Christodoulides calls for accountability over 1996 killings of Isaac and Solomou

Paralimni, Cyprus. President Nikos Christodoulides called for “accountability and punishment” for those responsible for the deaths of Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou, who were killed during separate demonstrations near Dherynia in August 1996.

He said justice for the two men was a universal demand of the Cypriot people and an obligation for the European Union and the international community.

President’s statement

In a social media post on Sunday, Christodoulides said the deaths of Isaac and Solomou were among images “etched into the collective memory of a people and an entire nation”, becoming symbols of gallantry, self-sacrifice and the right to live freely.

He said the two men’s “martyrdom” and “cruel murder” had made known “the illegality which occupying Turkey has been committing in our homeland since 1974” and had defined an obligation to the land.

“Accountability and punishment of those who murdered Isaac and Solomou is our people’s universal demand, an obligation of the European Union, a duty of the international community,” he said. “And justice is not revenge; it is a matter of principle. It is a matter of dignity.”

Deaths in August 1996

Isaac was killed on August 11, 1996, when Greek Cypriot motorcyclist protesters met Turkish Cypriot counter-protesters in the buffer zone. According to a United Nations report on the incident, the counter-protesters were “joined by members of the Grey Wolves who had come from Turkey”.

As demonstrators from both sides entered the buffer zone, violence broke out. Isaac became entangled in barbed wire and was beaten to death by Turkish Cypriots and Turks who had also entered the buffer zone.

Solomou was killed three days later, after Greek Cypriot demonstrators again travelled to Dherynia following Isaac’s funeral. He moved away from fellow protesters and approached a Turkish military post, where he attempted to climb a flagpole to remove a Turkish flag before being shot dead by a Turkish soldier.

Anniversary event

Christodoulides’ post followed his attendance at an event in Paralimni marking the 30th anniversary of the two deaths.

At the event, he said Isaac had been killed “in an inhumane manner”, while Solomou was murdered while exposing “the symbols of the illegal occupation” to the world.

He described photographs from August 1996 as irrefutable evidence of “two heinous crimes”, saying they had both moral instigators and physical perpetrators.