Kumsal martyrs commemorated

Kumsal martyrs who were massacred during the Greek-Greek Cypriot attacks on 24th December 1963 in the Kumsal district of Lefkoşa were commemorated in front of the ‘Monument of Kumsal Martyrs’ at the Museum of Barbarism yesterday. President Ersin Tatar, Prime Minister Ersan Saner, other state and government officials as well as the military officials attended the ceremony.

57th anniversary of the Kumsal Massacre…That night from the eyes of witnesses…

On 21st December 1963 Greek Cypriots, who swore to put the Akritas Plan into practice, started attacks which became known as the ‘Bloody Christmas’ and martyred many Turkish Cypriots all over the island. On the night of 24th December the massacre in a detached house in the Kumsal District of Lefkoşa has gone down in history as the most brutal attack.

On 24th December, 1963 at night time while Turkish Armed Forces Medical Officer Major Dr. Nihat İlhan was with his regiment, his wife, three sons, their landlords Hasan Yusuf Gudum and his wife Feride Hasan Gudum and their neighbours Ayşe Cankan, her daughter Işıl Cankan and Ayşe Cankan’s sister Növber İbrahimoğlu were in the house in the Kumsal District.

That night, the people in that house were faced with a terrifying attack and three children and two women were mercilessly martyred. The surviving witnesses told what happened that night after 57 years to Turkish News Agency-Cyprus, which passed to history as the ‘Kumsal Massacre’ – Ayşe Cankan, Işıl Cankan Altuncuoğlu and Memduh Erdal, who was the first person to enter the house after the massacre.

5 martyrs, 4 veterans

At around 7 o’clock that night EOKA members attacked the Kumsal District at the command of a Greek officer. At first gunshots were heard from the west side of the Kanlıdere Stream, then the voice of Hasan Yusuf Gudum shouting ‘we are raided’. People in the house ran to the bathroom, which they thought was the safest place. However, bullets were like rain on the house.

Armed Greeks kicked down the door and volleyed the house with gunfire. Following looking into the empty rooms they first shot at the bathroom door then inside the bathroom over and over. Mürüvvet İlhan with her sons, six month old Hakan, 4 year old Kutsi and 6 year old Murat, were martyred in the bathtub. Feride Hasan Gudum who was in the toilet room right next to the bathroom was martyred with a shot to her head.

Növber İbrahimoğlu who was trying to keep the bathroom door closed was badly injured in her hand and doctors had to amputate her hand at the wrist during her treatment. Two year old Işıl was shot in the knee and six bullets hit her mother Ayşe Cankan, she was not able to walk because of the bullets in her both legs. Also Yusuf Gudum was injured.

Ayşe Cankan: ‘I was worried if no one found us, we would bleed to death’

Ayşe Cankan, who was injured in that house but survived with her two year old daughter Işıl and sister Növber spent nights with their neighbours because her husband was on duty as a Turkish Cypriot mücahid and she was afraid to stay in her own house.

Ayşe Cankan, talked about that night where she was one of the victims:

‘On 24th December towards evening we went to Mürüvvet İlhan’s house. We prepared some food and ate together. The landlord Uncle Hasan was standing guard. We heard the gunshots. At first they shot at my brother-in-law’s house but they could not find anyone there. They only destroyed the house.

When Uncle Hasan shouted ‘we are raided’, we were fully shocked. We ran into the bathroom. I fell down next to the sink. Işıl was two years old and she was in my arms. My sister tried to close the bathroom door and the bullet hit her hand. Doctors amputated her hand afterwards. Uncle Hasan was injured in his elbow but his wife Feride was martyred. 3-4 bullets hit my body and my leg was badly injured. A bullet hit Işıl’s kneecap.

‘Mrs. Mürüvvet and her 3 sons looked like they were sleeping in the bathtub’

Mrs. Mürüvvet took her three sons and got into the bathtub. They were martyred there… we spent all night in the bathroom together, it seemed like they were sleeping. No one came that night, I have no idea how long we stayed there. I was worried if no one found us, we would bleed to death’.

Ayşe Cankan stated that Uncle Hasan and her sister Növber, because they were able to walk, went out of the house and said: ‘my sister Növber looked for help while walking to the hospital and told the hospital that there were injured people seeking help’.

Mrs. Ayşe went to Ankara with her pyjamas on and came back to her country 4 years later

Mrs. Ayşe was half-stunned and stated that she could not remember when and who came to help. She only remembers that they were taken to a hospital and had the first treatment. They were then taken to Ankara with a special flight for patients and she recovered in Ankara.

‘I was upset that Işıl’s leg will remain short…’

Despite the treatment in Ankara, Işıl did not get well and Mrs. Ayşe went to London for Işıl’s treatment.

They went to London by train from Ankara. Ayşe Cankan said: ‘We lived in London for nearly four years after 24^th December 1963. I did not see my husband for almost four years. I was very upset that Işıl’s leg will remain short but thank God we are alive’.

She needed to escape from her neighbourhood during the ceremonies

The Cankan Family continue their lives in the Kumsal District of Lefkoşa, close to the house where the massacre took place, which is today the Museum of Barbarism. Stating that she needed to escape from her neighbourhood during the ceremonies held at the Barbarism Museum every year to commemorate the Martyrs of Kumsal, Mrs.Ayşe said that she was called to the Museum several times to tell about the incident and she had to enter the house, but she did not want to go inside unless she had to.

Işıl Cankan Altuncuoğlu: “All My Life Changed There”

Işıl Cankan Altuncuoğlu, who does not remember what happened because she was 2 years old on December 24, 1963, said, “I had to enter this house several times, but I do not prefer to do so. Even though I don’t remember what happened at that house, my whole life changed there.” Mrs. Işıl who continues her life with a short leg due to the bullet which hit her leg in the Kumsal Massacre, sincerely shares the physical and emotional effects left on her that night:

“My childhood passed not playing, but always in Hospitals”

“I had a constant health problem. Children like to run, play, ride a bike, swing in the park. My childhood passed at hospitals with things that a child should not have in his/her life, such as surgery, non-healing wounds, pain, crutches…

I am happy to be alive, but is it one hundred percent happiness? I wished I had not suffered this pain, I don’t remember the event but I had that feeling. I bear the traces. There are people who always want to chat about the subject. It seems like something is breaking away from my life every time… ”

Photos were placed inside the bandages of the wounded

Mrs. Işıl tells the story of Mrs. Mürüvvet and her children’s dead bodies in the bathtub, and the memorable photograph of the Kumsal Massacre being delivered to Ankara: “TMT Commander, Veteran Yılmaz Bora was also injured and went to Ankara on the same plane with us. Because he was injured in his chest, they had put the photographs inside the chest bandages. Even the bullets were taken to Ankara as evidence.”

Memduh Erdal, Photographer of the Incident…

The photograph, taken by Memduh Erdal, one of the members of the Turkish Resistance Organisation (TMT) who first entered the house after the attack, showing the lifeless bodies of the mother and her children in the bathtub, was effective in making the massacre echo in the world.

“First I saw booties in the corridor … I heard a woman’s voice saying ‘I have melted from the Bullets’. ”

Memduh Erdal describes the event he encountered and what happened when he arrived at the house, number 2 Kumsal Street: “The doors were closed, we broke into the house. The first thing I saw was the booties in the hallway. The children’s booties had fallen off… I went to the bathroom, pushed the door. I heard a woman’s voice saying ‘I melted from the bullet’. I told her not to be afraid, that I was Turkish and that I came to help. We entered the bathroom, the photographer left the camera when he saw the scene and ran away. I took the photos, and collected the bullets on the floor. The children in the bathroom were wearing blue straight lined pyjamas. The woman was lying in a coat at the bottom. Her children were in her arms. The children’s eyes were open, staring at the ceiling. Blood flowed from the bath to the floor. Bullets and shells in blood … I took them one by one and put them in my pocket. The blue-eyed girl was shot in her leg. She was lying under the sink, and crying. I opened the other toilet door and the black-haired woman was on the floor covered in blood. She was shot and killed. I photographed them.

Major Nihat İlhan received the bad news from shepherd Hüseyin

Major İlhan talked about how he received the news of his family’s death at the meeting held in Ankara on 25 June 2007. Nihat İlhan said that shepherd Hüseyin brought the bad news to him and when he asked shepherd Hüseyin whether he was taking milk and bread to his children, he answered, “No, I did not. Your children no longer eat bread or cheese. They are with God.”

Museum of Barbarism

The house, number 2 in Mürüvvet İlhan Street in the Kumsal District in Lefkoşa, which witnessed one of the most brutal massacres of not only Cyprus but also human history on 24 December 1963, today serves as the Museum of Barbarism.

The house, which was opened to visitors as the Museum of Barbarism on 1 January, 1966, displays articles published in the foreign press about the events between 1963 – 1964, photographs and personal belongings of those who were in the house on the day of the Kumsal Massacre.