National Anthem and Turkish Cypriots (3)
Independence anthem
On a day when Republic Day should be celebrated on October 29, 1957, Neriman Cahit, who was studying at the Teachers' College at that time, tells the English teacher concerned that a speech and the national anthem should be played based on the meaning and importance of the day; However, while this request is not accepted, the English teacher states that he will sing a song in English, and Neriman ensures that Cahit is punished as well. In the next period, the National Anthem will be among the most performed works in music and elective music classes, especially after the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, in the lessons at the Teachers' College.
After the Cyprus Peace Operation on July 20, 1974, the Mujahideen March and the National Anthem were the first anthems taught and performed at the college. After the rally held in Nicosia on 27-28 January 1958, which resulted in the killing of 7 Turks by British soldiers, the issue of partition in Cyprus began to be discussed loudly in England and the British Colonial Minister LenoxBoyd mentioned this in a speech he made in the House of Commons. it does. Especially the Greeks and EOKA are extremely disturbed by this situation and they try their best to prevent it. On 28 January 1958, Victorian Girls' High School students were among those who took to the streets to protest the pro-Greek policy of the British administration on the island, waving Turkish flags in their hands and singing the National Anthem;[9]
Our flag:
“It was a rainy day that day. Amid the stringy rain and thunder, women's cries pierced the sky, "Either Taksim or Death, Dr. I heard the slogans "Long Live Small" being said loudly and in unison. I will never forget the scene I saw at that moment for the rest of my life. The girls hugged Turkish flags: Our flag is our glory/Our oath is Freedom. / May our blood be sacrificed / Let our Cyprus be saved.' They were singing their anthem. The rain had not stopped that day and our girlfriends were soaking wet as they walked from Sarayönü to school in the rain…”
April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day:
According to Halil Kara, who worked at Cihangir Primary School at that time, a commemoration night was held at the Arabın Kahvesi in Abohor (Cihangir) village for those who lost their lives in Nicosia on January 27, 1958. speeches are also made. Since 1958, among the national days of Turkey, 23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day, 19 May Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day and 29 October Republic Day were declared national days, official holidays were declared and ceremonies were held in schools. In the meantime, in parallel with the statement of TMT distributed on April 23, 1958, 10 university students and 5 journalists who applied to the British Embassy in Ankara to attend the 23 April National Sovereignty and Children's Day, which will be celebrated enthusiastically in Cyprus on the same day, were sent to Cyprus. They are allowed by the British Embassy with a visa: however, students and journalists are asked not to attend demonstrations and rallies in Cyprus.
The Governorship of Cyprus allowed the Turkish Cypriots to hold demonstrations on April 23, 1958, by imposing some restrictions such as only carrying the Turkish flag and not carrying banners and placards. Thousands of Turkish Cypriots gathered in Nicosia Atatürk Square, where the British police and soldiers took extensive security measures on April 23, 1958, sing the National Anthem, and decorate the square and the whole Nicosia with Turkish flags with crescent and star sent from Turkey;[10]
Taksim square:
“Celebrations held on April 23, 1958 were held in Cyprus, especially in Nicosia, and also in Famagusta, Larnaca, Limassol, Paphos and Girne regions. Nicosia Boys and Girls High School and primary school students also participated in the celebrations in Nicosia, which started at 9 o'clock. The head of the cortege, Dr. Fazıl Küçük and Rauf R. Denktaş marched towards Cirit Square, where the ceremony would be held, accompanied by a band. Speaking at the ceremony that started with the National Anthem in Cirit Square, Dr. Fazıl Küçük announced that the name of Cirit Square was changed to Taksim Square. National games were played next to the poems recited by primary and secondary school students, and the celebrations ended with the singing of the anthem 'The Mountain Has Been Smoke' by those who attended the ceremony.
In an effort to enlighten the public and reduce the psychological pressure of EOKA, TMT also responds to EOKA statements. Süheyla Başaran, who remembers the British period and the oppression they went through well before the EOKA terror, and worked as a TMT member in Larnaca Radio Voice of Nature, is among these sworn TMT members;[11]
“…Our school is Atatürk Primary School. Behind it was a forest, and if this was the school, beyond that was the forest. Greeks always attacked the school. Do you know how our teachers used to kidnap us by saying, 'Guys, leave your bags.' We are young, primary school 1st grade. when we come back
We would find neither a row nor a table. This is how the 7-year-old boy started his life. Greeks do not want us to go to school. On the day I started primary school, we had a primary school principal named Asım Bey. She called me, she said, 'Come'. He placed a chair on his lectern. He took my hand and pulled me out. Above was a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth. Until that day, the English anthem, "Long live the Queen," was always started in Cyprus. The British flag was hoisted, the Turkish flag could not be hoisted. When we started primary school he was lucky for us and he took me upstairs and said, 'Child, download that picture.' She said. I downloaded that picture, I looked and his eyes filled with tears. “You don't understand now, but you are the luckiest children of this generation,” he said to me. “Because you start school with the National Anthem and the Turkish flag,” he told me. Of course, I didn't understand then, but years later, when I still remember this, my eyes fill with tears. We hung a picture of Atatürk…”
In the announcement signed by the Cyprus Turkish Institutions Federation, dated 26 March 1959, regarding the holiday celebration of 23 April 1959, the program is conveyed with the following words;[12]
“Primary schools will be included in the cortege that will march from Atatürk Square to the Taksim field in İnönü Square. In the cortege, the Celal Bayar High School Band would be accompanied by the national dress group carrying the big flags and the primary school zeybek group. At the ceremony to be held in Taksim area, after the National Anthem and speeches, the lands brought from various regions of Cyprus were presented to Celal Bayar on 19 May. It will be presented to Fazıl Küçük. After the poems that primary school students will read, aesthetic dance and national dances will also be exhibited. On April 23, 1959, National Sovereignty and Children's Day celebrations were included in the ceremonial programs of primary schools in various regions of Cyprus. National games were taught in night courses opened by the Public Education Sports Branch of the Directorate of Education in Nicosia Atatürk Primary School in January 1960.
After the British national anthem was played by the Police Band for the last time on the night between August 15th and August 16th, while England was officially leaving the island, the Republic of Cyprus was declared to the whole world on August 16, 1960, and Turkey officially took its place on the island with the National Anthem as a guarantor state, and the Turkish Cypriots From that day until today, Turks have accepted the National Anthem as their national anthem. Therefore, in this period, besides teaching the national anthem to children starting from primary schools, the National Anthem is sung during the opening and closing of schools on Mondays and Fridays. The 650-person Turkish Cypriot Forces Regiment, which came to the island on August 16, 1960, came to Nicosia amid the flood of love over Famagusta, and another ceremony was held in the Evkaf Garden. On the way, KTKA was welcomed with sacrifices in Gönendere village, where they salute the villagers with the National Anthem performed by the military band, and they perform the second National Anthem on the island in Evkaf Garden in Nicosia. This will be the first march performed by the Turkish soldier on the island during the republican period. On October 29, 1960, Mehmet Güçlü, who was teaching in the village of Tabanlı, also prepared a more enthusiastic holiday ceremony program due to the arrival of Turkish soldiers on the island and the official acceptance of the Turkish flag and the National Anthem. In the holiday celebration, which starts with the participation of all villagers and people from neighboring villages and the National Anthem is sung, the holiday celebration, which is filled with national plays, national anthems and the Martyr Fatma Play, continues until 21.00 in the evening.[13]
Peace Operation:
At the head of the women and children left behind, besides the people of Limassol who were trapped in Limassol during the 20 July 1974 Peace Operation and all the men of the city were taken to prison camps by the Greeks. Ayten Berkalp remained. Dr. Berkalp's determination, perseverance and courage as TMT Limassol Banner and hospital chief helped these people to cross to the north exactly one year later and their lives were saved. Organizing ceremonies in the hospital garden on every occasion during this process, Dr. Berkalp always prioritizes the flag and the National Anthem;[14]
“…We celebrated every national holiday under those conditions in Limassol. We raised the flag and celebrated. I wrote to Nicosia and they sent me a huge plaque with the National Anthem and other marches on it. We started playing other anthems from the minaret of the mosque at 06:00 in the morning. At 06.00 people started to gather in the hospital garden. The population was also around 3,000 (but) then dropped to 2000. People came and gathered. Again, there was a large crowd, mostly women and children, and there were also old men and 'Now the sheep mile is our anthem.' We sang our national anthem in unison. We found 2 flags, we removed the flagpoles from some buildings. We found everything the day before. There is a star and crescent on the top (of the flag), but we couldn't find it. One of the boys was caught pulling it off another flagpole, but we eventually found it. Everything is ready and we have raised the flag. We put a tall girl in front of us. Everyone behind
We bought ese black trousers and had those flags made directly by a carpenter. Then we found a press and pressed it. We gave the flags to the children. Cemaliye Hanım's child said, 'Oh, don't be an aunt. If you do, they will kill us again.' says…"
CONCLUSION:
After the National Struggle, England, which made new restrictions and prohibitions in Cyprus, continued the martial law practices it started during the First World War in the same way. Celebrating national days, imposing bans on national holidays, holding commemorative meetings and bans and heavy sanctions against marches, especially the National Anthem, will not extinguish the love in the hearts of Turkish Cypriots during this oppression process that makes the Turkish Cypriots almost unable to breathe. They do not hesitate to sing the National Anthem, which they sometimes whistle, sometimes in front of the Turkish flag they sing on the sand by the sea, sometimes at the commemorations they hold secretly at their teachers' homes, sometimes by standing upright in the open field and in the schoolyards. Turkish Cypriots, who roast their own livers in their own fat in desperation, thus manage to keep their morale-motivation high without forgetting their national identity, and they also succeed in making the land their homeland on the island of Cyprus. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which exists in Cyprus today and was established on November 15, 1983, is the result of the struggle since those days.
References:
[9] Mehmet Güçlü, Halassa Spring; Memoirs of a Teacher's Years of Struggle, Cyrep Pub., December 2003, Nicosia, p. 4.
[10]Earth, April 24, 1958. See Also. Halil Selcuk, ibid, p. 87-88
[11] Interview with Süheyla Başaran on 29 April 2016 in Girne Bosphorus.
[12] Halil Selçuk, ibid, p. 90
[13] Mehmet Güçlü, ibid, p. 32.
[14] Interview with Ayten Berkalp on April 18, 2016 in Girne.
