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On the Scene in CyprusAwake!—1974 | October 22
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Sunday
Dawn saw helicopters bringing fresh waves of Turkish reinforcements. This was the day for our regular Bible study using as an aid the Watchtower magazine. Though the earth was shaking as ships at sea bombarded the area, we began our study. Amazingly, during our study the bombardment ceased, only to begin again after our final prayer.
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On the Scene in CyprusAwake!—1974 | October 22
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We were finally informed that we could visit Kyrenia. Our particular concern was for fellow witnesses of Jehovah. Would any still be there? The town was dead. But to our delight we found a family of seven Witnesses at home. How glad we all were to see one another again! Tears rolled down our faces as we embraced. We spent the day together, and then returned home.
The following morning we went to see them again. After discussing the day’s Bible text, we sat out on the veranda because of the heat. Soon three Turkish soldiers approached us. I asked if they spoke English. One knew a little. I told him I was English. As I went for my passport, his gun followed me. Another took out his pistol. They asked who we all were and if we had seen any soldiers.
Then two Turkish Cypriots who knew the family passed in the street. The man’s wife called to them, asking them to explain to the Turkish soldiers who we were. After some very tense moments the soldiers left, telling us to stay inside.
At midday neighbors came running, appealing for me to try to do something to help them since I was English. Could I reach the hotel where the United Nations and Red Cross were protecting some 650 persons?
My companion and I agreed to try. We reached the hotel, which was ringed by U.N. forces, and I was escorted to the head of the U.N. force, who said that he would do what he could to help. However, he said it would not be safe for my Greek companion to leave the protection of the hotel.
Eventually we set off in a Red Cross car and van to pick up the people. We made it there, and hurriedly packed in twenty-six persons. We knew we had no time to spare. We made a dash for the hotel, and made it safely. How thankful we all were! I stayed at the hotel too, since it did not seem safe to return home alone.
While at the hotel we kept strong spiritually by discussing together the day’s Bible text taken from the Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Also, we had many opportunities to talk to the people at the hotel about our hope in God’s kingdom. (Matt. 6:9, 10; Dan. 2:44; Rev. 21:3, 4) Some were impressed, and would mention how Jehovah’s witnesses from Kyrenia were offering aid to persons undergoing the most difficult times in their lives.
Horrors of War
After several days at the hotel, thirty of us were offered safe conduct to Nicosia. Under heavy guard we left. Kyrenia’s happy tourist-filled streets were now dead. Destroyed property was all around us. And there was the stench of rotting food.
The battles for the road to Nicosia were clearly evident. Houses of rich residents were destroyed or, if standing, had been looted. The mountainside was a blackened ruin.
My companions on the bus ride had their own stories to tell. There was the English lady with her little boy. Her husband had been shot, and she had been forced to leave him and run for days in the mountains. She had believed he was dead, but recently learned that a U.N. patrol had picked him up and that he had been sent to England, where he was recovering. Many others were not so fortunate.
We eventually arrived at the boundary that separates the Turkish and Greek communities in Nicosia. We left the bus, and made the last 200 yards on foot to the hotel. I called friends at the branch office of Jehovah’s witnesses, and in minutes they picked me up.
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On the Scene in CyprusAwake!—1974 | October 22
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More than a third of the island’s people had been turned into refugees. Entire villages were empty. There had been fourteen congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in Cyprus, but the 266 Witnesses in the congregations in Kyrenia, Famagusta, Morphou and Trachona in Nicosia have lost everything, including their Kingdom Halls. It was necessary also to abandon the branch office. However, we are grateful, according to the information we have at present, that not one Witness has lost his life.
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