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.

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CMP: "AMAZINGLY SLOW, BUT AMAZINGLY SUCCESSFUL"
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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.

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A "MISSED OPPORTUNITY"
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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,

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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.

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MILITARY CEREMONY FOR TURKISH CYPRIOT "MARTYRS"
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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."

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GREEK CYPRIOTS' QUIET REACTION
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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.

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DICIER HANDOVERS, FUNERALS TO COME
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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.

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COMMENT: INCREASING POLITICS COULD POLARIZE ISSUE, HAMSTRING
CMP
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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