Turkish Resistance Organization

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The Turkish Resistance Organization (Turkish: Türk Mukavemet Teşkilatı – TMT) was a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation formed by Rauf Denktaş and Turkish military officer Rıza Vuruşkan in 1958 to counter the Greek Cypriot Fighter's Organization EOKA and to bring partition in Cyprus. According to Roni Alasor's book published in Turkish, TMT's organisation structure and base had been formed as early as 1950 with its center in Yenişehir, Ankara and its members called mujahid.[1] Communication with its members in Cyprus was by radio and the honorary leader of the TMT was Fatin Rüştü Zorlu.[2]

General Daniş Karabelen in charge of unconventional warfare office of Turkey, was leading the irregular Turkish Cypriot attacks on Greek Cypriot properties. The Turkish state in 1950's had sent to Cyprus Turkish officers and Special forces veterans who arrived secretly and presented themselves as bankers, teachers and business men and trained Turkish Cypriots in tactics of unconventional warfare.[3]

In response to the growing demand for Enosis (union of Cyprus with Greece), a number of Turkish Cypriots became convinced that this was the only way to protect the interests and identity of the Turkish Cypriot population against a militant Greek Cypriot threat[citation needed]. TMT has also used the symbol of the Gray Wolf (Turkish: Bozkurt), an important figure from Turkish mythology.

The TMT was active mainly between 1958 and 1974, promoting partition (in Turkish: Taksim) of Cyprus. It has been accused by the Government of the Republic of Cyprus of numerous acts of terrorism against Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike. TMT claims that their efforts were simply in response to a real threat against their community by EOKA, and after 1963, by the Cypriot Government (which by then was almost exclusively Greek Cypriot in makeup).

It was supported logistically and militarily by the Government of Turkey. While not as well-armed as EOKA[citation needed] and the Greek Cypriot government forces[citation needed] (both supported militarily and logistically by Greece), TMT members managed to hold their own during the 1963-64 inter-communal violence (see Erenköy).

In 1963, TMT was partly responsible for the creation of numerous small Turkish Cypriot enclaves throughout the island, into which the majority of Turkish Cypriots were forcibly[citation needed] concentrated. The organization was the body responsible for the defense of these enclaves between 1963 and 1974. TMT has been held responsible for numerous murders of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots between 1957 and 1974, and for mass executions of Greek Cypriot civilians during the Turkish invasion in 1974[citation needed]. It was finally disbanded after the Turkish invasion in 1974.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Roni Alasor, “Sifreli Mesaj: “Trene bindir!” ISBN 960-03-3260-6
  2. ^ Roni Alasor, “Sifreli Mesaj: “Trene bindir!” ISBN 960-03-3260-6
  3. ^ Roni Alasor, “Sifreli Mesaj: “Trene bindir!” ISBN 960-03-3260-6
  • Christopher Hitchens - Cyprus, Hostage to History: From the Ottomans to Kissinger

[edit] See also