribution of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot persons serving the judicial, executive and municipal service arms of the Government, in favour of a 70% to 30% split, weighted to the Greek Cypriot population majority (77%) over the Turkish Cypriot minority (18%).
While the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides of the Government were already largely polarised in favour of the interests of their respective "mother-states" (i.e.
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
), the Turkish Cypriot representatives within the Government rejected Makarios' 13 proposed constitutional amendments, on the basis that it deprived the Turkish Cypriots of equal
representation. The Greek Cypriots, likewise, refused to modify the amendments.
This resulted in the escalation of the
Cypriot intercommunal violence
Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the ...
in the events named the "
Bloody Christmas", and the end of the Turkish Cypriot representation in the government of the Republic of Cyprus.
Demographic and geopolitical context
A series of
atrocities and intercommunal
terrorist
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
acts struck the island from late December 1963, as violence began to flare between Turkish and Greek Cypriot
extremists
Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...
. This violence escalated quickly, and was reinforced by pre-existing
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
sentiments on both sides, including a Turkish desire for "
Taksim" (or division of the island into Turkish and Greek portions), and a Greek desire for "
Enosis
''Enosis'' ( el, Ένωσις, , "union") is the movement of various Greek communities that live outside Greece for incorporation of the regions that they inhabit into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea, an irredentist conc ...
" (or union of the entire island with Greece). The main proponents of this violence were the Turkish Resistance Organisation (
TMT), and the Greek Cypriot paramilitaries, though it is not clear how much of the violence can actually be attributed to directives issued by these groups.
In mid-1964, the Greek Cypriot Government became aware that the Turkish Cypriots, who by now had almost universally receded into enclaves nationwide, were becoming increasingly well equipped with small arms,
squad automatic weapon
A squad automatic weapon (SAW), also known as a section automatic weapon or light support weapon (LSW), is a man-portable automatic firearm attached to infantry squads or sections as a source of rapid direct firepower. Weapons fulfilling this ...
s and mortars that would not have otherwise been made available to them through legal ports of entry. The Turkish Cypriot-held deep-water dock at
Kokkina
Kokkina ( el, Κόκκινα []; tr, Erenköy or ) is a coastal exclave (pene-exclave) of the ''de facto'' Northern Cyprus, and a former Turkish Cypriot enclave in Cyprus. It is surrounded by mountainous territory, with the Morphou Bay on its ...
, in Tillyria region, was immediately suspected as the focus of a Turkish shipping point for the supply of arms to the Turkish Cypriots from mainland
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
Kokkina had been central to the provision of arms to the TMT from Turkey since 1958. The arms shipment was carried out by local people called ''bereketçiler'' using small rowboats, and had started off as a local initiative of three young men in August 1958. These young men had rowed to Turkey without approval from
Rauf Denktaş
Rauf Raif Denktaş (27 January 1924 – 13 January 2012) was a Turkish Cypriot politician, barrister and jurist who served as the founding president of Northern Cyprus. He occupied this position as the president of the Turkish Republic of North ...
and been arrested there, but realising the value this enterprise had for the arms provision to the newly founded TMT, the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot authorities started using the port for regular clandestine arms shipments. Following the eruption of intercommunal violence, the Turkish Cypriots began to bribe foreign soldiers stationed on the island to transport arms to other Turkish enclaves. On 27 May 1964, the Greek Cypriot authorities caught Keith Marley, a British major, as he was transporting arms from Kokkina. He confessed to having done this five more times in the past and that other colleagues were involved in similar arrangements.
The Greek Cypriot reaction was a scramble for arms. In 1965, a
surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
station was installed at Mt Kormakitis in Kyrenia district in order to observe illegal shipping movements between Turkey and Kokkina, and a total of six fast naval attack craft were procured from the Soviet Union in order to triple the strength of the
Cyprus Navy
The Cyprus Naval Command ( el, Ναυτική Διοίκηση Κύπρου, tr, Kıbrıs Deniz Kuvvetleri) (also known as the Cyprus Navy or Cypriot Navy) is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard.
The Cypriot Navy has the primary mi ...
. As an additional measure, two heavy Greek Cypriot patrol gunboats were stationed near
Morphou
Morphou ( el, Μόρφου; tr, Omorfo or ) is a town in the northwestern part of Cyprus, under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. It is the administrative center of the Güzelyurt District of Northern Cyprus. Having been a predominantl ...
in order to launch a naval strike, should the need arise.
While Greece remained largely silent on the issue of the Kokkina shipping point, the Greek Government gave the Greek Cypriots assurances that it would support an armed intervention at Kokkina, should the situation become untenable. The Commander of the Greek Cypriot National Guard, Col.
Georgios Grivas
Georgios Grivas ( el, Γεώργιος Γρίβας; 6 June 1897 – 27 January 1974), also known by his nickname Digenis ( el, Διγενής), was a Cypriot general in the Hellenic Army and the leader of the Organization X (1942-1949), EOKA ...
, returned to Cyprus from
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
in late July 1964, after receiving an audience with members of the Greek Government. Shortly thereafter, the Greek Cypriots began to mobilise for an armed intervention at Kokkina, despite Turkish threats to counter-intervene by force should exactly that happen.
Action
![Cengiz Topel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Cengiz_Topel.JPG)
In the days leading up to the invasion, the
Cypriot National Guard
, name2 = National Guard General Staff
, image = Emblem of the Cypriot National Guard.svg
, image_size = 100px
, caption = Emblem of the National Guard of Cyprus
, image2 = Flag of the ...
began to mobilise infantry, artillery and armored forces for an assault on
Kokkina
Kokkina ( el, Κόκκινα []; tr, Erenköy or ) is a coastal exclave (pene-exclave) of the ''de facto'' Northern Cyprus, and a former Turkish Cypriot enclave in Cyprus. It is surrounded by mountainous territory, with the Morphou Bay on its ...
. On 6 August 1964, the Cypriot National Guard commenced its attack. For two days, Cypriot National Guard forces laid down support fire with six 25-pounder guns and approximately twelve mortars, coordinated with 20mm and 40mm cannon fire from the
Cyprus Navy
The Cyprus Naval Command ( el, Ναυτική Διοίκηση Κύπρου, tr, Kıbrıs Deniz Kuvvetleri) (also known as the Cyprus Navy or Cypriot Navy) is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard.
The Cypriot Navy has the primary mi ...
patrol boats ''
Phaethon
Phaethon (; grc, Φαέθων, Phaéthōn, ), also spelled Phaëthon, was the son of the Oceanid Clymene and the sun-god Helios in Greek mythology.
According to most authors, Phaethon is the son of Helios, and out of desire to have his par ...
'' and ''Arion''. Under this barrage, infantry progressed slowly into the enclave with cover from overlapping machine gun fire, but found that the Turkish Cypriots had organised their own machine guns and mortars into an effective formation. The battle quickly degraded into a low-intensity exchange of sniping and support fire, as both sides dug into the difficult terrain.
On 8 August 1964, after waiting for nearly two days,
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
intervened, once it had become clear that the Greek Cypriots would not withdraw from Kokkina, but simply commit more and more siege forces until the Turkish Cypriots ran out of supplies.
On the morning of 8 August, the Cypriot patrol boats ''Phaethon'' and ''Arion'' were attacked by
Turkish Air Force
The Turkish Air Force ( tr, ) is the aerial warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. The Turkish Air Force can trace its origins back to June 1911 when it was founded by the Ottoman Empire, however, the air force as it is known t ...
jets as they sailed close to Xeros Harbour, Morphou Bay. The boats commenced evasive manoeuvers and put up anti-aircraft fire. The ''Phaethon'' was quickly strafed with 75mm rockets and burst into flames, killing seven crew members and wounding several others. Its engine still running, the surviving crew managed to guide it aground and then abandoned ship.
As the ''Arion'' continued to evade the attack, a second formation of Turkish
F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of ...
jets came in low to attack it. One of the jets was shot down by the Greek Cypriot defence. The Turkish pilot bailed out but as soon as he set foot on Cypriot soil he was beaten to death by outraged villagers.
Between 8–9 August 1964, the Turkish Air Force was given free rein to attack multiple targets within Tillyria, including a number of Greek Cypriot villages. As such heavy bombing caused also significant casualties among the civilian population.
Cypriot civilian casualties were reported as a result of heavy air attacks against several populated locations, including
Kato Pyrgos
Kato Pyrgos ( el, Κάτω Πύργος) is a village in Cyprus. Kato Pyrgos is the only Greek Cypriot village located on Morphou Bay and controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. Due to its location, being surrounded by the Troodos Mountains, the Tu ...
dropping incendiary napalm bombs.
[
Turkish planes also attacked sites occupied by the Cypriot National Guard, killing a number of military personnel and destroying a Marmon Herrington Mk-IVF armoured car.
]
Immediate outcome
The immediate geographical result of the conflict in the Tillyria region was that four villages were evacuated and the Kokkina enclave was effectively reduced to a narrow beachhead. However, the Greek Cypriot National Guard had failed to storm the inner defenses of the enclave, thus leaving the Turkish beachhead essentially intact.
Fighting in the region ceased on 10 August 1964, but Kokkina's value to the Turkish military dwindled, as the Greek Cypriots had effectively isolated it from the coastal road and encircled it with enough forces to guarantee its destruction by the time of the 1965 expansion of the National Guard.
Legacy
On 20 July 1974, Turkey launched an invasion of the island, following a Greek Junta sponsored coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
against President Makarios, aimed at uniting the island with Greece. The second Turkish offensive, codenamed Attila 2, took place between 14 and 18 August 1974, and extended as far west as the Kokkina enclave.
Currently, Kokkina (Turkish: Erenköy) is an exclave of Northern Cyprus
Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, isl ...
. Whilst this exclave was only accessible from the rest of the de-facto state by sea for 46 years, it has been accessible by road since 2010, following the opening of a checkpoint between Kato Pyrgos
Kato Pyrgos ( el, Κάτω Πύργος) is a village in Cyprus. Kato Pyrgos is the only Greek Cypriot village located on Morphou Bay and controlled by the Republic of Cyprus. Due to its location, being surrounded by the Troodos Mountains, the Tu ...
and Limnitis.
References
{{coord, 35, 8, N, 33, 28, E, display=title
Tillyria
1960s in Cyprus
1964 in Cyprus
Tillyria
Tillyria
Cyprus Navy
Tillyria