Cyprus 14 August 1996 - The Murder of Solomos Solomou by the Turks in the Buffer Zone near Dherynia

Cyprus 14 August 1996
The Murder of Solomos Solomou by the Turks..

MEMORIAL

The Shocking Video of the the Murder of Solomos Solomou by the Turks on 14 August 1996

Solomos Solomou (Greek: Σολωμός Σολωμού) (1970 - 14 August 1996), was a Greek Cypriot refugee who was murdered after being shot five times by turkish forces while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone near Deryneia, Cyprus. The killing occurred in the aftermath of the funeral of Solomou's cousin Tassos Isaac, who was also killed a few days earlier by Turkish nationalists belonging to the militant Grey Wolves organization...

According to Cyprus Police, Solomou's killers were identified using photographic evidence as Kenan Akin and Erdal Haciali Emanet, respectively the first Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the second Chief of Special Forces in the internationally unrecognized Turkish administration of Northern Cyprus. Warrants were issued by the Republic of Cyprus for their arrest and that of three others: Attila Sav, Chief of Police of TRNC, Hasan Kundakci, Lt. Gen. of the Turkish Cypriot Security Force and Mehmet Karli, Maj. Gen. of the Turkish Army. In October 2004, Kenan Akin, wanted by Interpol for the murder of Solomou, admitted he had pulled the trigger, but accused the former Turkish Military Commander Halil Sadrazam as the person who gave the order. Sadrazam denied the accusation. Akin was later arrested in Istanbul on unrelated smuggling charges. He was later released by the Turkish authorities despite being wanted for murder by Interpol, prompting a question on Turkey's judicial cooperation by Dimitrios Papadimoulis, a Greek member of the European Parliament.

The photo of Solomou climbing the Turkish flagpole has often been used as symbol of protest against Turkey's presence in Cyprus. Solomou's courage was praised by a number of Greek politicians, and several prominent Greek composers and singers dedicated their songs to him. Dionysis Savvopoulos dedicated Odi sto Georgio Karaiskaki, Dimitris Mitropanos and Thanos Mikroutsikos dedicated Panta gelastoi and Stelios Rokkos dedicated Gia to Solomo Solomou. Two sources also cited the Turkish singer-composer Zulfu Livaneli as having sung in an on-the-spot concert in Solomou's memory, particularly his famous song Yigidim aslan?m burda yat?yor, but the singer issued a polite denial, stating "he was yet to go to Deryneia".

He is considered a national hero in Greece and Cyprus, where he is often referred to as a "hero-martyr" (Greek: ηρωομάρτυρας). On 24 June 2008, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of Solomou's family in the case of "Solomou and others v. Turkey", awarding them €12,000 in compensation...