Cengiz Topel Monument

Towards the end of 1963, Greek Cypriots on the island initiated a systematic ethnic cleansing of Turkish Cypriots. 

Over the following months, over a hundred villages were evacuated and the Turkish Cypriot villagers moved into enclaves.

Brief History

In August 1964, the Greek Cypriot National Guard started action against the Turkish Cypriot enclave of Erenkoy on the northwest coast of the island. This was among the last port areas under Turkish Cypriot control and an operation was deemed necessary by Greeks, as they believed that the Turkish Cypriot militia were landing supplies and weapons from Turkey.

This promoted action against the Turkish Cypriots in Erenkoy on August 6, 1964, with both a land and sea operation carried out by thousands of professionally trained soldiers under the command of the retired Greek General and leader of the EOKA, Georgios Grivas.

EOKA was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organisation that fought a campaign for the end of British rule in Cyprus, for the island’s self-determination and for eventual union with Greece.

The defenders of Erenkoy, which mainly consisted of 750 university students, somehow managed to hold their positions till the 8th August, until the Turkish Air Force from Turkey was forced to intervene, through its right as a Guarantor Power of Cyprus.  

Erenkoy Resistance

It was against this backdrop that on August 8, 1964, Cengiz Topel who was a fighter pilot of the Turkish Air Force, was appointed to a combat mission of Turkey’s military involvement in what is known today as the “Erenkoy Resistance” in supporting the besieged villagers.  

He led a four-fighter flight of the 112th Air Squadron, leaving Turkey’s northern western Eskisehir Air Base for Cyprus. Topel’s F-100 Super Sabre was hit by 40mm anti-aircraft fire from a Greek Cypriot gun emplacement and shot-down as he was strafing the Arion, a Greek Cypriot patrol boat.

Cengiz Topel managed to eject from his aircraft and made a safe parachute jump over land but was promptly captured by Greek Cypriot villagers and brought to the British hospital. Members of the Cyprus National Guard removed Topel from the hospital bed and took him to their headquarters.

An autopsy of his body showed that there he was heavily tortured and eventually murdered, his corpse shot at several times.

The 29-year-old’s corpse was returned on August 12, 1964 to the Turkish authorities only after insistent attempts. On August 14, 1964, he was laid to rest at the Edirnekapı Martyr’s Cemetery in Istanbul.

Aftermath

Topel’s bravery together with those of the outnumbered Erenkoy freedom fighters meant the village was indeed saved, and following the end of hostilities, United Nations forces returned to the area, bringing much-needed humanitarian aid to Turkish Cypriots.

Yet the war for Erenkoy villagers, like Turkish Cypriots in other enclaves, was not over. For over a decade more, they continued to endure harsh conditions as they remained encircled by Greek Cypriots who would mount occasional attacks. It was not until the Peace Operation of July 20, 1974 that the conflict would finally end.

Legacy

Cengiz Topel was the first Turkish pilot to die in action. To recognise his heroic efforts, a hospital in Yesilyurt, near Lefke, was renamed the Cengiz Topel Hospital in 1975.

The Martyr Pilot Captain Cengiz Topel Monument was also erected on the coastal road in the village Gemikonagi near Lefke, where he had landed by parachute, in commemoration of his heroics, and is a sentimental memorial open to the public.  

In Turkey, a former Turkish Air Force base located near İzmit, currently in use as Cengiz Topel Naval Air Station, is named after him. A bronze statue erected in his honour in Eskisehir depicts him in flight suit.

In fact, several sites, schools and hospitals in North Cyprus, Turkey and even in the United Kingdom are named after the martyred pilot.

Erenkoy

Currently, Erenkoy also known by its Greek name Kokkina is an exclave of North Cyprus. Greek Cypriot sanctions mean that the exclave can only be accessed from the rest of North Cyprus by sea, as the coastal road is impeded.

Visitors to the now uninhabited village of Erenkoy will find caves in the nearby mountains, which were dug during the conflict so Turkish Cypriots could escape the fierce shelling they regularly had to endure during the conflict.