Gul's Story

Q. Can you tell me your story about moving from the South to the North in 1974? Where do you come from? And what happened?
I came here (to Incirli) from Gormeli. Gormeli is a village near Paphos in Southern Cyprus. I came here by forbidden ways, because the war was not yet over at that time. We left southern Cyprus and we came to Northern Cyprus, because at that time Turkey came to help us and it occupied some of the areas from Northern Cyprus, and Incirli was one of these areas. When we came to Northern Cyprus the military brought us (immigrant people) to Incirli. They gave us houses, they helped us, because we had nothing. We only could bring our money, nothing else and our money was Greek money so we turned it into Turkish lira and our money lost value and we became very poor people. Then the government gave us new fields instead of our old fields, so we started to work and earn our living but we spent very difficult days because of the war.

Q. Did you have any ideas or thoughts at that time (when you came to Northern Cyprus)?
Yes. I had many ideas and thoughts, because we did not know what would happen. How we could earn our living and I also thought about my son who was taken captive by Greeks and who remained in Southern Cyprus. I could not receive information from him and I did not know if he was alive or dead.

Q. Did these ideas or thoughts help you?
No. They did not help me. They made me very sad and they also made me pessimistic. I did not thought well.

Q. Were these ideas or thoughts a problem for you?
Of course these thoughts were a problem for me. For example I could not sleep at night, because when I slept I saw a nightmare that Greeks killed my son and I awoke suddenly and I started to cry.

Q. What were your feelings at that time?
I felt very sad and confused because my new environment was very different to me. I left my beautiful house full of furniture and I came here and started to live in an empty house. We had no work. But the real thing that caused my sadness was my captive son. For a mother the important things in the world are children and it is very difficult to not receive information from your children.

Q. Did these feelings help you in any way?
Yes they helped me to understand the value of my son and these feelings showed me that life is full of many surprises and you can never guess what will happen.

Q. Were these feelings a problem for you in a way?
Yes. These feelings saddened me and they removed me from my environment.

Q. Did you have any questions at that time?
Yes. I had many questions, for example what will happen? Where was my son? Was my son alive or dead? What kinds of events were waiting for us? Would I see my son again?

Q. Did these questions help you in a way?
No, because I could not find answers to my questions.

Q. Were these questions a problem for you in a way?
Yes. They were a problem for me, because they were very important questions. The answers to these questions could cause my happiness and sadness. I could not do anything. I just prayed to my God.

Q. Was there anything at that time that hurt you or was a problem for you?
Yes. One day the Turkish army came to our house and they wanted to search our home because some villagers accused us of being spies. In other words they accused us of helping the Greeks. This event hurt me because I saw these people as my friends, but they saw us as enemies.

Q. What did you learn from this event?
This event taught me to not rely on all people, and this event also showed me that it is very difficult to recognize other people.

Q. Was there anything during that time that was helpful for you?
Yes. Greeks let my son free and he came to Northern Cyprus. This was my happiest time. I felt that I had been born again.

Q. How did this help you?
This event was helpful for me because I escaped from my fears and I started my new life. After my son came I started to built our new lives and homes. In other words one of the important thing at this world is family; if your family members are together you succeed to fight with life or badness.

Q. Is there anything in your experience during this time that you would say was a "lesson for life?"
A "lesson for life " is something that people learn after anxieties and fears. For example, all these events that I lived in 1974 showed me that war is one of the worst events in the world. War caused the death of many people. These events also showed me the importance of freedom. If you are free and your family members are together every thing becomes good.

Q. Is there anything you would like to say about the questions I have asked or the style of the interview itself?
Yes, it was a very difficult interview because these were bad memories for me and I do not want to remember them again. But I want to give this information and my experience for the younger generation.

DEMOGRAPHICS
Occupation: Housewife
Age: 76
Sex: Female
Nationality: Turkish Cypriot
Where now lives (country and city/town/village): Incirli village, near Famagusta.
Where lived during the events described during the interview: Gormeli village, near Paphos.
Occupation (or life's work) of the main income earner in household when growing up: Farmer.