When Lala Mustafa invaded the shores of Larnaca in the summer of 1570 with an Ottoman fleet of 180,000 ascetics, there were no Turks to welcome him on the waterfront.
He disembarked, went ahead and slaughtered anyone who did not fall to his knees to worship him. He easily crossed the outskirts of Nicosia and encamped in the Island and the surrounding area, to organize his final attack.
The Venetians, who then ruled all over Cyprus, were waiting for the invasion and it was their worst nightmare. Churches, old buildings and stumps were destroyed and the walls of Nicosia were built at a rapid pace within three years. That is, what they managed to build, that is, because they only completed the first deck when the Ottomans attacked them. They raided the city so that it could repel an attack, and planned to erect another second wall, but they did not succeed. The fortification was designed by Paolo Sarvorano, the chief designer of the Venetian fortifications in their various Mediterranean possessions. He was the same man who designed the fortifications of Heraklion, Crete and elsewhere.
Deviation of the Field and water ditch
In the planning, the Venetians diverted the riverbed of Pediaios and tried, if possible, to fill the ditch with water. They wanted to make the task of the city's aspiring conquerors even more difficult. They didn't manage to do many things: the Ottoman money thirsted for new possessions and blood.
The fight was relentless. Successive Islamic fanatical yurts were interrupted by Venetian cannons, and the defenders changed shifts for more than a month in the bastions. At the Bairaktari moat, where the relevant mosque is today, the line was broken. The flag bearer managed to climb the walls, nailing the bairaki. The monasteries of Anatolia saw this and rushed into the city and behind the heroic Venetian fighters. Bairaktaris was killed on the spot, but the damage was done. The Ottomans, thirsting for blood, rape and theft, entered Nicosia. The gunpowder had ended with the heroic fighters and the end had come for all the aristocratic, and not only, families of the city. The Ottoman swords worked non-stop. Horsemen and infantry changing invaders beheaded anyone they met.
Description of an English traveler
It is a typical description of an English traveler of the time, who was trapped in the city and survived the massacre:
"... The spear was running with her lady on the street to hide, when a Turkish bead cut off the wind and the head of her mistress, which turned like a ball in the air. The spear stopped, she opened her apron, took it and ran with her mistress's severed head to hide. She did not take many steps when she was overwhelmed by the Ottoman rage. No intruders, slaves, no lords, no young, old or young children of Venetian descent were saddened by the invaders. The order was "kill them all."
Along with them, a local population was executed, Greeks of Cyprus, who were in the service of their lords. Most of the Greek population was saved, along with some Venetians who fled to the highlands and central Cyprus. The streets of the city, foreign sources insist, were painted red by the blood that flowed. In proportion to population, the slaughter is characterized as greater than that of the conquest of the city (Istanbul).
Much worse followed in Famagusta, with the execution of the Markandoni Vragadinos and the entire Venetian aristocracy, despite the agreement made to surrender the city and leave with their galleys.
How did the Turkish Cypriots come about?
The Ottomans conquered Cyprus in 1571 and it is clear that there was no Turkish element on the island at the time. After their domination and the extermination of the Venetians, they divided the territory into pasalikis and left small numbers of guards to guard them. The fleet, along with the bulk of the army, sailed elsewhere. The question that arises is where so many Turkish Cypriots were today, how they emerged and are now part of the Cyprus problem.
For their presence there are many theories and interpretations, from scattered historical sources.
These were people who converted from the Greek and Maronite community of Cyprus, in order to escape the burdensome taxes and to have the benefits of the ruling class. These individuals were adjusted according to political times and times.
Panagiotis Hatzidimitriou writes that a significant percentage of the so-called linseed bombs are now a large part of the Turkish Cypriot community. As he explains, these Cypriots have the same origins as the Greek Cypriots. He points out that this is evidenced by the many Turkish Cypriot villages with saints' names.
Phaedo Th. Papadopoulos, PhD in Theology - religious scholar, analyzes the issue of linen cotton - crypto-Christians in Cyprus, who, due to unbearable taxes
