This year marks the 30th anniversary of the cowardly murder of Tasos Isaac, and the perpetrators still remain unpunished.
Tassos Isaac, 24, was murdered on August 11, 1996, during an anti-occupation rally in the buffer zone in Deryneia.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Isaac was participating in a motorcycle rally that had set out from Berlin bound for occupied Kyrenia. On August 11, 1996, when a group of motorcyclists arrived at the buffer zone in Deryneia, clashes broke out between the protesters and Turkish Cypriots, as well as Turkish nationalists, including members of the “Grey Wolves.”
During the clashes, Tassos Isaac, while trying to help another protester who was being beaten by the Turks, became trapped inside the buffer zone and fell to the ground. A group of protesters tried to free him, while men on the other side of the barbed wire were striking him with batons, stones, and other objects. The beating continued for quite some time, even as members of the United Nations peacekeeping force were present in the area.
Isaac sustained serious injuries and was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. According to the case file, the cause of death was strangulation, and the murder was documented in photographs and videos, which served as key evidence in identifying the perpetrators.
The murder of Tassos Isaac sparked strong reactions in Cyprus and internationally. A few days later, on August 14, 1996, Solomos Solomou was also murdered in Deryneia when he attempted to climb the flagpole to take down a Turkish flag.
The International Arrest Warrants and the ECHR Ruling
On November 22, 1996, the Cyprus Police issued international arrest warrants for five individuals identified as having been involved in the murder of Tassos Isaac: Hasim Yilmaz, Neifel Mustafa Ergun, Polat Fikret Koreli, Mehmet Mustafa Arslan, and Erhan Arikli. The names of these five individuals are also included in the case file examined by the ECHR.
Hasim Yilmaz was referred to as a settler and former MIT official; Neifel Mustafa Ergun as a settler from Turkey and a “police officer” of the pseudo-state; Polat Fikret Koreli as a Turkish Cypriot from Famagusta, Mehmet Mustafa Arslan as a Turkish settler and leader of the “Grey Wolves” in the occupied territories; and Erhan Arikli as a Turkish settler from the former Soviet Union. Arikli was arrested in 2012 in Kyrgyzstan but was released and not extradited to the Republic of Cyprus.
On June 24, 2008, the European Court of Human Rights, in the case of Isaak v. Turkey, ruled that Turkey had violated Article 2 of the European Convention, both with regard to the substantive protection of the right to life and with regard to the obligation to conduct an effective investigation into Isaak’s death. The Court found, among other things, that the Turkish authorities had failed to investigate the case effectively or to ensure that those responsible were punished, and awarded monetary compensation to Isaac’s family.
