On July 26, 1974, a few days after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Swedish newspaper's correspondent Expressen, Lars G. Holmström, followed Turkish General Sabri Demirbag to occupied Kyrenia. In his report, he recorded the general’s statements, who declared without mincing words: “We came to Cyprus to stay.” In the same report, Demirbag also stated that the approximately 600 Greek Cypriot prisoners of war who had already been transferred to Turkey were enough and that no more were needed, as – as he stated – they constituted sufficient bargaining chips for the future of Cyprus. A historical document that captures in the clearest way the aims of the Turkish invasion of those days.
"We came to Cyprus to stay"
LARS G. HOLMSTRÖM
CYPRUS
KYRENIA (Expressen).
There is only one way to get here. I passed through it yesterday, via the Turkish corridor from Nicosia to Kyrenia – the “window” that the Turks have now opened to the outside world.
When I arrived, Kyrenia was plunged into an eerie silence. Suddenly, however, two shots rang out in the alley where I was. I rushed to take cover behind a tavern. The sniper confined himself to this solitary Greek Cypriot resistance.
The road to Kyrenia is littered with bomb craters and destroyed houses. Here and there, you can see wrecked cars, melted under the tracks of battle tanks.
"I didn't know that in Cyprus they drive on the left," says a Turkish tank driver ironically.
The Expressen correspondent accompanies 52-year-old General Sabri Demirbag, the leader of the forces that invaded Kyrenia. They stop at an old fortress in the mountains, with a panoramic view of the city.
Machine guns or perhaps mortar explosions can be heard from the ravine. The echo makes it impossible to tell where they are coming from.
The general shrugs.
— We still have a few pockets of resistance that we need to neutralize. But we can't shoot from here, because we risk killing our own soldiers.
Entering Kyrenia, the city is so quiet that even the slightest sound can be heard.
The "reception" comes suddenly: two gunshots from a sealed house in a narrow alley.
A lone message of resistance against the Turkish invasion. We did not encounter any other sign of resistance all day.
At many intersections, dead soldiers lie in distorted postures. The sweet smell of corpses lingers in the air.
All the shops are closed. Not a single car is on the road. The city seems deserted. Those who haven't left are hiding behind closed shutters.
"600 hostages are enough for us"
— To avoid clashes, we imposed a curfew, explains General Demirbag.
We also know that Greek Cypriot soldiers are hiding in many houses. But we want to avoid arresting them.
The 600 prisoners of war we have already transferred to Turkey are enough for us. We do not need more hostages as a bargaining chip for the future of Cyprus.
I ask him if the resistance was strong.
His response turns into an attack on UN peacekeepers.
— How is it possible that the Greek Cypriot National Guard was arming itself without the UN soldiers noticing? Almost every house around here had been turned into a defensive fort. It seems that the Turks' problems do not concern the UN.
At the entrance to the harbor, the general opens his arms with pride towards the blue of the Mediterranean.
— But now our fleet controls at least five Swedish miles off the coast of Cyprus. And we came to Cyprus to stay.
More and more Turkish soldiers
NICOSIA (AP) - Turkey continues to strengthen its invasion force in Cyprus and occupy new areas, violating the ceasefire agreement.
According to military and diplomatic sources, soldiers, trucks and armored vehicles are disembarking at the Turkish bridgehead in Kyrenia and advancing inland. A large number of Turkish helicopters have also been seen flying over the mountains around Kyrenia towards landing points inland.
A foreign military attaché estimates that the Turkish force on the island has increased from 6.000 men in the first days of the invasion to over 10.000, despite Monday's ceasefire.
Otherwise, it appears that the ceasefire is being observed to an increasingly greater extent.
