Sevgi's Story


In between 1955 and 1960 EOKA started to kill people. At that time we were living in Balikesir. But in those days there were only a few Turks living in our village. Most of the people were Greek. For that reason everybody started to come together in the villages where the majority was Turkish. I remember that in those days also we were forced to leave our villages. We were lucky people because we had relatives in Cihangir, so we stayed near them.

Q. Did you have any thoughts or ideas or conclusions at that time?
This experience was a very bad experience for me. To leave my village and also my home was something unbelievable for me. You have your own village, your own home, but you must go live in another place. This condition made me a very sad and troubled person.

Q. Did these thoughts or ideas or conclusions help you in any way?
This event helped me in this way: Before I left my village, I didn't know and see the beauty of my village. But when I left my home, my village, I saw that despite all the impossibilities we were very happy in our village and continued to live.

Q. Were these thoughts or ideas or feelings or conclusions a problem for you in any way?
These events which we lived were very damaging to me and also to my family. After all the events were finished we still continued to live with same agitation and fear. Today when I remember those days I still continue to be afraid. All those events leave traces in my mind. They burn in me psychologically.

Q. Did you have any feelings or emotions at that time?
Those days,those years were the worst days and years of my life. I never want to live those days again.

Q. Did these feelings or emotions help you in any way?
From those events I learned many things. For example I learn not to carry a grudge against somebody. I learned to love everything and everybody; also to live in a friendly way with people. But I can`t say the same things for Greek people. I believe that if there were a war to start again the Greeks will show the same quarrelsome altitude.

Q. Were these feelings or emotions a problem for you in any way?
As I told you before, I feel the same fear when I remember those days or on the anniversary of those events.

Q. Did you have any questions or confusions at this time?
At that time only one question was disturbing my mind. This was " What do they want from us?" During the days of struggle, I always thought this question and similar questions to it.

Q. Did these questions or confusions help you in any way?
These questions or confusions which were in my mind didn't help me in any way.

Q. Were these questions or confusions a problem for you in any way?
Yes, they caused a problem in my life. I always think this question and spend my days thinking about the answer to this question.

Q. Was there anything that happened during this time that was helpful for you?
Our relatives helped us very much. When we left our village if they didn't accept us we would have to stay outside. I have never forgotten this goodness of theirs, and every time I see them I show and tell my gratitude.

Q. How did this help you?
This helped us in this way: We were saved from living outside. If we lived outside we might have died from the cold; also we wouldn't have found to eat and would have died from hunger. And also this taught me to appreciate everything.

Q. Was there anything that happened during this time that hurt you or got in your way or was a problem for you somehow?
For 11 years we lived like migrants. During this time we lived by the help of Turkey. We ate food and wore clothes which came from Turkey. The injustice and tyranny of the Greeks hurt me very much.

Q. How did this hurt you or was a problem for you?
Greeks took our life justice from our hands. We started to live like slaves in our own country. This hurt me very much. We couldn't live anywhere that we wanted to live.

Q. Was there anything during this time that MIGHT HAVE helped you or COULD HAVE helped you?
During this time we needed help from Turkey. We needed soldiers, food, clothes, ammunition. Also we needed milk for our babies.

Q. How would this have helped you?
Beside all of these, if we had our own weapons and ammunition we could defend ourselves against the Greeks. They killed little children, fathers, mothers. They killed everybody in front of our eyes, but we couldn't do anything to them. We couldn't take our revenge for our people. But if we had had our own weapons and ammunition we could struggle against them, defend our rights and everything would be different.

Q. Is there anything in your experience during this time that you would say was a "lesson for life?"
During this period my husband was working in T.M.T. (Turkish resistance). The weapons which had come from Turkey were buried in our garden. Somebody denounced us and said that there were weapons in our garden. Then the people from EOKA entered our home without permission. They broke our doors and our windows but they didn't find the weapons and ammunition. Until that day we were never near the people from EOKA. This was the worst event of my life and I can say that this was a "lesson for life." Because from this I learned that disloyalty, infidelity and treachery is a very bad thing.

Q. Is there anything you else you would like to say about your experience during this time?
I never want to live through an experience like this. Also I never want for anybody to live through such an experience. War is something very bad. The bad effects of the war still continue after its conclusion.

Q. Is there anything you would like to say about the questions I have asked or the style of the interview itself?
The style of the questions were very helpful to remind me of those days.


DEMOGRAPHICS
Occupation (or life's work): Housewife.
Age: about 60.
Sex: Female.
Nationality: Turkish Cypriot.
Where now lives (country and city/town/village): Balikesir village.
Where lived during the events described during the interview: Balikesir village.
What was the occupation (or life's work) of the main income earner in the household when growing up: Father was a farmer. Husband was a soldier; income of their family came from the government.


This interview was conducted by Sibel
3 May 1996

For the previous page. "1963-1974: `Ethnic Cleansing'."