Who are the Turkish Aviators Who Fell Martyrs to Bring Peace to Cyprus?

Cyprus has been the most important issue of Turkish foreign policy in the last 60 years. Important events that reveal the shortcomings and inaccuracies of our national security policies and strategies are often encountered under the title of 'Cyprus'. Because of Cyprus, three major crises and tensions took place in 1964, 1967 and 1974, bringing Turkey and Greece to the brink of war. 

In the 1964 Cyprus events, the Turkish Air Force was used as an independent military force for the first time in our military history as an instrument of foreign policy.

In 1974, after more than half a century of peace after 9 September 1922, an overseas operation was successfully carried out with the participation of almost all units of the Turkish Armed Forces, supported by special forces and using three forces together.

Through the use of military force, national objectives in Cyprus were definitively achieved. As a result, the island was de facto divided into two and the communities were separated from each other. The Turkish community on the island gained complete security. The bloody events that took place on the island for more than twenty years after the 1950s were replaced by a 49-year period of peace after 1974.

Undoubtedly, countless officers, non-commissioned officers and Mehmetçiks from the Turkish Armed Forces have been martyred or veterans in the establishment of this peace, they have shed their blood, and thanks to them, it has been shown to the whole world that Cyprus will remain an inseparable part of the Republic of Turkey as an eternal Turkish land, as a baby homeland. In the meantime, I would like to remind you of some of our Air Force martyrs, who were among the martyrs who wrote the Cyprus Epic, by briefly mentioning them.

The first martyr of the Turkish Air Force in Cyprus was Air Pilot Captain Cengiz Topel

Cengiz Topel was born in Izmit in 1934. He completed his primary education in Kadıköy in 1946, his secondary education in Yeldeğirmeni in 1949 and his high school education at Kuleli Military High School in 1953. He graduated from the Turkish Military Academy in 1955 as a midshipman with the registration number 1955-19. Following his graduation, he completed his pilot training in Canada. Subsequently, he served at the 4th Main Jet Base Command/Mürted and the 1st Main Jet Base Command/Eskişehir. While serving as a quadruple column leader at the 112th Squadron Command in Eskişehir, he participated in the operation in Cyprus as an air pilot captain on 8 August 1964. The mission of the quadruple column led by Cengiz Topel was to prevent Greek Cypriots from committing acts of violence, to deter and dissuade them by air policing over Cyprus. While flying at low altitude with his F-100F aircraft, he had to jump with a parachute after his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire from the ground by the Greek Cypriots. Although he survived, he was brutally martyred by the Greeks on the ground as a result of torture. His grave is in Edirnekapı Martyrdom in Istanbul.

The second martyr of the Turkish Air Force in Cyprus was Air Pilot First Lieutenant İlker Karter 

İlker Karter was born in Eskişehir in 1943. He completed his primary and secondary education in Eskişehir and his high school education at İzmir Military Air High School. In 1962, he entered the Air Force Academy and graduated as a midshipman in 1964 with the registration number 1964-138. After completing his pilot training in İzmir Çiğli, he served at the 1st Main Jet Base Command/Eskişehir until 1973, after which he was transferred to the 8th Main Jet Base Command/Diyarbakır. While he was assigned to the 184th Reconnaissance Squadron Command, he was martyred on 20 July 1974 during a tactical reconnaissance mission over Cyprus on the first day of the operation, when enemy anti-aircraft shells hit his RF-84F aircraft and his aircraft crashed in the Deregeçit area of Cyprus. He is buried in Cyprus Kyrenia Martyrdom.

The third martyr of the Turkish Air Force in Cyprus was Air Pilot Major Fehmi Ercan 

Fehmi Ercan was born in Balıkesir in 1935. He completed his primary education in Demirci, Manisa, his secondary education in Gönen, Balıkesir and his high school education in Balıkesir. In 1957, he entered the Air Force Academy and graduated as a midshipman in 1959, with the registration number 1959-56. After completing his pilot training in İzmir Çiğli, he served at the 3rd Main Jet Base Command/Konya. Subsequently, while serving as a flight instructor at the 2nd Main Jet Base Command/Çiğli since 1971, as an air pilot major, he was assigned as a forward air controller (FAC) at the 6th Corps Command before the Cyprus Operation. At 14.00 on Friday, 19 July, he boarded the landing ship (L-114) with Colonel Karaosmanoğlu, Commander of the 50th Infantry Regiment at Mersin Port, together with the other IHKs (Hv.Plt.Bnb. Necdet Karademir and Hv.Plt.Lzb.Akın GİRAY), and after a 20-hour journey, he participated in the landing operation with the Turkish soldiers who landed at 10.00 on 20 July at the Pladin area, 5 miles west of Kyrenia. In the evening he attended briefings at the Regimental Command Headquarters (a two-storey building on the beach was being used as headquarters). While spending the night in the vestibule area of the Regiment Headquarters with the other HRCs, he was martyred together with Colonel Karaosmanoğlu when he was hit by a 106 mm. artillery shell that fell on the entrance area of the headquarters at 03.30 on the morning of 21 July. The place where he was buried is the Cyprus Kyrenia Martyrdom. The international airport located 23 km from Nicosia, the capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and 29 km from Famagusta was named after our martyr. On 20 July 2023, Ercan Airport was renovated and started to serve in a wider scope.

The fourth martyr of the Turkish Air Force in Cyprus was Air Radar Sergeant Major Sami Emen 

Sami Emen was born in Eceabat in 1942. He completed his primary and secondary education in Eceabat and graduated from the Non-Commissioned Officer Candidate Preparation School in 1957, graduating as a sergeant in 1959 with the registration number 1959-21. Subsequently, he served as a controller at the 5th Main Jet Base Command/Merzifon until 1964 and at the 1st Main Jet Base Command/Eskişehir until 1974. After the Cyprus Operation, he temporarily served at Cyprus-Tymvou (built by the British in World War II as a military airport during the colonial administration of the island. During the Cyprus Operation, this square was captured by the Turkish army from the Greeks. It was later renamed Ercan Airport) He was assigned to the Air Square Command. He was shot and martyred on 29 October 1974 by unknown assailants in his house where he was residing while he was on duty at this square. His grave is in Eskişehir Air Martyrdom.

Reference:

Erdoğan Öznal, "Cengiz Topel'in Şehadeti", Turkish Air Force Anılar 2009 Book, p.107

Necdet Karademir, "Kıbrıs Barış Harekâtında Yaşadıklarım", Türk Hava Kuvvetleri Anılar 2009 Kitabı, p. 193 

Air Martyrs Album, Air Forces Command, Related Pages.

Halil İbrahim Fırtına, Alçalmadan Yükselenler Komutanlar Anlatıyor, Kırmızı Kedi Yayınları, 3rd Edition, Istanbul, p.229