Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre ( tr, Muratağa, Sandallar ve Atlılar katliamı) refers to a massacreOberling, Pierre.
The road to Bellapais: the Turkish Cypriot exodus to northern Cyprus
' (1982), Social Science Monographs, p. 185 of

Turkish Cypriots 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 ...

EOKA B EOKA-B () was a Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation formed in 1971 by General Georgios Grivas ("Digenis"). It followed an ultra right-wing nationalistic ideology and had the ultimate goal of achieving the '' enosis'' (union) of Cyprus wit ...

; a

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 ...

paramilitary group.Paul Sant Cassia, ''Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus'', Berghahn Books, 2007,
p. 237.
/ref> On 14 August 1974, during the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish ...

in the villages of

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

Santalaris Santalaris ( gr, Σανταλάρης, tr, Sandallar) is a small village located in the Famagusta District of Cyprus, north of Famagusta. The Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of the village were killed by EOKA-B EOKA-B () was a Greek Cypriot p ...

and

Aloda Aloda ( gr, Αλόδα, tr, Atlılar) is a small village located in the Famagusta District of Cyprus 5 km west of Agios Sergios. It is under the ''de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. The village was inhabited by Turkish Cypriots befor ...

, 89 (or 84) people from Maratha and Santalaris, and a further 37 people from the village of Aloda were killed.Paul Sant Cassia, ''Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus'', Berghahn Books, 2007,
p. 69.
/ref> In total, 126 people were killed. The massacre occurred on the same day before the second Turkish invasion, concurring with other

massacres A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

Background

According to the 1960 census, the inhabitants of the three villages were entirely

. The total population of Maratha and Santalaris was 207. By 1973, the total population of the villages had risen to 270, with 124 in Maratha, 100 in Santalaris and 46 in Aloda. However, in July 1974, following the first

, all men of fighting age were taken away as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

to internment camps in

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Geography of Cyprus, Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia District, Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. Duri ...

and from there transferred to

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

Massacre

On 20 July 1974, the men of the villages were arrested by EOKA-B and sent to

. Following this, according to testimonials cited by

Sevgül Uludağ Sevgül Uludağ (pronounced ooh-loo-dah); born October 15, 1958) is a Turkish Cypriot journalist, as well as a peace and gender activist. Born in Nicosia in 1958, Uludağ worked in a bank, and later as a proofreader, before she became a journalis ...

, EOKA-B men from the neighboring village of Peristeronopigi came, got drunk in the camp they established in the village coffeehouse, fired shots in the air, and subsequently raped many women and young girls. The rape later included the boys and this continued till 14 August 1974. Upon the launch of the second invasion of the

Turkish Army The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...

, they decided not to leave behind any witnesses and killed the entire population of the villages present at the time. In Maratha and Santalaris, 84-89 were killed. The

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...

of Maratha stated that there were 90 people in the village prior to the massacre, and only six people were left. Elderly people and children were also killed during the massacre. Only three people were able to escape from the massacre in Aloda. The inhabitants of the three villages were buried in mass graves with a

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

. The villagers of Maratha and Santalaris were buried in the same grave.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

described the corpses as "so battered and decomposed that they crumbled to pieces when soldiers lifted them from the garbage with shovels". ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a Turkish daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 ...

'' reported that parts of the bodies had been chopped off and sharp tools, as well as machine guns had been used in the massacre. According to Greek Cypriot writer and researcher Tony Angastiniotis, at least one of the attackers used a mainland Greek accent, which suggested that he was a Greek officer.

Reactions

The

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

described the massacre as a

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the c ...

, by saying "constituting a further crime against humanity committed by the Greek and Greek Cypriot gunmen." The massacre was reported by international media, including ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''.

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 ...

put off a meeting with Greek Cypriots after the mass grave was uncovered.

References

External links

Mass grave is found in Aloa, Cyprus
Footage of Associated Press from the discovery of a mass grave in Aloa {{coord, 35, 12, 40, N, 33, 48, 00, E, source:kolossus-trwiki, display=title Massacres of ethnic groups Greek war crimes Mass graves Massacres in Cyprus 1974 in Cyprus Cyprus dispute EOKA B Mass murder in 1974 Massacres in 1974 August 1974 events in Europe Crimes against humanity Persecution of Turkish Cypriots Deaths by firearm in Cyprus 1970s murders in Cyprus

Background

Massacre

Reactions

See also

References

External links