Day and night curfew imposed in Nicosia
via the National Army Museum and Wikimedia Commons.
13 June 1958
On 13 June 1958, during an insurgency against British rule in Cyprus, which had also exacerbated tensions between the Greek and Turkish communities, Major General Douglas Kendrew ordered a day and night curfew on the entire population of Nicosia ‘until further notice.’ He explained with typical British arrogance that ‘I am going to keep this curfew on until these people come to their senses.’1 The Daily Mirror‘s correspondent Denis Martin reported that ‘in the summering heat, 105 degrees, Nicosia has been a dead city today, and many of its inhabitants are running short of water and food.’2 The only hope offered was a promise that the population would be shortly notified of an hour a day when they might be able to leave their houses to buy food.
FOOTNOTES
- ‘Nicosia Like a Dead City,’ The Daily Mirror, 14 June 1958, p. 2.
- Ibid.
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