A commemoration ceremony was held Tuesday in London on the 58th anniversary of “Bloody Christmas,” also called Black Christmas by the Turkish Cypriot people.
Turkish Cypriots gathered in front of the office of the UK High Commissioner to the Greek Cypriot administration in London on Tuesday evening, lit candles and exhibited the photographs of those who lost their lives during the Greek Cypriot attacks.
Ayşe Osman, head of the Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations (CTCA) in the UK, said Bloody Christmas is a source of great pain for the Turkish Cypriot people.
The bodies of some of those who died in the attacks have still not been found, she noted.
Osman added that Turkish Cypriots are able to live in freedom and security today as a result of the sacrifices made by the martyrs.
Following the event, the CTCA president handed a letter to the Greek Cypriot administration’s office calling on the Greek Cypriot authorities to tell their public and the world the truth and realities in Cyprus.
More than 360 Turkish Cypriots were killed and 103 villages abandoned in a series of attacks unleashed by Greek Cypriots on December 21, 1963 forcing Turkish Cypriots to live in enclaves that covered only three per cent of the island until their liberation by the Turkish Armed Forces in 1974.