First pilot-martyr of Turkish Republic: Cengiz Topel

By Muhammet Ikbal Arslan

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - The first martyr of the Turkish Air Force, Pilot Captain Cengiz Topel's plane was shot down on Aug. 7,1964 during a warning flight on Greek Cypriot soldiers opening fire on Turkish civilians on the island.

Topel was among the first line of defense against attacking Greek Cypriot soldiers on Turkish civilians, which would escalate over the coming decade until Turkey's peace intervention against a Greek Cypriot coup attempting to topple the internationally recognized government of the Republic of Cyprus.

Topel’s legacy lives on both in Turkey and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), where parks, streets, museums and monuments are named after the national hero.

Coming from humble beginnings, Cengiz Topel was born on Sept. 2, 1934 to a tobacco expert in Turkey's northwestern province of Kocaeli before graduating from the Turkish Military Academy in 1955 and joining the Turkish Armed Forces.

Passionate about aviation since childhood, Topel was sent to Canada for training to become a pilot, after which he was stationed at an airbase in central Turkey in 1961 before becoming a captain two years later.

- Cyprus mission

On Aug. 5, 1964, Greek Cypriots attacked the Erenkoy and Mansur regions with assault rifles from the sea and infantry units reinforced with tanks, and opened fire on Turkish towns and Turkish fishing boats on the coast.

After it became clear that the UN presence on the island would remain indifferent to the massacre, Turkey sent its first aid mission to the island in the form of four aircraft on Aug. 7.

Captian Topel was sent from Eskisehir to Cyprus on Aug. 8, 1964 as a commander of four military units following the order for low-altitude warning flights over the island as a deterrence against the crimes of Greek Cypriot forces against their fellow Turkish islanders.

The flight team included Captain Cengiz Topel, Lieutenant Izzet Oztarhan, Captain Mehmet Konedrali and Lieutenant Ethem Sancar. Topel's F100F jet was shot down while preparing for its second dive.

- Captain Topel was tortured to death

A parachute-clad Topel ejected from his aircraft, landing on an asphalt road near the Greek village of Peristeronori between the Turkish settlements of Lefke, Gaziveren, Elye and Camlikoy. He was captured by three Greek soldiers.

Topel reportedly kept the soldiers at bay until the last of his ammunition.

Though it is not certain what happened to Topel while in Greek Cypriot prison, he did not emerge from the ordeal alive, allegedly killed by torture despite being protected by the 1929 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

The Greek Cypriot side claimed that Topel had been wounded and died after being treated in hospital.

Following intense efforts, Turkey received Topel's body from the Greek Cypriots in Aug. 12, 1964.

The body of the Turkish Republic's first air martyr was buried on Aug. 14, 1965 in Istanbul following the ceremonies held in Cyprus, Adana, Ankara and Istanbul.

*Writing by Busra Nur Bilgic Cakmak