Turks Murder Unarmed Greek Cypriot
GRKSON1
Turks kill Greek Cypriot soldier
Nicosia, Jun 3 1996 (CNA)
Turkish soldiers killed a Greek Cypriot National Guardsman here this morning.
He is Stelios Panagi Kalli, 19, a refugee from the Turkish-occupied village of
Kythrea, and resident of Yeri village.
According to a press release issued by the island's Defence Ministry, the
National Guardsman entered unarmed the UN-controlled buffer zone at Ayios
Andreas area of Nicosia before 0700 local hours (0400 GMT).
The Turkish soldiers, who manned the Turkish posts on the demarcation line shot
and killed the Greek Cypriot soldier.
The UN peacekeepers took the seriously wounded soldier to the Nicosia General
Hospital but the doctors there verified his death.
President Glafcos Clerides went to hospital, expressing his sympathy to the
soldier's parents.
According to eyewitnesses, the Guardsman entered unarmed the buffer zone, for
unknown reasons, and approached the Turkish observation post. Another Guardsman
repeatedly asked him to return.
He was talking to a Turkish soldier when a second Turkish soldier from a nearby
post shot and killed him.
State coroner made an autopsy. Later on, she will conduct a post mortem
examination.
Defence Minister Costas Eliades and National Guard Commander, Lieutenant
General Nicolaos Vorvolakos rushed to the area and gave instructions for
additional security measures along the demarcation line.
The Minister ordered an investigation into the circumstances under which the
incident took place.
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UN continues investigations into buffer zone killing
Nicosia, Jun 4 (CNA)
New elements about Monday's killing of an unarmed Greek Cypriot soldier in the
UN-controlled buffer zone continue to emerge, a spokesman for the UN
peace-keeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) told CNA today. ''We continue to
investigate yesterday's killing and new elements are coming up,'' the spokesman
said.
The conclusions of the investigation, once this is completed, would not be made
public, he added, as normal procedure dictates.
Asked if the UN had established the identity of the killer, the spokesman said
''I expect Turkish Cypriot security forces to be deployed in that area. However
the true identity of the person who fired the shots against the Greek Cypriot
guardsman has not been established yet, it could be a Turkish Cypriot.''
Commenting on the UN role in the incident, the spokesman acknowledged that
''our action was somewhat delayed by the Turkish forces.''
It took the UN peace-keepers about 30 minutes before they reached the body of
the Greek Cypriot soldier Stelios Panagi Kalli, aged 19, the eighth National
Guardsman killed by the Turks in the last ten years.
The UN was prevented from getting there earlier by the Turkish military who
fired warning shots in the area.
In the aftermath of the killing, which happened in Ayios Andreas area of the
Nicosia buffer zone where the Greek and Turkish Cypriot military posts are in
close proximity, UNFICYP commander, Brigadier General, Ahti Toimi Vartiainen,
is scheduled to meet National Guard Commander Lieutenant General Nikolaos
Vorvolakos to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, UN resident representative Gustave Feissel said today ''we are very
saddened by this tragic incident and useless loss of life of a young Greek
Cypriot.''
Feissel left this morning for Constaninople (Istanbul) Turkey to attend a
meeting tomorrow with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who is there
on the occasion of a UN conference, with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.
Boutros-Ghali will have a similar meeting with Cyprus President Glafcos
Clerides on June 11 in Geneva.
Feissel said ''we are pursuing our investigation and I hope that within a
couple of days we will have completed it.''
He said in the meantime, the UNFICYP Commander has already met with the Turkish
force Commander raising this matter ''in very strong terms.'' He will also meet
the National Guard Commander and there will be further meetings with the
Turkish Commander.
The UN official acknowledged that the UN force can not control the whole of the
buffer zone.
''Obviously, it is impossible for the UN to stand shoulder to shoulder, so to
speak for the entire 180 km of the buffer zone.
He stressed that the cooperation of the two sides is indispensable in order to
ensure the security of the buffer zone and that people from either side do not
enter the buffer zone illegally.
Feissel confirmed that the Greek Cypriot soldier had entered the buffer zone
unarmed.
In New York, UN Secretary-General's Spokeswoman Sylvana Foa referred to the
incident, saying a UN sentry observed one Turkish Cypriot soldier walking down
the river bed inside the buffer zone while later he heard a single shot. "The
soldier was observed running back towards where he'd come from. There was only
one shot and the guy was seen running back. Within a few minutes the UN sentry
went to the area to investigate and was told by Cypriot National Guard
personnel that one of their soldiers had been shot. He reported the incident
and requested an ambulance, she said.
Pathologists Eleni Antoniou and Marios Matsakis found that the soldier was hit
by two bullets, one in the abdomen and one on the shoulder.
The spokeswoman said the local UN troop commander went to the scene of the
shooting but wasn't able to move to the National Guard soldier as there were
three shots fired in the air by Turkish Cypriot soldiers. In other words, the
UN tried to move to the scene rightway and they were shot and prevented from
going in.
The UN spokeswoman said after negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot force that
caused delay of about 25 minutes, the UN soldiers finally were able to rescue
the body. It was taken by ambulance to Nicosia General Hospital. He was
reported dead on arrival.
The Cyprus government has protested to the UN and foreign governments over the
incident, which took place in the UN-controlled buffer zone.
Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides described the killing as ''a cold-blooded
murder''.
He stressed that the Greek Cypriot soldier entered the zone unarmed and
recalled that the incident had taken place within the no man's land, which is
under the UN control.
All the island's Greek Cypriot political party leaders expressed abhorrence for
the soldier's murder.
Greece's Government Spokesman Demetris Reppas described the murder as an ''act
of shame'' for today's civilised world, which reveals the barbarity of the
Turkish occupation forces in Cyprus.
He said ''this murderous act should draw even more the attention of the
international community to the conditions which prevail today in Cyprus'' as a
result of the Turkish occupation of the island's northern territory.
In Washington, State Department Spokesman Glyn Davis, replying to a CNA
question said the incident ''underscores, once again, the importance of
extending the 1989 unamanning agreement to cover all areas of the UN buffer
zone where the two sides are in close proximity. Extension of the unamanning
agreement could reduce the risk of tragic incidents such as the one today
(yesterday) ''.
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House of Commons on killing of soldier and Chrisotrimithiotissa
Nicosia, Jun 7 (CNA)
The shooting of a Greek Cypriot National Guard soldier last Monday and the
attempt of the Turkish occupation regime to discard the cultural heritage of
Cyprus have been noted in notices of motion of the House of Commons. Regretting
the fatal shooting of 19-year old Stelios Panayi, the House of Commons notes
that this was ''just one more in a long series of such murders.'' It is also
noted that the young soldier ''had left his post as a friendly gesture to
exchange military hats with a Turkish soldier on the dividing, Green Line.''
MPs express sadness with the fact that ''after 22 years of division it is still
necessary, for the security of the indigenous people of Cyprus, for a UN
peacekeeping force to keep vigil on the border whilst 30 thousand Turkish
troops in the occupied area pose a threat to all Cypriots.''
In the same motion, the MPs also express the wish that the efforts of Britain's
Special Envoy for Cyprus, Sir David Hannay, towards ''an agreement which will
result in a free united Cyprus on a federal basis'', will be successful.
Such a solution, it is pointed out, ''has thus far been hindered solely by the
reluctance and refusal of the Turkish side in negotiations to display any sign
of political will.'' Finally, they call on the British government to ''redouble
its efforts to find a lasting and just settlement''.
In another notice of motion, a number of MPs stress that the House is
''appalled by the ongoing attempt by the illegal Turkish regime to illegally
sell the site of Panagia Chrysotrimithiotissa, including the church of Agios
Charalambos in the Turkish occupied district of Kyrenia.''
The motion notes that ''this is part of a continued effort by the unrecognised
regime to discard the historical wealth of cultural and religious identify of
the island, compounding the difficulties of repatriation and unification when a
solution to the division of the island is reached''.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37
per cent of the island's territory. A regime set up in the occupied areas in
1983 is recognised only by Ankara.