Greek Cypriot administration in South Cyprus finally admitted that they have been lying to their own people and to the international community about the so-called Greek Cypriot missing people in Cyprus.

On 6 November 1999 AFP news agency reported: "The Cyprus government (South Cyprus) formally apologised Saturday to relatives of the 1,617 Greek Cypriots it has kept listed as missing for the past 25 years after it emerged evidence was available all along to determine the fate of at least some of them."

According to AFP, Socrates Hasikos, Greek Cypriot Defence Minister admitted at a ceremony to bless the remains recently exhumed from mass graves in South Cyprus that they have kept the truth from their own people.

Hasikos said: "With a heavy heart, the Cypriot state asks the mourning relatives to accept a humble apology. It is this state's debt and obligation to the dead and their living loved ones to make sure that the truth is revealed even now 25 years later."

AFP also reported that the Greek Cypriot politicians have been using "the fate of the missing" for a long time "in their campaign to gain international support" against Turkey and continued to do so although two years ago Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek Cypriot official for the fate of the missing "acknowledged that more than 500 of the Greek Cypriots officially posted as missing may have been killed during the Greek-Greek Cypriot coup".
The official admittance and the apologies of the Greek Cypriot administration came after the remains of 8 people were identified with the help of experts from the international watchdog Physicians for Human Rights, led by Professor William Haglund.

After the 8 were identified some witnesses came forward and said that one of them, a 16 year old young man had died from his wounds at Nicosia General Hospital on 21 July 1974, and had not been detained by the Turkish army as Greek Cypriot authorities had maintained.

Greek Cypriot media reported that "the names of the seven other sets of remains identified after the exhumations had been known at the time of burial in 1974, but had somehow been lost since then, the ministry statement indicated."  Reports also said that 4 of them died of natural causes.

It is ironic that for over 25 years all Greek Cypriot governments and politicians have been allowed by the international community to use the issue of the so called missing people in the international arena to gain political advantages against the Turkish Cypriot side and put Turkey into the chair of guilty. While doing this they showed no remorse to the suffering of the families of these people.

Instead of telling the truth to the families that Greek soldiers and EOKA members massacred their loved ones they used them mercilessly.

Along with their own people they have used European politicians, amongst which are Pauline Green MEP, Andy Love MP, Ann Keen MP and Stephen Twigg MP.

All the above politicians have their pictures taken while standing side by side with and giving support to the relatives of the so-called missing Greek Cypriots.

Besides the politicians, western media also fell victim to this long going ploy. Many British newspapers published stories of the missing people and their suffering relatives, almost all of them accusing Turkey for the crimes of Greece and the Greek Cypriots despite reports and news published concerning the violence committed by the Greek army and the EOKA terrorists towards the Greek and Turkish Cypriots during the coup in 1974.

More importantly, in addition to the admittance of many Greek Cypriots amongst which were politicians, priests and journalists, Archbishop Makarios  himself had admitted that in the five days of the coup, coupist massacred thousands of his and the communist party's (AKEL) supporters.

The Turkish Cypriot side lists 803 people as missing since the outbreak of the conflict which started in 1963 sparked off  by the Greek Cypriots who tried to join Cyprus to Greece.

Between 23 November 1995 and 5 March 1996 the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) held 19 meetings, where the Turkish Cypriot side submitted 500 and the Greek Cypriot side submitted 1493 cases.

The cases submitted to the CMP at that time shows that all the Turkish Cypriots were civilians while 898 of the Greek Cypriots were military, which shows that most of the Greek Cypriots died either due to the fighting amongst themselves or against the Turkish side.

 

On 17 June 1999, Greek Cypriot official news agency CNA announced:

"Cyprus hopes to take the missing issue to the European Parliament. The issue of missing persons from 1974 will be brought before the European Parliament, a House Committee decided yesterday."

 

It will be interesting to see if they still intend to take the issue to the European Parliament and carry on with their lies even after their official acknowledgement of the lies they have been feeding the international community.

So far they have apologised to their own people but apologies to Turkey, Turkish Cypriots and to the international community are in order. Apologies are expected not just from the Greek Cypriots but from certain European politicians and  media organisations as well.

The issue of  ‘missing people’ is one of the worst of human tragedies. People go on living and hoping that their loved ones may turn up alive and safe. Greek Cypriot leaders exploited their own people for their own political gains. Unlike their Greek Cypriot counterparts Turkish Cypriot leaders always told the truth about the missing Turkish Cypriots since 1963.

Greek Cypriot priest Papatsestos, who confessed to burying many Greek Cypriots killed by Greek soldiers, including a young Greek Cypriot who was still alive.

click on the photo to read the full confession

George Lanitis, a prominent Greek Cypriot journalist, confessed that he told lies to the international community about the missing, while he was serving for the Greek Cypriot Foreign Information Service, because he too was lied to by his leaders.

click on the photo to read the full confession

North London MEP Pauline Green and Edmonton MP Andy Love during a demonstration with the relatives of the so called Greek Cypriot missing.

THE WISHY-WASHY

MISSING PERSONS LIST

As the remains are exhumed from mass graves in South Cyprus, more evidence is emerging that the Greek Cypriot regime has known all along that many of the people listed missing were actually dead. Latest revelations and the witnesses that are coming forward are embarrassing the illegal regime. Greek Cypriot leaders are doing their best to stop the public outcry on the issue of the so-called missing. On 8 November 1999 Greek Cypriot newspaper Tharros reported how the former Education Minister Claire Angelides had been stopped from informing relatives of missing persons who were known to be dead. Investigations had found evidence that 126 of the men listed as missing were actually dead. Angelides was given the responsibility of informing the relatives, but was stopped from doing so by Father Christoforos, the president of the Committee of Relatives of the Missing. Also, Spyros Kyprianou, the Greek Cypriot House president, issued a statement about the issue after a meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Cleridis. In his statement he asked everyone to stop making undue noise over the issue of those missing since 1974, since the clamour only aids Turkish propaganda efforts. This shows that the Greek Cypriot leaders did not learn anything from the trouble they have put themselves into through their lies. Fileleftheros, on 11 November 1999, published the revelations of a Greek Cypriot witness called Mihalis Nikolau who went on the RIK television and said that he had witnessed many Greek and Greek Cypriot soldiers, killed during the fighting on 16 August 1974, were buried in mass graves in Lakatamia cemetery. He also produced a picture of seven soldiers who were buried in a grave altogether. Fileleftheros also said that all seven soldiers were on the missing list. Also, Cyprus Mail, the daily published in English, reported on 11 November 1999 that "the row rumbled on over who was to blame for failing to inform the relatives." Newspaper quoted the Greek Cypriot spokesman Michalis Papapetrou as saying: "The whole issue is very serious. It is a fact that when the list was being made it was handled in a wishy-washy way." According to the paper, "the authorities have had testimonies on the fate of the 126 for several years, but have only now officially taken them off the list." It seems like the Greek Cypriot leaders have misled the international community and accused Turkey for being responsible for the missing falsely with a wishy washy missing list for over 25 years and are still trying to stop their own people from talking about the missing issue so that they do not lose face in the international political arena.

Greek Cypriot House president Spyros Kyprianou

LATEST NEWS ON MISSING

Politis, a Greek Cypriot newspaper, 12 November 1999, spoke of “criminal omissions” in the handling of the issue of the missing by the state services. It said that a government official had admitted that 1071 case files of missing persons were lacking adequate documentation.

Another person listed as missing for 25 years was buried yesterday after being found buried in a mass grave. Matching DNA from the remains with samples donated by relatives matched them to Theodora Christou Hadji Costa. Family and friends attended the funeral ceremony. She died of cancer in Nicosia General Hospital on the day the 1974 coup against Archbishop Makarios by the Greek junta started, and in the chaos that followed was buried with unidentified victims of the coup. For 25 years her family conducted memorial services for her, not knowing where she was buried. From www.cypria.com 22 November 1999

Instead of travelling to Greece on 13 November 1999 for a three-day visit, US president will arrive in Athens on 19 November 1999 for a visit of less than 24 hours. According to the Associated Press (AP), following a wave of anti-American demonstrations and attacks, which included bombing and firing on US establishments in Greece, U.S. President Bill Clinton has postponed his visit to Greece. It was reported that the trip agenda was reconsidered due to plans for heavy anti-American protests. The protests and the violent terrorist acts that took place over the last few weeks prompted the Greek government to decide that it would be better for all concerned to postpone President Clinton's visit to a later date. A statement issued by the Greek government said: "After consultations between the two countries and in the interest of Greek-American relations, the Greek government proposed to the White House that his visit be held from Nov. 19-20." AP also

 

Prime Minister Dr Dervis Eroglu at a conference in London accompanied by National Unity Party London representative Mr. Mehmet Bayramoglu

Never Ending Demands

Positive developments in relations between the EU and Turkey after two years of stalemate have prompted the Greek-Greek Cypriot propaganda wheels. There seems to be no end to Greek demands in exchange for lifting their objections to Turkey’s candidacy for EU membership. In addition to their demands made on the EU member countries like France, Germany, Holland and Italy to drop their objection to the membership of Cyprus before a settlement to the Cyprus conflict is achieved, they started to demand that Maras, which is located in Famagusta region, within the borders of the TRNC, to be given to the Greek Cypriots. Greek-Cypriot press has brought up the subject and claimed that the return of Maras to the Greek-Cypriot side will be requested as a provision for the disposal of the Greek veto allowing free passage for Turkey to become a candidate to the EU. Fileleftheros, a Greek-Cypriot newspapers, announced the issue with the headline: "Green light for Turkey if Maras is returned". Mahi declared in its headline: "Papandreu will suggest Maras's return for disposal of Greek veto". Simerini used the headline: "Nicosia waits for Athens move on Maras".

Pirate Ambassador

Befitting Pirate Administration!!

Greek Cypriot administration orders disgraced ambassador back to South Cyprus. Greek Cypriot regime decided that Charalambos Kapsos, their suspended representative to Egypt, be transferred back to South Cyprus. Announcing the decision, Greek Cypriot spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said Kapsos would continue to be under suspension, but would be brought back to Cyprus for reasons of national interest. " Mr. Kapsos' presence in Cairo, where he is acting as if he was still the ambassador, discredit Cyprus' standing in Egypt," he added. Papapetrou was adamant that the case against Kapsos was not closed, and that investigations continued. The Greek Cypriot foreign ministry ordered an inquiry into the activities of the ambassador in August after allegations that Kapsos had smuggled large quantities of wine into Egypt by declaring the container as inexpensive personal effects, avoiding the 300 per cent import duty levied by Egyptian customs. Kapsos had also been accused of organising a 'Cyprus night' at his residence, charging Cairo dignitaries who attended US$60 per person.

 

Dr. Dervis Eroglu, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister, said recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was a must before the Cyprus talks could resume. Following a Tuesday afternoon conference and after having lunch with British Special Envoy for Cyprus Sir David Hannay in London as part of his recent visit to London, Eroðlu said his government was under pressure to accept unconditional resumption of the Cyprus talks but added that those who were pressing for unconditional resumption of talks were themselves placing a precondition that the two sides on the island discuss the establishment of a federal settlement. Eroglu stated that he explained to Hannay the Turkish Cypriot position regarding the latest developments and remarked that Hannay acknowledged at the meeting that the Turkish-Cypriot

“Greek Terror”

Greek Terror By E. Wayne Merry The Washington Post Tuesday, November 9, 1999;

Bill Clinton goes to Athens Nov. 13 to reward the Greek government for not breaking NATO ranks on Kosovo. The administration also hopes to sign a protocol on counter-terrorist cooperation aimed at the "November 17" terrorist organization, held responsible for the deaths of four Americans and attacks on many more. However well-intentioned on the American side, this accord must cope with the fact that Greek authorities do not want to find and prosecute the terrorists. The real question is what our own government is prepared to do when a foreign power consistently fails to combat terrorism targeted at U.S. personnel. Clinton's visit to Athens will be a test. Greece does not have the world's worst terrorism problem; far from it. But Greece does have the world's worst counterterrorism problem. Since the first murder of a U.S. official 24 years ago, no member of November 17 has been arrested or even officially identified. The terrorists have expanded their tactics from guns to bombs to rockets, but the Greek police and their political masters remain unmoved. With complete impunity terrorists have murdered more than 20 people and attempted to kill hundreds. I cannot pretend to be objective on this topic. During 1987-90 I was a State Department officer in Athens responsible for terrorism issues. It was a bitterly frustrating experience. Our defense attache -- Navy Capt. William Nordeen, a fine man on the verge of retirement -- was literally blown to pieces. Dozens of our personnel were nearly killed in bus bombings. Many Americans lived with deadly peril on a daily basis. Prominent Greeks were also killed, including a talented young member of Parliament. Now, 10 years later, the situation is no better and in some respects worse. We spend more taxpayer dollars to protect our embassy staff in Athens than in Beirut or Bogota or Algiers. The response by Greek police then and now is nothing short of deliberate negligence. The investigation of each attack is pro forma and even counterproductive. For example, a senior police officer on the scene of a lethal shooting once gave the expended shell casing -- vital evidence -- to a friendly reporter as a souvenir. Investigations are effectively shut down after a few days. Political oversight prevents investigators from going "too far." This is not a resource problem. The Ministry of Public Order is large, amply funded and snoops into many aspects of Greek life. The real problem is one of attitude. Officials from Public Order and the Foreign Ministry many times told me that November 17 is not really an important problem, New York is more dangerous than Athens, and the terrorists will eventually stop their killing. U.S. help is not wanted. Patience is the solution. The problem, in their eyes, is the bad image in America that keeps our tourists (and the dollars they might spend) away from Greece. Official visitors from Washington, especially congressmen, find it difficult to grasp the seriousness of the problem. They say Greece is a NATO ally and the recipient of a great deal of U.S. assistance. How, then, could Greek authorities be doing nothing to capture the terrorists? The fact remains, after 24 years: Nothing is changed and nothing accomplished except more casualties. Greek police are often said to be reluctant to pursue November 17 because of its supposed links with figures of the ruling left-wing PASOK party. This is certainly part of the problem. However, several right-wing governments also did nothing. The sad truth is that November 17 enjoys wide popular acceptance in Greece, reflecting deep-seated ethnocentric Balkan prejudices. These terrorists are tolerated not for their veneer of Marxism-Leninism (which nobody takes seriously) but for their rabid anti-U.S., anti-NATO, anti-EU, anti-Turkey, anti-Western nationalism. For U.S. policy the solution could lie with Congress, if it is willing to apply to Greece some of the sanctions it uses so widely around the world. The bloated U.S. Embassy in Athens should be drastically reduced, and military assistance tightly linked to results on November 17. Greek officials say privately that they have more influence on Capitol Hill than does the State Department, that the Greek lobby will always protect aid for Athens. If so, is our rhetoric about fighting terrorism as empty as the Greeks'?

The writer, a former State Department and Pentagon official, is a program director at the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington.

Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations has invited the Turkish and Greek Cypriots to proximity talks on the Cyprus problem. Both sides have accepted, and talks will begin on 3 December 1999. The initial response of the President Rauf Denktaþ of the TRNC was a positive one. Talking to NTV television on 14 November 1999 President Denktaþ said he was willing to attend proximity talks, and said: “I will only discuss our status in these talks.” Denktaþ said Annan called him the day before to assess the chances for proximity talks, which were to pave the way for eventual face-to-face negotiations between the sides. Although this was the original positive response of the President Denktaþ, later on he announced that he would not attend the talks. He said that he would not attend because a U.N. statement on the talks had an important distinction that he found unacceptable. He said the invitation was not acceptable and the format of the talks had been changed, but that he would attend if the world body returned to the procedure he had agreed. “The agreed format for the proximity talks was a neutral, simple, short invitation for the parties, no names, no titles, whereas now they want us to go into substantive talks. Whereas we were going to prepare the grounds for substantive talk,” he said. In his original statement the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: “I have spoken with H.E. Mr. Clerides, and he has agreed to start proximity talks in New York on December 3, in order to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement. I have spoken with H.E. Mr. Denktash, who has also agreed to start proximity talks in New York on December 3, in order to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement. Now that the parties have agreed, I am

Greek Cypriot Media Panicking

Greek Cypriot media sees the postponed visit of the US president “a blow for Greece”. The postponement of President Clinton's visit to Greece became a major concern for the Greek Cypriots which was reflected in the Greek Cypriot media over the last few days. Simerini described the one-week delay and the shorter duration of the visit as “blow for Greece”, despite the Greek government's efforts to focus on the positive side. It claimed that talks would be more meaningful after the OSCE meeting in Turkey. Despite the claim that Athens had asked for the postponement, “for the good of Greek-American relations”, diplomatic sources offered a different explanation. The US was reportedly furious with the Greek government's decision to allow the Greek Communist Party to hold a demonstration outside the American embassy during the visit. The paper claimed that the Turks have been “rubbing their hands”, happy that Greek-American relations would suffer from what has happened. In contrast to the Greeks, the Turks were awaiting Clinton's visit to Istanbul with open arms. This would be used to prove that Turkey is the “reliable ally” of the US, in order to accrue benefits at the expense of Greece and avoid any pressure regarding Cyprus. Phileleftheros said the postponement, sent out “many signals”, the main one being the displeasure of the White House with the Greek government's failure to ban demonstrations outside the American embassy for the duration of Clinton's stay in the country. The US ambassador had set this as a condition for Clinton's visit. It was no wonder that American newspapers had written about “the Greek authorities reluctance to combat terrorism”. Members of the Greek lobby in the US have already been recruited in an effort to “prevent the more adverse effects” of developments. Alithia, in its front-page editorial, lambasted all the anti-US protesters whose actions had contributed to the postponement of Clinton's visit. This was not a positive development, it said, because "it confirmed the worrying elevation of the handling of national issues to the pavement of irresponsibility and sensation-seeking theatrics, with trials, condemnations and aphorisms". It had been hoped that Clinton's visit would have led to Washington ensuring some practical progress in the Cyprus issue. “This objective is not achieved by swearing and spitting at Clinton,” it said and concluded: “The climate created by the new wave of sick anti-American sentiments in the streets of Athens does not contribute to the further improvement of the many positive elements that exist, but to their destruction, which benefits the other side." Haravghi reported that Britain and the US were working methodically, “to assist, not only EU objectives of the Turkish side but also its efforts to secure recognition of the Turkish Cypriot community as a separate political entity”. As part of these efforts, they had arranged a resumption of Cyprus talks in New York on November 29. To satisfy President Rauf Denktaþ the dialogue would take the form of proximity talks. There would be direct talks only if the two sides agreed to this.

President Denktash Ready For Negetiations

Widespread Corruption In South Cyprus

Christodoulos Nicolaides, the head of Greek Cypriot immigration service has been accused of taking bribes in exchange for issuing work permits to foreign strippers. Christodoulos Nicolaides, who allegedly took thousands of pounds for arranging work and residency permits for foreign women to work in bars and cabarets appeared at a local court. He denied 19 counts of issuing work permits for payment, abuse of power and corruption. Most of the women work in nightclubs as prostitutes, some of them work voluntarily but some are forced into becoming prostitutes. Another senior immigration department official, Nicos Vakanas, is also facing bribery and corruption charges, as is Syrian Mahmud al-Masri who allegedly bribed Nicolaides to provide Cypriot citizenship for other Syrians. The immigration department is notorious among foreigners for its heavy-handed treatment of people caught working in South Cyprus illegally. As head of the service, Nicolaides could detain and deport foreigners without court hearings. Justice Minister Nicos Koshis is reported to have received death threats following his public statements about stamping out widespread corruption. The illegal administration in South Cyprus is trying to clamp down on illegal foreign workers, whose number is currently put at over 20,000. Another 28,000 are employed legally, including 1,200 "cabaret artistes" and about 10,000 domestic servants. The Greek Cypriot leaders have always objected to TRNC exercising her right to grant citizenship but in the meantime they flooded their part of the island with settlers. Figures above show around 50 thousand. Added to this are 60,000 Russians, thousands of Lebanese, thousands of Pontian ‘Greeks’ and probably around 100,000 Greeks from mainland Greece. Almost one third of their population seems to be consisting of settlers.

---

© 1997, TURKISH CYPRIOT NETWORK. All rights reserved. For further information and comments please contact us.

Address: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3XX. TEL: E-mail: tcn@tc-net.demon.co.uk

looking forward to welcoming them for what I expect will be substantive talks .” In the face of the strong reaction from President Denktaþ, Kofi Annan was forced to change the wording of the statement. The new statement from Kofi Annan said that he had “spoken with His Excellency Mr. Clerides and he has agreed to start proximity talks in New York on December 3 in order to prepare the ground for meaningful negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement.” Annan also said he had “spoken with His Excellency Mr. Denktaþ who has also agreed to start proximity talks in New York on December 3'' for the same purpose. Due to the corrective action by Kofi Annan, President Denktaþ, lifted his reservations. Commenting on the changes, Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides said he did not mind, but noted that the UN chief should have addressed the invitation to the representatives of the two communities.

side was right in her demand for recognition of the TRNC before resumption of the talks but stressed that it would be impossible to convince the Greek Cypriots to adopt such a position. The Prime Minister stressing that Turkish Cypriots were not against a lasting peace on the island said that, "we shall not bow to impositions made and decisions taken regarding the TRNC in locations that are oceans away just for the sake of establishing peace." Sir David, also talking to reporters, refused to make a public statement on the issues he discussed with Eroglu saying that there was no need for it. "We had a nice luncheon with Mr. Prime Minister," he said, referring to Eroglu as prime minister although the British government recognises the Greek Cypriot side as the sole legitimate government on the island. Premier Eroglu who attended various events during his visit to London, also held a meeting open to the Turkish community, where he gave information about his meetings in London and answered questions from the people who packed the meeting hall. The meeting which generally went well was attended by around 700 people and continued late into the night.