Turkish actor Attila Olgac’s confession that he killed ten Greek Cypriots during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus can be used to establish the fate of missing persons, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou has stressed.
Iacovou was speaking after a meeting convened on Monday at the Presidential Palace to discuss Olgac’s self-confession. Present at the meeting were the Attorney General Petros Clerides, the Greek-Cypriot representative to the Committee on Missing Persons(CMP) Elias Georgiades as well as representatives of the Foreign Ministry and the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons and Undeclared Prisoners of War.
Iacovou, who has also the responsibility for issues on the missing persons, said that during the meeting they discussed the legal ramifications of this confession, noting that the Attorney General will look into the whole matter as a matter of urgency.
He clarified that Attorney General will have the decisive role on the legal issues which might arise from this.
Asked to say what the target of the Government is, Iacovou said that “there is information which has shocked public opinion here, in Greece but also in other countries”.
“Therefore, we want more investigation on the issue and see if there are legal ways in which we can promote the issue of missing persons for the sake of their relatives” he noted.
He added that “the effort is always to see if we can establish the fate of missing persons”, noting that Olgac’s confession can be used towards this direction.
In addition, he said that the issue will be discussed on Wednesday at the House of Representatives.
Attorney General Petros Clerides stressed that through this confession “we will see what legal action we can take to promote the issue of missing persons”.
“This is the first direct confession that he has killed soldiers”, he pointed out.
He added that “there are many other reports showing towards this direction. This particular information by Attila will be used in the framework of all witnesses and testimonies in relation to this issue”.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Hundreds of Greek Cypriots have been missing since 1974 and nearly 500 Turkish Cypriots are missing since the intercommunal fighting in the early 1960s.
To date, the remains of over 466 individuals have been exhumed and 110 have been identified and returned to the families concerned. More identifications of exhumed remains are expected this year.
Olgac told a live TV show that he killed ten Greek Cypriots, one of whom was a 19-year-old soldier, taken prisoner of war during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. He subsequently retracted his confessions, claiming he was talking about a plot in a TV series he was involved in.
Article 13, of the Geneva Convention, stipulates that ''prisoners of war must at all times be humanely treated. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention.''
