In my previous post, I mentioned the murders in 1996 of Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomou, and above are two videos that remind us of the nature of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus and the barbarism of the Turkish state and Turkish nationalism. Isaac was beaten to death by a Turkish mob on 11 August during an anti-occupation protest in the UN buffer zone while, three days later, also in the buffer zone, following Isaac’s funeral, his cousin Solomou was shot to death trying to pull down a Turkish flag.
I’ve provided English subtitles for the second video, even though some of the commentary details have subsequently proved inaccurate. In particular, the film suggests that it was a Turkish soldier who killed Solomou; but the Cypriot investigation into the crime showed that the fatal shots were actually fired by Kenan Akin (see picture) and Erdal Haciali Emanet, who were positioned on a balcony overlooking the Turkish sentry post where Solomou was shot.
Emanet, a Turkish settler, was commander of the so-called security forces in the occupied areas, while Akin, another settler, was serving as the occupation regime's ‘minister of agriculture and forests’. Interpol warrants have been in place against the two since 1996, but neither has been handed over. Indeed, it emerged earlier this week that Akin, who used to belong to Serdar Denktash's Democratic Party, will be standing in this April’s 'parliamentary elections' in Turkish-occupied Cyprus as a candidate for the Freedom and Reform Party, which is currently part of the occupation regime's coalition ‘government’.
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