Speech of Sevgul Uludag at the Opening of Bicommunal Exhibition “From pain to Hope”

 

27 January 2025

 

Thank you all for coming to our art exhibition “From Pain to Hope”…

I would like to particularly thank the Rapproachement Bureau of AKEL, “The Cultural Movement”, to the joint association of TC and GC relatives of missing persons and victims of war TOGETHER WE CAN, the curators of our exhibition Nilgün Güney and Fotos Demetriou as well as all the TC and GC artists who participate in this exhibition with their work. We also thank the Stelios Foundation for allowing us to use this lovely building.

We are here tonight because of pain and humanity…

Because of evil and goodness…

Because of darkness and love…

Because of hate and love…

We are here because we believe in the future, that we can do better than the past, that we can achieve empathy and understanding that are keys to our future…

This exhibition is the result of the wish of the relative of a “missing person”: Yıldan Sedef Gülakdeniz who lost two brothers in the massacre of EOKA-B  who took two busloads of Turkish Cypriots from Tochni and Zygi, wanted to have an exhibition together with a Greek Cypriot ceramic artist. Remains of one of her brothers was found in a mass grave but the remains of one of her brothers, that of Yüksel Hamza were never found. He remains “missing” since 1974 …

The pain of “missing persons” is not unique to one community – it is a shared pain of both of our main communities in our island… Both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots suffered because of the conflicts of 1963-64 and the war of 1974… The pain of the relatives like Yıldan’s suffer is not “Turkish pain”, the pain of the relative of a Greek Cypriot missing suffers is not “Greek pain” – it is HUMAN PAIN and this pain is common all over the world… This pain, we can share and find ways to avoid in the future… This pain we can take and shape into hope, like the artists from our communities are doing here with this exhibition tonight…

We are here because in this exhibition we also demonstrate the humanity of ordinary Cypriots like Stavros Poyrazis, Djengiz Ratip, Alpay Topuz and Dr. Costas Hadjikakou…

They show us that even if there is a war, even if there is a conflict, even if conditions are harsh, you can still be human and protect those who are not necessarily from your own community but from the “other” community… Dr. Dervish Özer, created these monuments as an ode to humanity in Cyprus, as an ode to hope and wish for peace and reconciliation on this island. They are the shining examples that humanity does exist on this island, that we must encourage and honor humanity as an example for future generations…

Stavros Poyrazis was the mukhtar of Strongylos and both in 1963 and in 1974, he protected his Turkish Cypriot villagers and saved them from being killed. Unfortunately, he, himself was taken in 1974 from his village, killed together with others and was “missing”. Until his remains were found in a mass grave and returned to his family for burial… May he rest in peace.

In a similar way, Djengiz Ratip who was a Member of Parliament in the Republic of Cyprus saved the lives of a busload of Greek Cypriot students who had been kidnapped in the Tylliria area by some Turkish Cypriots. He went and negotiated their release… Unfortunately, just like Poyrazis, he too was murdered and is still “missing” today, since 1964…

Dr. Costas Hadjikakou, treated the wounded Turkish Cypriots in the war in 1974, he was well known and very well respected among the Turkish Cypriot community, he treated them for years, most of the time free of charge. In 1974, he saved the lives of some Turkish Cypriot patients under his treatment when EOKA-B came to kill them, he did not allow them to enter the building.

Alpay Topuz whom we lost last week, was the one who stopped the rapes that were taking place in the Voni Camp in 1974 where prisoners of war were being kept. He stopped the killings of Greek Cypriot men and the rapes of Greek Cypriot women by some Turkish Cypriots. He found milk for babies and toys for children. He made sure to that more than 600 prisoners of war were treated properly…

In this exhibition you will see their statues… We honor their humanity and underline that they provide the hope for the future of this land… May they rest in peace and illuminate our path for peace and reconciliation on this island…