The Turkish Cypriots were celebrating the news –which was later proven to be false– that partition was agreed upon between Great Britain, Turkey and Greece. At the time the Ankara talks were on and the Governor of Cyprus was attending those talks.

The Turkish policy, after the invention of “Taksim” revolved round a constant, unchanging orbit which was “solution which did not leave the Turkish Cypriots under the rule of Greece or under a form of Government by the Greeks of Cyprus under which they would be a mere minority”.

On the basis of equality the Turkish Cypriots were ready to negotiate but the Greek side would not hear of this and the British never understood this fact until January 1958.

Turkish Cypriots to prove their existence in the island decided to organize a rally and raise their voice.  Early in the morning of January 27, 1958 schoolchildren had an orderly procession in the “Saray Önü” –-front of Palace– square, the main square of the capital Nicosia and in Mağusa –Famagusta– the very same day and hour.

The British police looked on and did not object. But when the bulk of the procession grew to about 5,000 in Nicosia, first the Police and then the British soldiers tried to disperse the crowd by use of force, gas bombs and blank shootings and later deadly shootings.

In the process, 2 Turkish Cypriots were killed in Lefkoşa –Nicosia– and 2 Turkish Cypriots in Mağusa –Famagusta.

In a peaceful de­monstration held by young children –boys and girls–, students and young man, four Turkish Cypriots were killed on the contrary to Greek Cypriots’ agitation, revolt and numberless processions with in the past 4 years, this had never happened.

Turkish Cypriots’ riots started from this one-legged attitude of British Colonial Government.

By the next day 3 more Turks were killed and the mood of the Turkish crowd be­came uglier and more dangerous. This strong-handed action by the British was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots as “an attempt to suppress the Turks while Britain concluded its nego­tiations with the Greeks without taking Turkish rights into consideration”.

EOKA had killed about 100 Turkish Cypriots until that day, now the British were starting it. So the Turkish Cypriots had to get ready for the worse.

The British Colonial Governments’ plan was to impose a curfew while the funerals of the dead took place. The objection of the Turkish Cypriots was so strong and in high pitch that the British Colonial Government had to make a deal with the leaders of the Turkish Cypriots. Any incident which would occur be the responsibility of the Turkish Leaders. A pledge was given that no incident would take place on the condition that no British soldier would be seen in the Turkish quarter.

So the Turkish martyrs were buried with the ceremony they deserved. More than 15,000 Turks in a two mile pro­cession attended the funeral. “The silence of those Turkish Cypriots as they marched past the police station was much more frightening than the last 48 hours’ fight” said the Chief of the Police, a British Officer.

At the expense of 7 lives the British under­stood that the Turkish Cypriots are of a different community and should also be considered as one of the collocutors in the island for negotiations.

Britain tried to negotiate with the Greek Cypriots. They all declared that Makarios was their only spokesman. Any­thing Makarios accepted was all right with them.

In truth they were all sick and tired of 4 years’ bloodshed, fear and terrorism. If the people were not terrorized they would have accepted any honorable settlement on the way to self-government. But guns spoke louder than reason and no one dared express his thought.

There were big number of Greeks who saw that the only way to live in peace and harmony with the Turkish Cypriots was to re-assure the Turkish Cypriots and treat them as equals, but they could not make their thoughts public.

Makarios was back in Athens, still insisting on ENOSIS. This time he was using a more useful cliché “Self-determination for the people of Cyprus”.

Turkish Cypriots immediately retorted that there were two peoples in Cyprus: Turks and Greeks. If Greeks had to have self-determination –which they would clearly use for ENOSIS– then Turks would also have self-determination, the result being TAKSİM (Partition).

Turkish Cypriot villages were on the move from south to north already.

That is how acute inter-communal struggle started in June 1958 which lasted until early August at the cost of about 200 lives – proportion of Greek to Turk killed was 50%.