Filenews 24 August 2022
Today's Turkish Cypriot press publishes a document concerning Turkey's attempt, one year after the 1974 invasion of Cyprus, to alter the population composition of the occupied territories by transferring population from Anatolia to the island.
"Yeni Duzen" publishes the documentary entitled "Year: 1975. Transfer of population to the northern part of Cyprus". The publication states that "we will share for the first time in such a comprehensive way the documents about which groups came to Cyprus from Turkey, in what numbers and from which areas and to which villages the population was transferred".
The newspaper published today the first relevant document and says that other relevant publications will follow.
In the introduction to today's publication, "Yeni Duzen" states the following: "With the military intervention (invasion) of Turkey in Cyprus, which began on July 20, 1974, and the second operation (invasion) on August 14, 37% of the island came under Turkish control. While the Turkish Cypriots left almost 500,000 acres of property in the south, there are 1.5 million acres of property waiting for them in the north. The land and property acquired (plundered) in the north of Cyprus is very large in relation to the Turkish Cypriot population."
According to the publication, in 1975 Turkey, at the request of the "Turkish Federal State of Cyprus", created a plan, which aimed to "cover the shortage of labour in the Turkish part of Cyprus with a workforce from Turkey". Asaf Inhan, the then Turkish ambassador in Nicosia, says that "there was no such request from the Cypriot authorities, nor was there such an approach by the embassy." Today, "Yeni Duzen" publishes the first document of this Turkish design, which bears the indication "top secret" and was printed in Turkey with a limited number of copies.
The first article of the plan states that the plan was created "at the request of the 'Turkish land of Cyprus' and in order to ensure the economic development of the Turkish part of Cyprus, to address the shortage of labour in the region in rapid and planned ways".
The second article of the draft documentary reads as follows: "This Regulation (aims): The definition, selection, evaluation and grouping of the workforce to be sent to the Turkish Cypriot region. (It sets out) the principles of establishment and operation of the body to carry out this work, the methods to be followed in practice, the financial resources to be used in practice and the methods of expenditure, the criteria for selecting the areas and families for the workforce to be sent and the priority areas for the selection of the workforce by the agricultural sector."
The third article of the document states the following: "The workforce sent from Turkey to the Turkish part of Cyprus (S.S. occupied) for employment in agriculture, industry, tourism and other service sectors will consist of the following groups: Citizens of Cypriot origin, Turkish nationals or Turkish Cypriots currently residing and working in Turkey, farmers and agricultural workers, skilled workers in industry, tourism and other service sectors, craftsmen, craftsmen, capitalists and business owners, opinion workers in various professions, specialists and technicians in various professions, unskilled workers."
The Turkish document, concerning the areas of Turkey from which individuals were selected for transfer to the occupied territories, mentions the "regions where the population lives with high social adaptability, with knowledge and skills suitable for employment in Cyprus, with high population density and housing problems, mountainous and wooded areas near the sea, regions with a climate similar to that of Cyprus".
Finally, the Turkish document also sets out the criteria for persons transferred to the occupied territories. "They should be Turkish citizens, their mother tongue should be Turkish, the head of the family must be literate, have fulfilled his military service, not be over 45 years old and his state of health should be suitable for the work he will offer, while the heads of families and their members should not have legal obstacles that prevent them from going abroad"
