Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre

Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre
Dead bodies of Turkish Cypriot civilians at Sandallar (Santalaris).
Participants	EOKA B
Location	Maratha, Santalaris, Aloda in Cyprus
Date	14 August 1974
Result	Death of 126 civilians

Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda massacre (Turkish: Muratağa, Sandallar ve Atlılar katliamı), refers to the massacre^{[1][2][3][4][5]} of Turkish Cypriots by EOKA B^[4] on 14 August 1974^[6] in the villages of Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda. 89 (or 84^[7]) people from Maratha and Santalaris were killed, and a further 37 people were killed in the village of Aloda.^[8] In total, 126^[9] people were killed during the massacre.^[6]

According to the 1960 census, the inhabitants of the three villages were almost entirely Turkish Cypriots.^[10] 84 / 89 of the 207^[11] people in Maratha and Santalaris were killed; however, according to some sources, a number of people escaped from the massacre, some people left the villages in the 1960-74 period and some people were not present in the villages when the inhabitants were massacred. Elderly people and children were also killed during the massacre.^[7] Only three people were able to escape from the massacre in Aloda.^[1] The inhabitants of the three villages were buried in mass graves by a bulldozer. The villagers of Maratha and Santalaris were buried in the same grave.^[1]

The United Nations described the massacre as a crime against humanity, by saying "constituting a further crime against humanity committed by the Greek and Greek Cypriot gunmen."^[12] The massacre was reported by international media, including The Guardian and The Times.^[13]

See also

• List of massacres in Cyprus

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Oberling, Pierre. The road to Bellapais: the Turkish Cypriot exodus to northern Cyprus (1982), Social Science Monographs, p. 185
2. ^ L'Événement du jeudi, Issues 543-547 (1995), S.A. L'Evénement du jeudi, p. 45 (French)
3. ^ Documents officiels, United Nations: "Only three of the inhabitants of Atlilar (Aloa) survived this massacre. For the defenceless inhabitants of the villages of Murataga (Maratha) and Sandallar (Sandallaris)..."
4. ^ ^{a b} Paul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007, ISBN 9781845452285, p. 237.
5. ^ Gilles de Rapper, Pierre Sintès. Nommer et classer dans les Balkans (2008), French School of Athens, p.263: "le massacre des villages turcs de Tochni (entre Larnaka et Limassol), Maratha, Santalaris et Aloda"
6. ^ ^{a b} "Muratağa and Sandallar problem is being taken to the European Court of Human Rights" (in Turkish). BRT - Kıbrıs Postası. http://www.kibrispostasi.com/index.php/cat/35/news/28616/PageName/KIBRIS_HABERLERI. Retrieved 18 January 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "CYPRUS: Ankara's Slow Nibble". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908688,00.html. Retrieved 19 January 2011. 
8. ^ Paul Sant Cassia, Bodies of Evidence: Burial, Memory, and the Recovery of Missing Persons in Cyprus, Berghahn Books, 2007, ISBN 9781845452285, p. 69.
9. ^ List of Turkish Cypriot missing persons (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus) Retrieved on July 18, 2011.
10. ^ Map of Cyprus
11. ^ ΚΥΠΡΟΣ - CYPRUS (612 villages, 9251,47 Km²)
12. ^ UN monthly chronicle, Volume 11 (1974), United Nations, Office of Public Information, p. 98
13. ^ Clement Henry Dodd, The political, social and economic development of Northern Cyprus (1993), Eothen Press, p. 101