Teacher's Story


During 1960-63 there is an event which is very important for me. I would like to tell you about this. I was sent to Arapkoy to fulfill my duty as a lecturer. During that time the resentment between the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots had given way to a wonderful peace. The Greek Cypriots who saw me said, "Look, our Turk teacher has arrived." This really got my attention. To tell the truth I was very touched that they would say, "The Turk teacher is here." They accepted me as a part of them. Like I said before, if there was no foreign pressure these two folks would have lived happily ever after. I believe that this massacre would have never have happened if there was no foreign pressure. . . .

The Greek Cypriot villagers were very friendly to me there. The friendly welcome gave me a positive motivation. This was very helpful to me. . . because I was thinking it would be hard for me to adapt to the new environment, but I was wrong, the villagers made me feel at home. I felt that I was being protected. I got my self confidence.

DEMOGRAPHICS
Occupation: Retired teacher
Age: 55
Sex: Male
Nationality: Turkish Cypriot
Where now lives (country and city/town/village): Akgdogan.
Where lived during the events described during the interview: Arapkoy and many other places.
Occupation (or life's work) of the main income earner in household when growing up: Teaching.


This interview was conducted by Faika
7 April 1996

For the previous page. "Greek Neighbors"