That Woman and the events of 27/28 January 1958

That woman was only 15 years old when EOKA started to turn the island of Cyprus into a bloodbath. Born in 1940 in Nicosia, her childhood was characterised by poverty as the second daughter of a poor family in Ortaköy. Perhaps fate started to weave its web in Ortaköy because Dr Fazıl Küçük, who was from the same village, founded the Volkan organisation in April 1955 with his friend Şakir Özel. The 15-year-old girl, known and recognised by everyone as Gülten, had to take the name of her brother (Tuncel), who had passed away before her, under the conditions of that day; however, she could neither live her young girlhood nor attend school regularly.

During the organisation activities of the Turkish Cypriots to protect themselves, she suddenly finds herself in the middle of the conflict. Gülten, along with her friends Ayfer Hasan, Ümran Behiç, Selma Hasan, Sevim Ülfet and her friends from Victoria Girls' High School, was recruited into the organisation by making them swear an oath on a gun, flag and the Koran at the Ortaköy Sports Club in Nicosia and started attending meetings in Nicosia.

These young girls, who were sworn in Ortaköy, were thus recruited into Volkan and assigned various tasks in the context of psychological warfare and guerrilla warfare such as courier, intelligence, counter-intelligence, armed resistance and propaganda.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriots organised a demonstration against the British administration in Nicosia on 27-28 January 1958 and protested against the biased policies of the British administration. Gülten (Tuncel) was one of the first to march in this demonstration. However, unfortunately, the events escalated when the British soldiers attacked the demonstrators with Land Rover vehicles and shot at them, and 7 Turkish Cypriots lost their lives. Meanwhile, Gülten also fell to the ground. The British military jeep passed over her fingers and caused her to carry the traces of that day painfully on her fingers even today.

When she saw innocent people being killed by the British in front of her eyes, she immediately got up and took out the Turkish flag she had wrapped around her waist and started to run and set fire to the place called Ford Garage at the point known today as Tekke Bahçesi Martyrdom with her friends. After two eventful days, the British published the photographs they took at the rally through newspapers, blacklisted him and ordered his execution. The next two years turned into a complete agony for him. On the same night, the British martial law court sentenced 4 young girls to death in absentia and published it in the Official Gazette.

While fighting for the Turkish Cypriots, she also tried not to get caught until 21 April 1960. She could neither attend Victoria Girls' High School nor have a peaceful life. She was going to go to Iskenderun by ship from Larnaca to get married; however, the EOKA police who checked her passport were suspicious of her and when they were told ‘Wait here’, a tense wait began on the wooden pier. Gülten was quite relaxed at first, but when ‘Bafidi’ Mustafa Çavuş, who recognised her, said ‘My daughter, they will arrest you. Run away.’ She runs to the ship without a passport, identity card or ticket and hides in a grass oil barrel in the engine room for hours without moving.

At customs, there is a great commotion. Armed men were looking for him in every nook and cranny, but after hours they could not find him. The ship could not move for a long time, arguments started with the passengers on board; but when he could not be found despite all the searches, the ship sailed towards İskenderun. After almost 10-12 hours of searching, when the ship sailed, he secretly came out of the barrel in the engine room where he was hiding in the darkness of the night.

He is cold, tired, hungry and excited. Thinking that someone from the ship has reported him, he plans to hide not on the deck where the other passengers are, but inside one of the lifeboats on the deck. After a long and tense night, he hides there without food or water on a 17-hour journey to İskenderun. As he hides for hours, he is very dirty, hungry, scared and cold. Despite this, he resisted, hid and set foot on the territory of his homeland Turkey in Iskenderun.

In his own words; ‘...there was going to be a big rally in Sarayönü. British soldiers drove Land Rover vehicles into the rally area. While travelling back and forth randomly with their cars, they crushed 3-4 people in front of our eyes and martyred them. In the meantime, I fell to the ground and the British soldiers stepped on my hands. I had a Turkish flag wrapped around my waist and a gas canister in one hand. There, we hid in the Great Bath and then we burnt down the famous Ford Garage of the Greeks just round the Kyrenia Gate. When the British could not find our names, they published the photographs they took during the rally through newspapers and television, blacklisted us and issued a death warrant against us. In fact, I was going to İskenderun by ship from Larnaca to get married about 2 years later. It was 21 April 1960. There was a short time before the ship was about to depart and the policeman who was checking my passport said, ‘Wait here.’ He got off the ship and entered his own building. At first I did not suspect anything, but my late Uncle Mustafa, who recognised me, said, ‘My daughter, they will arrest you. Hide somewhere inside the ship.’ I left my passport and ID card and hid in the grasso barrel inside the ship. I waited in the engine room of the ship for hours without moving and almost without breathing. When they couldn't find me, they let me on board; however, this time, I wondered if someone on board had reported me, so when I came out of the barrel at dusk, I hid not on the deck or in the cabins, but inside one of the lifeboats hanging on the deck. After an adventurous, exciting and difficult journey of almost 1.5-2 days, I was in the land of the motherland; however, I was hungry, tired, cold and disgusting with machine oil. I did not move from my place until I set foot on Turkish soil in Iskenderun; however, I was able to come to Turkey without a passport and identity card, that is, as a fugitive."

Today, I love this beautiful, brave and heroic woman who lives a happy life with her husband Nazmi Bey in Anamur, the closest point of Turkey to Cyprus, for making the land of Cyprus her homeland and I kiss her hands with respect because she is my only mother.