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The Turkish Resistance Organisation (, TMT) was a
Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...
pro- taksim paramilitary resistance organisation formed by
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 Nort ...
and TAF officer Rıza Vuruşkan in 1958 as an guerilla organisation to counter the
Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots (, ) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252 respondents recorded their ethnicity as Greek, forming almost 99% of the 737,196 Cypri ...
fighters organization EOKA A. The name of the organization was changed twice. In 1967 to (
Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...
), and became the
Security Forces Command The Security Forces Command () is the military and security force of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It is a 15,000 strong force primarily made up of conscripted Turkish Cypriot males between the ages of 18 and 40. It is ...
in 1976.


Formation

The Greek Cypriot paramilitary organization, EOKA started its anti-British activities for
Enosis ''Enosis'' (, , "union") is an irredentist ideology held by various Greek communities living outside Greece that calls for them and the regions that they inhabit to be incorporated into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea ...
, the union of the island with
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. This caused a " Cretan syndrome" within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as was the case with
Cretan Turks The Cretan Muslims or Cretan Turks ( or , or ; , , or ; ) were the Muslim inhabitants of the island of Crete. Their descendants settled principally in Turkey, the Dodecanese Islands under Italian administration (part of Greece since 1947), S ...
; as such, they preferred the continuation of the British rule and later, taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, the EOKA leader
Georgios Grivas Georgios Grivas (; 6 June 1897 – 27 January 1974), also known by his nickname Digenis (), was a Greek Cypriot officer of the Hellenic Army and founder and leader of the Greek and Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisations Organization X (1942 ...
declared them an enemy. The first underground organization formed by Turkish Cypriots to oppose enosis was Volkan. This organization was founded in 1956. or September 1955 according to different sources, and purportedly with the support of the British administration. Roni Alasor, however, claims that TMT's organisation structure and base had been formed as early as 1950 with its centre in the Yenişehir section of
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
. During this period, other resistance organizations were founded, such as the Turkish Resistance Legion for the Movement Legion (KİTEM),
9 September Front The 9 September Front ( Turkish: ''9 Eylül Cephesi'') was a secret Turkish Cypriot pro- taksim paramilitary organisation formed to counter the Greek Cypriot Fighter's Organization EOKA and Enosis. History The organisation was formed to counter ...
or
Kara Çete The Black Gang ( Turkish: ''Kara Çete'') was a Turkish Cypriot pro- taksim paramilitary organisation formed in 1957 with the support and funding of Fazıl Küçük and some other predominant Turkish Cypriots as an organisation to counter the Gree ...
("Black Gang"), which reportedly had the support of
Fazıl Küçük Fazıl Küçük (; ; 14 March 1906 – 15 January 1984) was a Turkish Cypriot politician and a medical doctor who served as the first Vice President of the Republic of Cyprus. Biography Fazıl Küçük, the son of a farmer, was born in Nicosi ...
, but these turned out to be unsuccessful attempts and joined Volkan. The exact date of establishment of the TMT varies across several sources, the given dates are 15 or 23 November 1957.
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 Nort ...
, however, claimed that the organization was established on 27 November. The establishment took place in the house of
Kemal Tanrıverdi Kemal may refer to: ;People * Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a Turkish politician and the first president of Turkey * Kemal (name), a Turkish name ;Places * Kemalpaşa, İzmir Province, Turkey * Mustafakemalpaşa, Bursa Province, Turkey ;See also *"Kema ...
in
Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...
, the Turkish Cypriot attaché at the Turkish embassy, with the participation of Denktaş and
Burhan Nalbantoğlu Burhan (, ) is an Arabic male name, an epithet of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. It is especially popular in Turkey, as it respects Turkish vowel harmony and the end syllable "-han" can be interpreted as the Turkish variant of "Khan". Origin ...
. Its declaration of establishment, which called all Turkish Cypriot members of resistance organizations to unite under the TMT, was printed on 26 November 1957 by the
Lefkoşa Türk Lisesi Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capita ...
(Nicosia Turkish High School). Initially, it only had about 100 members. The TMT was initially formed with a local initiative, with the aims of raising awareness in Turkey about the Cypriot issue and military training and supply for Turkish Cypriot fighters. However, its leaders were aware that such an organization would not be popular without Turkish support, and thus, no organization or efforts to establish a leadership took place at this time. On 2 January 1958, Denktaş and Küçük flew to Ankara to meet with
Fatin Rüştü Zorlu Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (20 April 1910 – 16 September 1961) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians. Early life and education He was born on 20 April ...
. In the meeting, Zorlu asked them if they would be able to receive the weapons sent by Turkey, and Denktaş replied positively, after which Zorlu brought the issue to the attention of the Chief of Staff of the
Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the armed forces, military forces of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Turkish Army, Land Forces, the Turkish Navy, Naval Forces and the Turkish Air Force, Air Forces. The Chief of ...
. After several months of consideration, Turkey decided to support the organization on the condition that Turkish support would be kept secret. Daniş Karabelen was assigned to organize the TMT's foundation.


Structure & Soldiers

TMT's members were called
mujahid ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' (), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' (), an Arabic term that broadly refers to people who engage in ''jihad'' (), interpreted in a jurisprudence of Islam as the fight on behalf of God, religion or the commun ...
. (), a term used for Muslims who fight on behalf of the faith or the Muslim community. The mujahids would have no ranks and their names were unknown amongst each other. Communication with its members in
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
was by radio and the honorary leader of the TMT was
Fatin Rüştü Zorlu Fatin Rüştü Zorlu (20 April 1910 – 16 September 1961) was a Turkish diplomat and politician. He was executed by hanging after the coup d'état in 1960 along with two other politicians. Early life and education He was born on 20 April ...
. General
Daniş Karabelen Daniş Karabelen (1898–1983) was a Turkish Army general who was the founder of Turkey's Tactical Mobilisation Group in 1952, and served as its chief until his retirement in 1960. Career Karabelen was among those taken out of Military School in ...
, in charge of
unconventional warfare Unconventional warfare (UW) is broadly defined as "military and quasi-military operations other than conventional warfare" and may use covert forces or actions such as subversion, diversion, sabotage, espionage, biowarfare, sanctions, propaga ...
office of Turkey, was leading the irregular Turkish Cypriot attacks on Greek Cypriot properties. The Turkish state in 1950s had sent to
Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
Turkish
officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...
and special forces veterans who arrived secretly and presented themselves as bankers, teachers and business men and trained Turkish Cypriots in tactics of unconventional warfare.


Ideology

The TMT was an ethno-nationalist organization, with a right-wing stance. TMT's main goal was to counter the Greek Cypriot demand for ''enosis''. TMT was active mainly between 1958 and 1974, promoting partition (in Turkish: Taksim) of Cyprus. TMT claims that their efforts were simply in response to a real threat against their community by EOKA, after 1963, by the Cypriot Government, which by then was under exclusive Greek Cypriot control and had ended representing Turkish Cypriots.


Strength

Between 1964 and 1967, the TMT maintained a force of about 5,000 fighters, although this was somewhat weakened in 1966 and 1967, when around 950 men, who had interrupted their studies or never had a chance to commence them, went to Turkey to enroll in universities.


See also

*
Bloody Christmas (1963) Bloody Christmas () refers to the massacre of the Turkish Cypriot population during the Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, on the night of 20–21 December 1963 and the subsequent period of island-wide violence amounting to civil war. This initial epis ...
*
Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of t ...
*
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 Cy ...


References


Sources

* * in * * * * * {{Turkish nationalism Cyprus dispute Paramilitary organisations based in Cyprus Cyprus Emergency Organisations based in Northern Cyprus Secession in Cyprus Turkish nationalism in Cyprus Turkish nationalist organizations 1958 establishments in Cyprus 1974 disestablishments in Cyprus Anti-Greek sentiment Anti-communist organizations Anti-communist terrorism