The importance of investing in the country’s defence and security remains the timeless message on the 50th anniversary of the completion of the second phase of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in August 1974, military researcher, Colonel (retired) Andys Loizou told CNA.
Speaking about the military events of August 14-16, 1974, Loizou said that after the collapse of the Geneva talks and the catchphrase “Ayse can go on holiday”, the second phase of the Turkish invasion, known as “Attila 2”, began on August 14 at dawn.
Referring to the Turkish invaders’ forces and the forces left in the Cypriot National Guard, he noted that Cyprus had not been reinforced by any foreign country except Greece, which sent the amphibious assault squadron from Crete that held Nicosia airport and then remained in Cyprus. He also noted that the United Kingdom had refused to sell cartridges for the National Guard’s armament, which was entirely of British manufacture.
He then explained that the Turkish forces had a headquarters, the 28t
h and 39th Divisions, a Commando Brigade, the 6th Marine Battalion, an additional Medium Tank Division, sections of the 33rd Gendarmerie Brigade and support and logistics units.
“We can estimate that the tanks could be anywhere from 160 to 200. The strength of these two divisions, the commando brigade and so on, was around 40,000 men. In addition to these there were about 200 M113 armoured personnel carriers and 120 105mm and 155mm guns. These were the units of the invasion as they were formed on the night of 13 August,” Loizou continued, adding that in addition to these units there was the Turkish Force in Cyprus (TOURDYK), which had about 1,000-1,200 men with some casualties and consisted of two battalions, as well as 19 Turkish Cypriot battalions, with five commands around Cyprus, of about 15-20,000 men, who did not have heavy weapons but participated in limited missions.
Referring to the situation in the National Guard, Loizou said that if there had been a conscription before the invasion began, the str
ength of the National Guard would certainly have included more than 40,000 men.
However, there was no conscription and a rather disorganised situation prevailed, he continued, adding that the National Guard’s weapons were from World War II, as it had 34 T34/85 tanks, which were unreliable, of which, after the coup and the first round of the invasion, only 11 remained. He added that of the 286 mechanised infantry battalion that was bombed in Skylloura, one company was completely destroyed, while in contrast reconnaissance battalion 21 had very minor losses.
He added that the artillery of the National Guard had about 70 guns, five squadrons and two independent batteries, as well as two squadrons of 6-pounder anti-tank artillery, and there were two mountain artillery batteries with 6 guns each.
“The National Guard with the forces that it had and compared to the enemy could only be limited to defensive operations and due to the non-presence of the Hellenic Air Force in the operations theatre, the Turks dominat
ed, as they dominated at sea, and as a result they could do whatever they wanted,” he said in this regard.
He added that the National Guard had not been reinforced with even a single rifle since 1964, while neither Greece pressed Archbishop Makarios to reinforce the National Guard, nor did the Chief of the National Guard exert similar pressure.
“Consequently, under the conditions that had developed on 13 August, the National Guard could not maintain the occupied positions, it defended as much as it could and retreated. There were some heroic battles, but the National Guard was left on its own,” he added.
Amid disorganization in the leadership and the chaos in Athens, Turkey began attacking everywhere, with Colonel Georgios Azinas taking over the 3rd Higher Military Command of Nicosia at midnight on August 14, which started from Gerolakkos and reached as far as Mia Milia, said Loizou, adding that subsequently the 336 infantry battalion under Dimitris Alevromagiros arrived from Famagusta and was stationed in
the centre of Nicosia, in the area between the Prisons and Ledra Pallas, where Nikolaos Ligoudistianos’ company was also located, and then continued battalion 211 with the company of Yannis Christodoulides in the walled Nicosia, further northeast towards Agios Cassianos was the company of Kalogerou and then was the company of Charalambos Lottas and the battalion of Tassos Markos.
He added that on the west side of Nicosia, where the Armenian and English cemeteries are located, was Constantinos Achilides’ battalion 212, which reached as far as the eastern edge of the Nicosia airport, near the cemeteries, east of ELDYK (Hellenic Force in Cyprus) and TOURDYK was the company of Georgios Hadjidamianou, while above the Kolokasides roundabout was the company of Andreas Pasiardis and further west the company of Konstantinos Michopoulos.
“In front now was ELDYK. But here we must distinguish that ELDYK had been left as a reserve in Klirou after the first phase of the invasion. The command of the 3rd Higher Tactical Co
mmand had in the defense force of the ELDYK camp three companies that remained, one from each unit to guard the camp. It was the 2nd company of the 1st infantry battalion with Lieutenant Elias Konstantoulas, from the 2nd battalion the 4th company remained, (the 1st battalion had the 1st, 2nd and 3rd companies, a support company and a command company, the 2nd infantry battalion had the 4th, 5th and 6th command and support companies), commanded by the Cypriot Captain Louis Ioannides, who came to Cyprus as an escort for the new ELDYK soldiers after the coup. The company of the ELDYK regiment under Major Spyridon Delis also stayed and with them they left a platoon of 81 mm mortars led by Lieutenant Stefanos Pios, who was the commander of ELDYK’s heavy weaponry. These three companies were taken over by Lieutenant Colonel Panagiotis Stavroulopoulos, who was appointed deputy commander from August 10,” he noted.
Thus, according to Loizou, we are heading into the Battle of Nicosia, with heavy and light weapons fire b
eing exchanged in the area from the prisons and the racecourse to Kaimakli, while some mortars were also fired.
He added that in order to encircle Nicosia, but also for prestige reasons, the Turkish forces focused on the flanks and the ELDYK camp area, where battalion 212 was located, which was also reinforced with a platoon of the Greek officer Athanasios Polyzos under the company of Georgios Hadjidamianos at the two cemeteries. He added that these units also had an advance observer from 187 Field Artillery Squadron and 184 Field Artillery Battery. The 184 had 25-pounder guns and the other had 100mm guns.
“So the battle began, the ELDYK camp was being attacked, the pressure on battalion 212 was initially small and gradually increasing, with the Turks constantly pressing, the ELDYK and 212 resisted and the fight continued. At some point in the battle, ELDYK’s sub-commander ordered the camp abandoned at 1pm on 14 August. Note that the Turkish air force continually hit the camp, more so on the 14th, and then
continued on the 16th. It used 1,000- and 500-pound bombs and rockets and caused many casualties with its repeated bombardments,” he said in this regard.
He added that after the ELDYK camp was abandoned, Turkish tanks tried to exit at the Kolokasides roundabout. “An anti-tank section under Lieutenant Nikos Kouimtzoglou placed an element on the hill north of the junction, another element on Gregoriou Afxentiou street, where the hills with the two cemeteries and the two roads from which the tanks could move are located, with the aim of hitting them. Sergeant Bikakis was active there and destroyed some tanks, with the help of machine gunners and other riflemen of Andreas Pasiardis’ company and battalion 212,” he added.
“ELDYK made a heroic defence, at a point where they were fighting against the tanks with just their rifles. In one such battle, ELDYK’s engineer platoon leader, Sotirios Stavrianakos, was killed by a tank gun shot from a very close range, while Lieutenant Konstantinos Kendras is also missing,” h
e noted.
According to Loizou, in addition to TOURDYK, the NG forces were confronted by the infantry battalion under command of the 50 Infantry Regiment and tanks.
“The Turks, when they saw that they were not succeeding on August 14 (no hostilities took place on August 15), removed the command from the Colonel in charge and gave it to Colonel Bitlis, a competent officer, who also tried to attack the 212 TP, to no avail,” he said in this regard, adding:
“Captains Michopoulos, Pasiardis and Hadjidamianou, along with Lieutenant Polyzos, were barely held in their positions until the ceasefire was signed at 4 o’clock in the afternoon of August 16. Before the cease-fire was signed, however, they had moved the Katerinakis Group from Paphos, including Major Drimiotis, commander of battalion 386, and after noon they replaced 212, which was under constant pressure, especially on the 16th they were exhausted by bombardments by air, artillery and tanks, and they were fighting only with their rifles, machine guns and tw
o recoilless guns of the A Squadron of Amphibious Rifles.”
He added that when the cease-fire took place, while the NG had restricted the use of artillery, the Turkish forces were trying to make violations and attack our units. He also noted that they tried to attack and advanced their positions wherever they could after the ceasefire, even up to September, when they made the outpost on the Plati hill of Pyla, while looting and violence against civilians continued throughout the two phases of the invasion and the interim ceasefire.
“This was the Battle of Nicosia, which had too many casualties both on the part of the Greeks and the Turks, as three different estimates put the number of dead Turks at between 700 and 1,000,” he added.
Asked what lessons can be learned from that period, 50 years later, Loizou said that Cyprus never invested in its security, which is the most valuable asset, in order to build a decent security and defence.
He added secondly that Greece has not settled whether it is defending Cy
prus or not and thirdly that the policy of appeasing Turkey has brought the opposite of the intended results.
Source : Cyprus News Agency