Download (28Mb) - LSE Theses Online

Committee" was the area military commander (until 24 February 1967 a Turkish
colonel named Kemal Coskun) who was, in policy terms, ultimately responsible to
the cabinet 87 , though he carried more weight in terms of executive function 88 .
Because of the difficulties associated with communication between the spatially
separate enclaves, each had something of its own local administration, headed by a
military commander 89 . Muktars and locai Committees had responsibility and
therefore local accountability for certain de jure functions. However, depending on
the location, military considérations invariably dominated administrative agendas,
particularly between 1964-8. Due to their precarious security and their
détermination not to become a minority in a Greek state, military affairs were
paramount. Thus military Commanders, who were ali Turkish (rather than Turkish
Cypriot) had ultimate, de facto executive powers after 1963. Lower down the scale
of military command, at a non-commissioned officer level, Turkish-Cypriots played
a part 90 .
On 28 December 1967, at a special meeting convened by the Vice President and
after much public debate, the establishment of a "Provisional Turkish Cypriot
Administration" was approved, which, with its separate administrative organisation,
87 Interview with Ozalp Sarica, op. cit.
88 In February 1967 the Turkish Cypriot weekly Zafer admitted that colonel Kemal Coskun was the
commander of the Turkish Fighters and also alleged that he was the "real" leader of the Turkish
Cypriot community (reported in the Cyprus Mail 25/2/1967). Zafer also Iiinted that Dr Kuchuk had
asked for the colonel's removal. A day later it was reported that Kemal Coskun was removed to
prevent a rift between the Turkish Cypriot politicai structures and the military organisation (die
Turkish Fighters).
89 "The structure of goverament in the Turkish-Cypriot community should not be equated solely with
the various legislative and executive organisations outlined above. In many cases, the de facto
leadership at the level of the village and quarter, of the district, and of the community as a whole,
was assumed by the Fighters. Therefore, the community's goverament structure was in fact a civilmilitary
synthesis." Patrick 1976. op. cit., p. 84.
90 This general argument (based on a sériés of interviews with Ozalp Sarica, op. cit.) is confîrmed by
Denktash: "Everyone thought that I was the leader [of TMT - the Turkish (Cypriot) Fighters] but I
was not. I was politicai advisor. Immediately after forming it I handed it over (to a former army
officer from Turkey). It was a good mask because even the British and the American intelligence
thought I was the man who ran and decided everything. I was not. Thomas C. 20/1/1978. "The
Politics of resistance that divided Greek from Türk", The Times, quoted by McDonald, 1989. op.
cit., note 14, p.82. Tliis point was also made by Patrick (1976. op. cit., p.159) in 1976, who said
that the senior Turkish military figure on the island was referred to as the "pasha".
156