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.