The case of Varnava and Others V. Turkey

ECHR finds Turkey guilty

(Cyprus Weekly) - STRASBOURG - The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Friday found Turkey guilty in the case of a number of missing Greek Cypriots. It also ordered damages to be paid to their families.

Friday’s judgment of the Grand Chamber was in the case of Varnava and Others v. Turkey which dates back to 1990.

“(The Court) holds by sixteen votes to one that there has been a continuing violation of Article 2 of the Convention on account of the failure of the authorities of the respondent State to conduct an effective investigation into the fate of the nine men who disappeared in life-threatening circumstances,” said the 58-page-long judgment.

The applications were introduced before the Court in the name and on behalf of 18 Greek Cypriots.

The ECHR also ordered Turkey to pay, within three months, €12,000 per application, plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damages.

Also, to pay €8,000 per application, plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicants or their heirs, in respect of costs and expenses.

The Recent Incident At The Limnitis Crossing Point

It takes two to tango

(Cyprus Weekly) - The disappointing end to a much-anticipated pilgrimage to Morphou through Limnitis has come as a painful reminder of how difficult it is to reach a comprehensive settlement on this small island.

What was intended as a symbol of how the two communities can cast aside their differences – at least temporarily and for non-political reasons -- turned into a publicity nightmare for all those prodding the two leaders to rise above decades of suspicions to work together for reunification.

For if the Turks cannot allow bus loads of candle clutching villagers to drive – under U N escort – to a church ceremony and back, how on earth are they going to agree to cede territory to Greek Cypriots and participate in a European democracy based on consensus and compromise?

The 650 or so aggrieved pilgrims subjected to meticulous scrutiny of their documents by the occupation regime were victims of much more than a lengthy inconvenience. In blocking their pilgrimage, the Turkish side had reneged on their part of an agreement to engage in confidence building measures only weeks after the Cyprus government allowed 2,000 Turkish Cypriots to travel through the same point to ‘celebrate’ the 1967 bombing of Tillyria at the Kokkina enclave.

By preventing pilgrims from exercising a simple religious freedom, Turkish Cypriots sent a wrong message to Greek Cypriots, and the global community, that at the end of the day they insist on calling all the shots.

Hardly a good start to the supposedly constructive give-and-take needed for a successful outcome to the talks.

The government says it is committed to a settlement and will persevere in the talks in pursuit of a viable solution. In so doing it speaks for a sizable majority who are prepared to turn the other cheek in the hope that the island can be reunited.

But Greek Cypriots are growing increasingly weary of the apparent insincerity coming from the other side. Supporters of peace on this island would do well to understand that it takes two to tango.

Νέα μαρτυρία για σφαγή Ελληνοκυπρίων κατά την τουρκική εισβολή

(H ΝΑΥΤΕΜΠΟΡΙΚΗ) - Μια νέα συγκλονιστική μαρτυρία Τουρκοκυπρίου για εν ψυχρώ σφαγή 320 Ελληνοκυπρίων αιχμαλώτων κατά την εισβολή του 1974 δημοσιεύει σήμερα η τουρκοκυπριακή εφημερίδα «Αφρίκα».

Σύμφωνα με την εφημερίδα, ο Τουρκοκύπριος δήλωσε ότι ήταν ένας από τους συνοδούς των αιχμαλώτων που μεταφέρθηκαν με οκτώ λεωφορεία -40 αιχμάλωτοι στο κάθε λεωφορείο- στο σημείο όπου είχε γίνει η απόβαση, δυτικά της Κερύνειας, προκειμένου να μεταφερθούν με πλοία σε φυλακές της Τουρκίας.

Όταν έφθασαν εκεί, είχε καταπλεύσει ένα πλοίο με Τούρκους στρατιώτες, οι οποίοι μόλις αποβιβάστηκαν και πληροφορήθηκαν ότι στα λεωφορεία βρίσκονταν Ελληνοκύπριοι αιχμάλωτοι, τους επιτέθηκαν με ξιφολόγχες και τους σκότωσαν με αγριότητα, μέχρι και τον τελευταίο. Ο Τουρκοκύπριος δήλωσε ότι η θάλασσα βάφτηκε κόκκινη από το αίμα των αιχμαλώτων. Όπως χαρακτηριστικά ανέφερε, και ο ίδιος φοβήθηκε για τη ζωή του γιατί η μανία των Τούρκων στρατιωτών ήταν τόση που υπήρχε κίνδυνος να σφάξουν και τους Τουρκοκύπριους που συνόδευαν τους Ελληνοκύπριους αιχμάλωτους.

Ο αυτόπτης μάρτυρας, που δεν θέλησε να αποκαλυφθεί το όνομά του, δήλωσε ότι οι 320 Ελληνοκύπριοι αιχμάλωτοι ίσως να τάφηκαν σε κάποιο χώρο κοντά στο ξενοδοχείο Μάρε Μόντε, το οποίο είχε λειτουργήσει λίγους μόνο μήνες πριν από την εισβολή.

Στη μαρτυρία του ο Τουρκοκύπριος ανέφερε ότι η σφαγή έγινε στα τέλη Αυγούστου του 1974, δηλαδή λίγες μέρες μετά την ολοκλήρωση της δεύτερης φάσης της τουρκικής εισβολής.

Πρόκειται για το μεγαλύτερο αριθμό εν ψυχρώ δολοφονηθέντων Ελληνοκυπρίων αιχμαλώτων, που έχει καταγραφεί με μαρτυρία.

ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ

320 Greek Cypriot prisoners of war were killed with a sword bayonet

New mass execution revealed

(Cyprus Weekly) - NICOSIA - Another mass execution of Greek Cypriot POWs by the Turkish army comes to light 35 years after it took place during the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.

The Turkish Cypriot daily “Afrika” quotes an eye witness, who kept his anonymity, that eight busloads of POWs were bayoneted and hacked to death as they waited to be shipped to Turkey.

The massacre took place towards the end of August 1974 when about 320 Greek Cypriot POWs were driven in buses to the Kyrenia coast to board a ship for their transport to Turkey.

According to the eye witness, as they waited new Turkish recruitments that had just landed attacked them and killed them all using their fixed bayonets or knives.

The eyewitness said the massacred Greek Cypriot may have been buried near the Mare Monte Hotel, not far from where they were killed.