Cyprus Peace Operation; It was the operation carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces in Cyprus on 20 July 1974 under the leadership of the then Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit. It was carried out in order to prevent the oppression and persecution of the Turks in Cyprus by the Greeks and to establish peace and tranquility on the island. During the operation, some important events describing the difficulties of the period went down in history. One of them is the password that started the Cyprus Peace Operation, “Let Ayşe go on vacation”. Known as the poet of sadness, Ümit Yaşar Oğuzcan’s poem “Don’t call me so heartily / I can come suddenly one night” is known with the Cyprus Peace Operation.
History of the Cyprus Peace Operation
Republic of Cyprus; It was established by the Zurich and London agreements signed in 1959. The agreement was made between Turkey, Greece, England, Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. Turkey, Greece and England, which signed the agreement, became the guarantor states of the Republic of Cyprus. With this agreement, the status of the people of Cyprus as an independent state was determined and the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus was approved. Archbishop Makarios represented the Greek side of the agreement and Fazıl Küçük represented the Turkish side. In accordance with international treaties, in the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus established in 1960, two peoples were given equal political rights and status.
After the establishment of the Partnership Republic, the Greek Cypriot side continued some activities in order to keep the Turkish Cypriots away from establishing a state, ending their existence on the island and opening the way for the island to be connected to Greece (Enosis). The Greek Cypriots, using unilateral force, abolished the constitution and in 1963 the Republic of Cyprus de facto came to an end. With the support of Greece, the Greeks took up arms between 1963 and 1974 in order to achieve Enosis and applied pressure and persecution against the Turkish Cypriots.
After the Turks were removed from the administration, differences of opinion emerged between the Greeks and the terrorist organization EOKA. Nikos Sampson, one of the leaders of EOKA-B, with the support of the ruling junta in Greece, overthrew the President of Cyprus Makarios with the coup he carried out on July 15, 1974. Upon this news reaching Ankara, Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit convened the National Security Council and asked the TAF to prepare for an intervention in Cyprus. Reactions occurred in the world public opinion against the coup and military administration in Cyprus, and this situation created an environment in favor of Turkey.
Turkey held talks with England, one of the guarantor states, for a joint intervention on the island. Britain did not respond positively to this intervention. Bülent Ecevit held talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Joseph Sisco on 18 July in London. Sisco arrived in Ankara from Athens on 19 July. It was understood that Sisco’s attempts at Athens would not yield any results.
The Revealing of the Password “Let Ayşe go on vacation”
After the negotiations failed to yield any results, the Mediterranean was opened with a fleet of landing ships belonging to the Naval Forces Command. The Cyprus Peace Operation started on 20 July with the airborne landings of the Turkish Armed Forces units in the Nicosia-Hamitköy-Gönyeli and Pınarbaşı regions, and the landing at Yavuz Beach. The Operation, which started, ended on July 22, 1974, in accordance with the decision of the United Nations Security Council.
In line with the decision taken by the UNSC, Turkey, Greece and England came together and started negotiations for the solution of the Cyprus problem. With the I. Geneva Conference convened on 25 July 1974, it was accepted that there are two autonomous administrations in the Republic of Cyprus, Turkish and Greek. It was decided to hold a second conference with the guarantor states and representatives of Turks and Greeks. II. Until the Geneva Conference, Greek and Greek soldiers must withdraw from the area where the Turks are located. However, instead of withdrawing, their attacks continued. Convened on August 8, 1974, II. Turkish officials, who thought that there would be no result from the Geneva conference, decided to start the operation.
Turan Güneş, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the time, called Ankara and used the motto “Ayşe goes on holiday” for the operation. Turan Güneş describes the password incident as follows in his book:
“Before going to the Second Geneva Conference, Prime Minister Ecevit and I were talking and reviewing the preparations one last time. In the meantime, we also talked about the possibility of the conference being interrupted. At that time, we also decided to establish a password between us. Just then, Orhan Birgit called me. I told him that the Geneva talks might take a long time, so I wanted my children to go on vacation without waiting for me. In the meantime, I asked Birgit to help them.”
After hanging up, the prime minister turned to me and said:
“I found the password. Ayşe goes on vacation. If things come to a breaking point, things will take longer here, even if Ayşe goes on vacation, I will understand.” “So we settled on the password.”
Turan Güneş’s daughter’s name is Ayşe. But the conversations have nothing to do with Ayşe. “Ayşe should go on vacation” is the password that will start the second operation. Together with the password, on August 14, 1974, at 04.30 am, the Turkish troops in Cyprus took action. On August 15, 1974, 38 percent of Cyprus was captured and the Greek Cypriot forces had to withdraw. The Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was established in 1975, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established on November 15, 1983.
‘I Can Come Suddenly One Night’
Before the Cyprus Peace Operation, the Greek Cypriots frequently played the song “I waited but you didn’t come, you didn’t love me” on the Greek radio in order to demoralize and provoke the Cypriot mujahideen. They mocked the Turkish Cypriots who were waiting for Turkey’s intervention.
In response to this situation, the Turkish Cypriots responded with the composed and sung version of the poem “Don’t call me so heartily, I may come suddenly one night” from Bayrak Radio.
