BOSTON – His Beatitude Archbishop Georgios of New Justiniana and All Cyprus spoke to The National Herald on the occasion of the fiftieth dark anniversary of the Turkish invasion of the great island. His Beatitude recounted the events of the Turkish invasion, how he experienced them as a young chemist at the time, where he was exactly, what he says to Cypriot authorities today, what he said about the Greek governments through the years, and what he told the U.S. ambassador who visited him recently. He calls for unity among Hellenes worldwide “to voice our right and liberate our land.”

The National Herald: What thoughts go through your mind these days as fifty years have passed since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus?

Archbishop Georgios: The thoughts that occupy us these days are depressive, and we look back with great sadness to those days when Turkey invaded Cyprus, maintaining its troops here for fifty years – and there is a systematic effort to erase all traces of our Christian and Greek heritage and identity [in the illegally occupied areas]. It is something we continuously live as a martyrdom, seeing the occupied land becoming more Turkish daily and an effort, no longer hidden, to occupy the entire island of Cyprus.

TNH: Do you remember where you were on the day of the invasion?

Archbishop Georgios: Of course. I remember it very well. It was the Saturday of Prophet Elijah, and I was in the church in my village, Athienou, attending the Divine Liturgy, when a terrified woman entered and said, “the Turks have invaded.”

TNH: Were you a clergyman?

Archbishop Georgios: No, I was a layman; I was the son of a priest and was accustomed to going to churches daily. I had just graduated with my first degree, I was a chemist, and worked as a chemist at the time. On that Saturday, the great feast of Prophet Elijah, I went to church.

It was, of course, something expected from the day of the coup Monday, July 15 – we all realized it because Archbishop Makarios warned that Turkey was lurking, looking for an excuse to invade and conquer Cyprus. Most believed him but remained inactive; a few were swayed by the Greek junta in Athens and EOKA B that did the evil thing, and we expected it. Those of us who followed foreign radio stations at night heard from the previous night that the warships had already left Turkey and were heading towards Cyprus; it was something expected.

TNH: How did you react when that woman entered the church and informed you that the Turks had invaded? What emotions went through your mind?

Archbishop Georgios: I still shudder thinking about it, and we immediately ran to see what the needs of the place were. We rushed to the local hospital where they were asking for blood donations and others to be mobilized.

TNH: Did you understand what had happened that day, in the church of Prophet Elijah?

Archbishop Georgios: We understood it, we lived it. The radio started broadcasting marches. We began preparing shelters to evade the bombings, understanding that the situation was very difficult for us. Of course, we had not grasped the full extent of the problem, the extent of the destruction, which is why when the bombings ended, some refugees from Kyrenia area came to settle in my village. We did not calculate that the invasion would continue and reach the point where 37% of Cyprus would be occupied. We suspected they would take some part and that it would be settled so that the Turks would have a base there. We did not understand Turkey’s ambitions. We were forced to leave our village because no one knew where the Turks would stop. Leaving with whatever means we had, some on tractors, others on trucks, the entire village. For those of us who had finished high school, images of the Asia Minor catastrophe came to mind, when people fled, and we cried, and now I cry as I speak to you, thinking about the magnitude of the destruction that occurred.

TNH: Your Beatitude, half a century has passed since then. How has the presence of the Turks changed the island?

Archbishop Georgios: Most of the occupied areas have been Turkified – 560 of our churches were destroyed, most were left to decay, at the mercy of time. About 80 became mosques, others became military camps, others became entertainment venues, and there is an effort to erase every trace that speaks of the Hellenism and Christianity of the area. Large buildings, apartment complexes, skyscrapers are being built, the demographic character has changed since ethnic cleansing was carried out; the residents were not allowed to stay there. Additionally, in recent years, there has been a systematic effort to alter the demographic character of the free areas with Muslim illegal immigrants that Turkey permanently channels to us from Istanbul airport to the illegal Tymbou airport. From there, they are dispersed to various areas. Turkey is trying to create a fifth column. Besides the economic drain from the allowances they receive from the [Republic of Cyprus], apart from entering our schools without knowing Greek, and the social unrest they cause by fighting in our streets, we also have the problem that in any conflict or action by Turkey, they will side with the Turks.

TNH: What are we doing wrong as Hellenism for half a century now, and almost half of Cyprus remains captive?

Archbishop Georgios: I believe that the main issue is that the Greek governments – not the Greek people nor the Church of Greece, which have supported and continue to support us – saw us as a burden in resolving other so-called Greek-Turkish differences. They did not see us as part of the Nation; they said we are far away. Even now, it is inconceivable for us Cypriots that Greece should [cooperate] with Turkey on a joint ballot in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE], and [the Greeks] support a Turk, the inventor of the doctrine of ‘the blue homeland’. It is inconceivable for us, it is as if the motherland, the government, is writing us off. They consider us somewhat foreign, and I think that if they leave us to our own devices, they will live peacefully and enjoy tranquility.

I have often said that Cyprus is the last stronghold of Hellenism. If Cyprus falls, the dismantling of all of Greece will begin. The Turks will not start with Cyprus, but with the Aegean, the islands, Thrace, Macedonia.

The Greek governments saw us as foreigners; our own governments did not try as much as they could to convince the motherland that when Cimon came with triremes in the fifth century BC and liberated us from the Persians, we were not far away; now, are we far?

And yet, we did not give the importance we should have to our defensive fortification, at least to have a deterrent force so that Turkey knows that if it tries to advance, it will face a significant cost because we are not willing to write off our occupied areas. We work for the liberation of our land. We entered the European Union with the countless sacrifices of our people, but we did not utilize this entry into Europe. All people in the EU have [rights] that allow them to move freely in all EU countries, settle wherever they want, and acquire property everywhere. Shouldn’t we be able to enjoy these in our own homeland? We did not insist on this claim. When we entered some negotiations to find a tolerable solution, we gave the perfect excuse to our European allies, our partners, and they tell us to sort it out among ourselves, and whatever we work out, they will adopt it. We must claim what all other Europeans enjoy, which are human rights.

TNH: Do you say these things to the Cypriot government?

Archbishop Georgios: Of course we do.

TNH: How do they respond?

Archbishop Georgios: They fully understand and embrace them. They seem to be trying, through diplomacy, to win over foreign governments for our cause. However, they gauge the possibilities of concessions. A change in policy is needed.

TNH: Would you agree that if America wanted, the issue could have been resolved many years ago?

Archbishop Georgios: Absolutely, and even now, if it wants, it can solve the problem. However, America considers both the geographical and strategic position of Turkey and its population, which buys its goods. When deciding whether it will prefer Greece and Cyprus or Turkey, it leans towards Turkey. Turkey understands this and proceeds by deceiving both Russia and America and everyone else. When the U.S. ambassador visited me, I expressed my complaints because we expected something different from the leader of the free world. I asked her which of your allies have you not betrayed – the Kurds, the Greeks? You cannot set a proper example in this way.

TNH: When you recently visited Cappadocia, Silivria, and Constantinople, did you face any problems from the Turks?

Archbishop Georgios: No, I believe they knew who we were and that they were monitoring us, but we went as simple pilgrims.