EMOTION OF FIRST RETURNS OF MISSING PERSONS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000595 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: CY UNFICYP PHUM PGOV SUBJECT: EMOTION OF FIRST RETURNS OF MISSING PERSONS THREATENS TO POLITICIZE FUTURE HANDOVERS REF: A. NICOSIA 583 ¶B. NICOSIA 506 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The UN Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in Cyprus has returned to family members the remains of 28 Cypriots missing from the 1963 to 1974 period of intercommunal conflict. The remains of all 13 Turkish Cypriots were buried in an elaborate and emotional July 12 military ceremony. Four of the 15 Greek Cypriots have been buried in quiet, individual family services since July 8; the remaining 11 are expected to be buried soon. A second set of about 30 remains is scheduled to be handed over to families by the end of July. Despite the nationalist flair of the Turkish Cypriot ceremony, the missing persons issue has remained mostly apolitical. However, additional funerals and possible separate meetings at the CMP by Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat could alter the situation. Any politicization of the handovers would endanger the CMP's delicately-balanced bicommunal mission. End summary. -------------- -- CMP: "AMAZINGLY SLOW, BUT AMAZINGLY SUCCESSFUL" -------------- -- ¶2. (U) Composed of one representative each from the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities in addition to one UN "Third Member," the CMP has been working since April 2006 to identify the remains of persons missing from the 1963 to 1974 period of intercommunal conflict in Cyprus. Because of the level of cooperation and its results, commentators have hailed the project as one of the few bicommunal successes on the island. As of June 12, the CMP had positively identified 28 Cypriots (15 Greek Cypriots and 13 Turkish Cypriots) through genetic testing and anthropological investigations (reftel B). The CMP began notifying relatives of the missing on June 28, and many families proceeded swiftly to the CMP's temporary "Family Viewing Facility" in the UN Buffer Zone to reclaim remains. CMP Third Member Christophe Girod reported to Poloffs July 13 that approximately half of the Turkish Cypriot families and all of the Greek Cypriot families have come to view their loved ones; the other Turkish Cypriot families were content merely to receive the remains. The first handovers commenced the week of July 2. The first funeral was for a Greek Cypriot on July 8; all of the identified Greek Cypriots are expected to be buried by July ¶17. All 13 Turkish Cypriot remains were returned and buried July 12. ¶3. (SBU) The CMP's timetable has steadily lengthened over the past year, but the committee's work persists on schedule in terms of the total number of missing persons returned. In Girod's words, the process has been "amazingly slow, but amazingly successful." Although he had anticipated the exhumation of about 100 remains by this point, Girod also had expected the CMP Anthropological Laboratory to identify successfully only one out of every three remains. To date, the lab has identified positively all 60 exhumed remains except for two Greek Cypriot cousins, whom scientists have been unable to differentiate. This rapid progress sparked the CMP to request that the lab slow its work because of the emotional strain placed on Girod and his staff, who accompany families at all viewings. So far, the CMP has mandated the release of the approximately 60 identified remains in two batches of about 30 each. According to Girod, exhumations continue to progress well at sites near Lakatamia, Limassol and Protaras. -------------- A "MISSED OPPORTUNITY" -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In line with their mutual understanding not to politicize the humanitarian work of the CMP, Talat and Papadopoulos have remained mostly on the sidelines of the missing persons issue for the past year, but possibly not for much longer. Two months ago, Girod initially proposed a simultaneous meeting of the two leaders at the CMP, to which neither party responded positively. On July 5, Papadopoulos suddenly changed his stance and proposed, through Girod, to meet with Talat to tour the CMP lab, an offer that Talat immediately refused because he claimed doing so would politicize the CMP's work (reftel A). Consequently, NICOSIA 00000595 002 OF 003 Papadopoulos met unilaterally with the CMP on July 16. Girod called the failed bilateral meeting a "missed opportunity," but he believe that Papadopoulos's visit, might spur Talat to seek his own separate meeting. -------------- -- MILITARY CEREMONY FOR TURKISH CYPRIOT "MARTYRS" -------------- -- ¶5. (U) In accordance with Muslim tradition to bury the deceased on the same day the body is received, all 13 missing Turkish Cypriots were buried July 12, just two hours after their families gathered their remains. The "martyrs," who all came from the village of Aleminyo near Larnaca and died together on July 20, 1974, were treated to a full military ceremony, with Turkish and "TRNC" flags draped on each coffin. "TRNC President" Talat, Turkish "Ambassador" Turkekul Kurttekin, Turkish Cypriot Peace Forces Commander Hayri Kivrikoglu and other "government officials" attended the ceremony, though as personal invitees of the families and not in any official capacity. The sole speaker was Kudret Ozersay, an international law professor at Eastern Mediterranean University (and 2007 IV grantee) whose father and three uncles were buried at the funeral. Ozersay told the crowd of about 300 mourners that the killing of the 13 in Aleminyo "trampled all moral and normative rules," but that from "this crime against humanity, we came out as conscious, alert and sober youth, not blindly hateful, but instead dedicated not to let anyone live through what we have." ¶6. (SBU) The CMP Assistant Turkish Cypriot Member Ahmet Erdengiz told Poloff July 13 that "everything went like clockwork" during the ceremony. He explained the military ceremony was the desire of the families, a much better alternative than a "state funeral" that would have resembled a warlike parade and involved "government officials" and security forces making speeches. Erdengiz put blame for nationalist misuse of the scene on UBP Chairman Tahsin Ertugruoglu, who has advocated "state" honors at every opportunity and criticized the Turkish Cypriot leadership for not properly respecting the "martyrs." Though Erdengiz reiterated that the authorities would remain "vigilant" on any exploitation of the families' grief, he predicted the War Veterans and Relatives of Martyrs Association would likely succeed in ensuring that every subsequent funeral would be a military ceremony like this one. The Association's head, Ertan Ersan, is notoriously nationalistic and well-connected with relatives of the missing; he was reportedly able to persuade several unconvinced families into acquiescing to this military ceremony. ¶7. (SBU) Reaction to the funeral in the press fell along predictable lines. The left-leaning daily Yeniduzen applauded Ozersay's peaceful speech and called for the Turkish Cypriot public to exhibit equally "mature" responses, while the right-wing newspapers lamented the suffering of the 13 "martyrs." -------------- GREEK CYPRIOTS' QUIET REACTION -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In stark contrast to the Turkish Cypriot ceremony, Greek Cypriot families quietly have collected and buried the remains of their missing relatives, with very little public fanfare. The first funeral was held privately on July 8, and another followed unannounced, in accordance with the family's wishes for total privacy. Church of Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos II officiated at a third funeral July 14, where Democratic Party leader Marios Karoyian read the eulogy, and the Metropolitan of Kitium Bishop Chrysostomos presided over a fourth funeral July 15, where Minister of Justice and Public Order Sophocles Sophocleous delivered the eulogy. Several hundred friends and relatives attended each, but despite the presence of high-profile clergy and politicians, both funerals were solemn, apolitical affairs devoid of any accusations leveled at the Turkish Cypriots. Nicos Theodossiou, President of the Committee of Relatives of Undeclared Prisoners of War and Missing Persons, told Poloff July 16 that he expected the remaining 11 families of identified missing persons to seek similar dignified ceremonies without excessive publicity. Theodossiou attributed these families' reactions to the smooth NICOSIA 00000595 003 OF 003 continuation of the exhumations and good spirit of cooperation within the CMP. Aside from basic factual reporting of the two weekend burials, the Greek Cypriot press has reflected the perspectives of the families and been largely silent in covering the handovers. -------------- DICIER HANDOVERS, FUNERALS TO COME -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The second round of about 30 handovers from the original 60 will commence by the end of July, after which, Girod said, the CMP's work likely will become more difficult. The first set of remains were deliberately chosen because they were fairly complete skeletons that would require less testing, and the first notifications were selected because CMP members knew many of the families. Greek Cypriot CMP Member Elias Georgiades commented June 25 to PolChief that, at the behest of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot members, the CMP also decided to deliver the first handovers to moderate families unlikely to seek public grandstanding (reftel A). Furthermore, the handovers have coincided well with the Cypriot calendar, coming just before the island effectively shuts down in August for summer vacations, which Girod believed would help smooth over any heated reactions. However, many of the remains now set for identification are not complete skeletons and will require more testing, with the associated increases in time and expense. Additionally, families now will be notified in the order in which the remains are identified, with some relatives possibly demanding "justice" or "vengeance" against the respective other side. Girod noted that the CMP would continue to comply completely with family members' requests, even should they opt for "state funerals" that would assuredly strike more nationalist tones. -------------- -------------- COMMENT: INCREASING POLITICS COULD POLARIZE ISSUE, HAMSTRING CMP -------------- -------------- ¶10. (SBU) Although the Turkish Cypriot leadership maintains that the military ceremony did not exploit the families' grief, its highly nationalistic character and the mere presence of political figures would suggest otherwise, especially given Talat's simultaneous refusal of Papadopoulos's offer to meet jointly at the CMP. Nonetheless, given the significance of the first returns of missing persons, Talat could not have turned down an appearance at the funeral (even though he visibly looked as though he would rather not have been there); to have done so would have made him fall into a political trap set by his nationalist and military enemies. With the continuing success of the CMP and the need to ensure its future funding from abroad, neither leader is likely to grandstand too much: the electoral climate is pushing Papadopoulos toward bicommunal progress; Talat, unless totally cornered by the Turkish General Staff, has much to lose by even appearing to instigate anti-solution sentiments. The problem for both leaders will be continuing to ignore the voices that seek to use the handovers to press greater nationalistic themes within their respective communities. Those voices are sure to grow stronger as long as the emotions of these funerals remain in the public eye. End comment. SCHLICHER