Some T/C associations and UK organisations will protest for the "bloody Christmas" of 21 December in front of the Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus in London with a silent vigil, on the day of the anniversary. "Bloody Christmas", or the bathtub massacre, is what T/Cs have called the murder of the family of military doctor Nihat Ilhan, his wife and three minor children on December 21, 1963.
According to T/C media reports, the protest event of the T/C organisations Young Turkish Cypriots and British Turkish Cypriot Association and Embargoed will take place between 18.00 and 20.00 on the evening of 21 December.
In their joint statement the three organisations say that many people believe that the events in Cyprus started in 1974 but this is not the case. The events, they claim, started 11 years ago, in 1963 with the "terrorist organisation" EOKA as "the E/Cs could never digest the power sharing in the new Republic and forced the T/Cs with guns to leave the Parliament and threw them out of their homes and villages".
They claim that in order to take control of the whole island on 21 December 1963, the E/Cs committed a bloody attack against the T/Cs. Within 10 days, says the joint statement of the T/C organisations, 133 T/Cs became "heroes" and between 25 and 30 thousand T/Cs (population 25%) - as it says - were forced to become refugees.
They also declare that on the night of December 21 they will not only commemorate the "fallen heroes", but at the same time they will send a letter and appeal to the Greek Cypriot side which, they say, has usurped the Republic of Cyprus for 58 years.
And their appeal, the statement concludes, is "Tell your people and the world the truth about the Cyprus problem."
Source: CNA
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