With the death of Solomou Solomou 28 years ago, a piece of our family's life is missing, Skevi Solomou, sister, told KYPE of the one murdered by the Turks on August 14, 1996.
He added that “a whole 28 years have passed since the murder of Solakis and both I and the rest of the family are missing a piece of us. I don't believe and after all these years, I still can't realize that he is gone, since I think it was yesterday that he was murdered by the Turks.”
Solomos, continued “our he said he was going to take down the Turkish flag from the watchtower but we didn't think he would dare to do it. On the day of my brother's murder, I was working, listening to what was happening on the radio, and when it was reported that a person named Solakis had been beaten, my mind did not go to my brother,” he said.
However, he continued “when we went to the Hospital I learned from the evil mantas that they had killed my brother. Solomon felt sorry that the Turkish invasion was the reason we lost our home, became refugees and had a hard time and that the difficulties we were going through were because of the war,” he noted.
When asked how the family feels about the memorial march organized every year, since 2008 by the Isaac-Solomou Memorial Initiative, Mrs. Solomou replied that “they are the only people I want to thank because they are the only ones who do not forget us, they march in memory of my brother and Tasos and are always by our side. I really congratulate them and admire them very much for what they are doing and honoring our two heroes,” he said.
At the same time, he expressed “bitterness and disappointment over the fact that the state did not stand by us all these years and I cannot understand why a place has not been found to date to erect a monument in memory of Solomon and Tassos, despite the efforts of two families. However, next week, together with Tasos' family, we have a meeting with the new Mayor of Paralimni – Deryneia, Giorgos Nicolettos, to see a specific area for the construction of a monument”.
We consider, he continued, “unjustified for 28 years not to have a monument in Paralimni for its two heroes”.
Alekos Michaelidis, representative of the Isaac-Solomos Memorial Initiative, speaking at KYPE, referred to the history of the anti-occupation march for Cyprus, organized in 1996 by the Cypriot Motorcyclist Federation, with the participation of motorcyclists from 12 European countries, including Greece, which started symbolically , from the former divided Berlin to end in occupied Kyrenia.
He said that “the reason for the march was the 22nd anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and we started on August 2, 1996, with the participation of about 150 motorcyclists from various countries from Berlin, to continue in the Balkans, in Thessaloniki and then in Cyprus . The march arrived with great difficulty on August 7 in Thessaloniki, since the route was very difficult due to weather conditions and despite the fact that at the borders of some countries, an issue had arisen with the passage of motorcyclists”.
And while, he continued, “the march of motorcyclists was taking place in Europe, a whisper was growing in Cyprus about how the Turks would deal with the march that would end up in occupied Deryneia. Both the Cypriot government and the press began to leak information regarding the treatment of the motorcyclists by the Turks, while the occupying leader at the time, Rauf Denktash, began the threats, the main one being that any motorcyclist who crosses the Green Line will be shot.”
He added that “the march finally ended with a boat from Piraeus to the port of Limassol on August 10. According to the plans, the motorcyclists would gather near the Deryneia roadblock on August 11, facing the foreigners, the Greeks and the thousands of Cypriots, for to pass to occupied Kyrenia, as a symbolic and peaceful movement of liberation”.
As Mr. Michaelidis said, “the motorcyclists put forward the position that they had no intention of clashing with the Police, nor with the United Nations, since the march was peaceful. The then President of the Republic Glaukos Cleridis tried to indirectly convince the motorcyclists to cancel the march, which was finally aborted after a meeting he had with the President of the Cyprus Motorcycle Federation Giorgos Chatzikostas, telling him among other things that the Turks would take advantage of the march to occupy the dead zone and that Cyprus would be in danger”.
However, he noted, “what the Cypriot government managed to do was to break up the very good organization that the Cypriot Motorcycle Federation had and send the motorcyclists to different parts of the dead zone, divided into groups and without leadership. As a result, groups of motorcyclists were heading from Lefkotheo, from where on August 11 they would start with the destination of the Deryneia roadblock, towards various parts of the dead zone”.
Asked about the foreign motorcyclists, he said that “they returned to their hotels since no one guaranteed them that there would be an organized march to occupied Kyrenia and their delegation arrived at Ledra Palas in the late afternoon of August 11, asking the occupying regime to leave it to go to Kyrenia. However, the occupying authorities demanded recognition of the pseudo-state in order to allow them to cross, which was not accepted by the foreign motorcyclists, who eventually left”.
At the same time, he said “in various areas of the dead zone, such as SOPAZ and Ledra Palace in Nicosia but also in Achna, incidents had broken out with motorcyclists. In Deryneia, the greatest tension prevailed between the motorcyclists with the Gray Wolves and Turkish Cypriots armed with crowbars, axes and even shotguns”.
The result, he noted, was that “some people were trapped in the barbed wire of the dead zone, in front of the impassive eyes of the men of the United Nations and the Turks began to beat them mercilessly. The situation got out of hand when Tasos Isaac, 24 years old at the time, tried to help a friend of his, who was being beaten by the Turks, was attacked and fell to the ground, causing a large number of Turks and Turkish Cypriots to gather around him. Tasos experienced all the ferocity and brutality of a mob of Turks, Turkish Cypriots and members of the so-called police of the pseudo-state, among them Erhan Arikli, later an official of the occupying regime,” he said.
The funeral of Tassos Isaac, Mr. Michaelidis continued, “was held at the church of Agios Dimitrios in Paralimni on August 14, after it had already been postponed by the Cypriot government three times, fearing new episodes. The funeral was attended by a delegation of foreign and Greek motorcyclists who laid a wreath and expressed their shock at the death of the 24-year-old.
Tassos Isaac's funeral, he continued, “was silent but the rage and anger simmered. After the burial at the Paralimni cemetery, the participants marched to the site of his murder to lay a wreath and place a black ribbon, when suddenly Solomos Solomou, 26, a cousin of Tassos, stepped in front of the rest of the crowd shouting “let's go down, let's go to drop their flags”.
Solis, as he was known, said Mr. Michaelidis, “went forward and after passing some barbed wire of the occupying army, he climbed the mast where the Turkish flag was to take it down, when three shots were heard from the opposite guard post, from where Rauf Denktas was and with a gun held by Kenan Akin, then the so-called minister of agriculture of the pseudo-state. Solomon fell from the flagpole struck by bullets in the neck and shoulder and his death occurred a few seconds later.
He further explained that “after the three shots, a barrage of fire followed, as a result of which several people who were in the area were injured but not seriously. The protesters left after Solomon's body was removed and everything stopped there,” he said.
The representative of the Isaac-Solomos Memorial Initiative also stated that “the Attorney General of the Republic in collaboration with the lawyers of the two families, he issued international arrest warrants for ten people, as wanted for the murders of Tasos and Solomos, including members of the occupying army and the pseudo-state. However, to this day there is the question why these arrest warrants are not executed in order to punish those responsible for the murder of the two heroes of Paralimni” he concluded.
Source: KYPE
READ HERE: VIDEO: Isaac-Solomos Memorial Initiative: My Foundation in the Mountains
