FIRST KNOWN TURKISH CYPRIOT GRAVE SITE FOUND IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000926

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/08/2016
TAGS: PHUM UN TU CY PREL PGOV
SUBJECT: FIRST KNOWN TURKISH CYPRIOT GRAVE SITE FOUND IN
SOUTH

Classified By: Ambassador Ronald L. Schlicher for reasons 1 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. A bicommunal team working under the
Tripartite Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has discovered
human remains thought to be those of Turkish Cypriots missing
since the intercommunal clashes of 1963 and 1964. If
confirmed by DNA analysis, this would be the first case of a
Turkish Cypriot multiple grave being found in the south since
the CMP was established in 1981. Financial troubles continue
to plague the CMP, which says it needs $13 million dollars to
perform its work for the next three years -- 3 million of
which they want up front. The CMP is one of the few
successful joint efforts between Turkish Cypriots and Greek
Cypriots, and has an important role to play in healing
historical wounds in both communities. Optimists hope it can
improve the currently frosty relations between the two sides,
thus serving as a catalyst for a resolution to the Cyprus
problem. End Summary.

Turkish Cypriot Mass Grave Uncovered in South
--------------


2. (C) The CMP sent a 12-member bicommunal archaeological
and anthropological team composed of Greek Cypriot and
Turkish Cypriot scientists to carry out exhumations of
presumed Turkish Cypriot missing in the southern town of
Protaras. (NOTE: The CMP was established in 1981 and has
representatives from both communities and the UN. Its
mandate is to establish the fate of the approximately 1600
Greek Cypriots missing as a result of the 1974 war, as well
the fate of approximately 800 Turkish Cypriots who went
missing largely during the intercommunal violence in 1963-4.
The CMP is not charged with addressing questions of guilt or
criminal wrongdoing, although its mandate has expanded over
time to include the recovery of remains and their return to
surviving family members.) Although the location has been
known for several years as a likely grave-site -- and listed
as such with the Committee -- the CMP launched its current
"emergency excavations" on the site after determining that a
planned construction project might disrupt the area and
prevent future successful exhumations. To date, the CMP has
listed approximately 185 confirmed burial sites in the north
and approximately 40 in the south.


3. (C) Turkish Cypriot "MFA" official and Deputy CMP member
Ahmet Erdengiz told us that the CMP bicommunal archaeological
and anthropological team had discovered 6 pelvic bones and 4
skulls at the bottom of a
30-foot deep abandoned water well on June 5. The remains are
thought to be those of Turkish Cypriots missing since the
intercommunal clashes of 1963 and 1964. The number of pelvic
bones discovered suggests that there were six bodies buried
at the site according to Erdengiz, who added that the Turkish
Cypriot side had expected there would be seven. DNA test
results are expected to confirm the identity of the bodies
when and if additional funding is received to continue with
the analysis of the remains. Observers expect this site will
be the first case of a Turkish Cypriot multiple grave to be
found in the south since the establishment of the CMP.


4. (C) The CMP has refrained from public comment on the dig
pending formal DNA results, although Erdengiz confided to us
that at least one of the victims (a Turkish Cypriot) already
had been "preliminarily" identified thanks to a piece of
jewelry found on the site with the remains. Erdengiz agreed
with the CMP's decision to hold back this information for
now, however, and pointed to previous identification
"mix-ups" involving stolen or misidentified jewelry found in
Greek Cypriot grave sites located in the north.


5. (C) Nonetheless, media in both communities have reported
extensively on the exhumations of these presumed Turkish
Cypriot bodies. Jennifer Wright, the UN official who is the
CMP's Acting Third Member pending the July 1 arrival of new
appointee Christophe Girod, told us "the Protaras exhumation
was not supposed to be a public one," but that journalists
had somehow found out and showed up at the site, "forcing CMP
to issue a public statement within days of the discovery."
She was nonetheless pleased that the press appeared to have
taken heed of Greek Cypriot CMP
Member Elias Georgiades' June 5 request that the media
refrain from further reporting on the issue "so as not to
disturb the feelings of the relatives of the missing."
Wright added that CMP members jointly agreed to avoid public
speculation regarding the number of remains found or their
possible identities until the DNA evaluation process
had been completed.

Plowing Ahead Despite Budget Worries
--------------


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6. (C) This exhumation represents one of the three
successful digs made by the CMP as a formal bicommunal team
since the Committee resumed serious work in late 2005. The
previously dormant CMP (inactive largely because of the
Denktash regime's uncooperative approach to investigations of
the Missing) was frozen at the Committee level for a period
prior to August 2004. "From August 2004 until December
2005, the attitude of both sides vis-a-vis the Committee
became more positive, with increased talks and agreed-upon
confidence building measures to move forward with the
exhumations," according to Wright. Since the end of 2005,
plans to design and define the actual Project phases,
establish who will be working in the scientific lab --
including a team from the UK-based forensics group INFORCE,
and determine equipment and personnel needs have been
completed, forcing everyone's "nose to the ground," according
to Wright. Remains for approximately 90 bodies have been
recovered in the "TRNC," according to various newspaper
articles. CMP experts expect they will be identified and
returned to their families for burial by 2011, contingent on
overcoming uncertainties due to the "commingling" of remains,
relocation of burial sites, and general obstacles with regard
to geological factors, setting a precedence in the 25-year
history of the CMP by successfully "closing" a case from
among the roughly 2000 missing from both communities.


7. (C) Nonetheless, the CMP is plagued with financial
problems, and Committee members and staff constantly warn
that a lack of money could derail the entire exercise.
Previous UN Third Member Pierre Guberan made sporadic and
disorganized pleas for money in 2005, when the increased pace
of exhumations and investigation placed new and sudden strain
on the budget of the historically inactive CMP. Donations
from the United Kingdom in the amounts of $50,000 in 2005 and
an additional 45,000 British Pounds earlier this year, along
with 100,000 Euros from Germany in March, and $150,000 each
recently pledged from Turkey and Greece have helped ease this
strain, but Committee insiders say that this will not be
enough to cover what they expect will be further expensive
exhumations and DNA tests.


8. (C) In a briefing for local diplomats on May 5, Committee
members asked for $13 million over the next three years -- $3
million of which they said was needed up front in 2006. This
money would cover their multi-phase "Project on the
Exhumation, Identification, and the Return of Remains of
Missing Persons in Cyprus" and allow them to "close" many
(although certainly not all) of the cases on their agenda.
In a subsequent meeting with us, Erdengiz noted that small
donations such as "$30,000 or $50,000 would be of no use"
because it was "logistically infeasible" to continue the
CMP's entire exhumation and identification mission on a
hand-to-mouth, shoe-string budget. He strongly encouraged
the United States to make a "hefty donation." Both Erdengiz
and Wright were quick to claim credit for the CMP's 1998
success of exhuming and identifying American citizen Andreas
Kassapis. Kassapis, who was of Greek Cypriot origin, was
killed in 1974 at the age of 16 and was one of the five
American Citizens' cases submitted to the CMP. (NOTE: The
CMP deserves little if any credit for the investigation into
Kassapis' disappearance, which was conducted by an
independent American team under the auspices of Ambassador
Robert Dillon.)


9. (C) Wright expressed similar thoughts on the need for
CMP funding, but was much more optimistic that donors --
including the communities themselves -- would step forward.
Thus far, the "TRNC" has contributed over $70,000, with the
ROC having contributed 200,000, not including additional
funding from each side towards investigations, personnel,
project preparation, and logistics. She reasoned that
because the CMP had made such progress, neither the Greek
Cypriot nor Turkish Cypriot leadership could "dash the
expectations of their respective communities by stating that
there is no further funding to continue." Wright noted that
on several occasions, CMP members have argued behind closed
doors that it was the duty of the Cypriots, and not the
international community, to pay for the CMP. The UN
supported this idea, she said, but "only up to a point."
Vigorous international donations were important to prevent
CMP from falling under the political influence of either
side. In order to maintain the Committee's independence, she
stated, it was best that the majority of funding be supplied
by the international community.


10. (C) Based on the assumption that "the money would
eventually come from somewhere," Wright told us that the CMP
was planning to begin new exhumations during a two-month
period beginning in August. These new exhumations would be
carefully planned to maintain a balance between recovery of
remains from both communities.

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Third Member On His Way
--------------


11. (C) The newly-appointed Third Member Christophe Girod,
whom Wright expects to arrive July 1, may provide new focus
and energy to the CMP -- not least in its efforts to raise
funds. She noted that one of Girod's first tasks will be "to
head to Brussels and lobby the EU for funding." Wright hoped
that although the EU has stated it would not have money
available for the CMP before 2007, the "high-brow and
articulate" Girod would be able to "push the EU bureaucracy"
and more generally "raise the prominence of the CMP in the
eyes of the international community."


12. (C) Meanwhile, press speculation (quietly confirmed to
us by sources in the UN and close to the two leaders) that
Girod's arrival will serve as the backdrop for the first
meeting between President Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot
leader Talat since 2004. Talat's advisors have expressed
concern that using the CMP as the backdrop for this meeting
could politicize the CMP, which has proven to be a
comparatively well functioning bicommunal undertaking.
Still, although the details of the meeting have yet to be
worked out, both leaders appear committed to meeting on the
occasion of Girod's arrival.

COMMENT
--------------


13. (C) The CMP is one of the few success stories in
relations between the two sides, which have been stuck in an
unproductive circle of mutual recrimination for two years.
Despite inevitable disagreements, Committee members claim to
work together in a spirit of pragmatic cooperation, which
they hope can serve as an example for how to handle Cyprus
settlement questions. Even if this goodwill does not spill
over into other arenas, the two leaders appear to have
accepted the CMP as a face-saving backdrop against which they
can meet for the first time since 2004.


14. (C) For this reason, and for the important humanitarian
goal of resolving the fate of the missing, Post continues to
support the work of the CMP. The USAID-funded,
UNDP-administered Action for Cooperation (ACT) project has
pledged up to $100,000 in support of the CMP. We must be
cautious as we consider how to reply to the CMP's repeated
requests for funding, however. The most recent budget
request submitted to potential donors was a heavily padded
wish-list that included plans to fund funerals -- complete
with a flower basket from the CMP -- for the dead and other
line items clearly outside the scope of the CMP's mandate.
Therefore, we plan to focus our contributions on tangible
items (i.e. a certain number of DNA tests) rather than on
general CMP budget support. Furthermore, we will encourage
other donors (including the EU and the communities
themselves, who have an even greater direct interest in
seeing the CMP succeed) to carry some of the load. END
COMMENT.
MILLER