Solomos Solomou (1970 – 14 August 1996), was a Greek Cypriot

Greek Cypriots

Greek Cypriots are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community at 77% of the population. Greek Cypriots are mostly members of the Church of Cyprus, an autocephalous Greek Orthodox Church within the wider communion of Orthodox Christianity...

 refugee who was killed after being shot five times by Turkish forces while trying to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone

United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus

The United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus runs for more than along what is known as the Green Line and has an area of . The zone partitions the island of Cyprus into a southern area effectively controlled by the government of the Republic of Cyprus , and the northern area...

 near Deryneia, Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. The killing occurred in the aftermath of the funeral of Solomou's cousin Tassos Isaac, who was also killed a few days earlier by Turkish nationalists

Turkish nationalism

Turkish nationalism is a political ideology that promotes and glorifies the Turkish people, as either a national, ethnic or linguistic group and puts the interests of the state over other influences, including religious ones.-Pan-Turkism:...

 belonging to the militant Grey Wolves

Grey Wolves

The Idealist Youth , commonly known as Grey Wolves , is an ultra-nationalist neo-fascist youth organization. It is accused of terrorism. According to Turkish authorities, the organization carried out 694 murders between 1974–1980.-Name:...

 organization.

Early life

Solomos Solomou was originally from the town of Famagusta

Famagusta

Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island.-Name:...

 (Ammohostos), which fell under the control of the Turkish military as a result of the Turkish invasion

Turkish invasion of Cyprus

The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...

 of 1974. Like hundreds of thousands of other Cypriots, Solomou and his family became internally displaced person

Internally displaced person

An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. At the end of 2006 it was estimated there were...

s. They fled to the nearby town of Paralimni

Paralimni

Paralimni is a town situated in the South East of Cyprus, a little way inland, within the Famagusta District. Since the Turkish invasion and occupation of the Republic of Cyprus in 1974, it has increased in size and status, due to the migration of many refugees fleeing from the North...

, where he grew up with other Greek Cypriot refugees.

Death during 1996 demonstrations

Following the funeral of Tassos Isaac, who was beaten to death by a Turkish mob in the UN buffer zone three days earlier, a group of unarmed Greek Cypriots re-entered the area where Isaac was murdered in order to demonstrate against his unlawful killing.

Among these demonstrators was Solomou who was a second cousin of Isaac. At around 2:20 pm, Solomou distanced himself from the rest of the demonstrators and walked towards a Turkish military post in Deryneia. With a cigarette in his mouth, Solomou climbed the flagpole with the intention of removing the Turkish flag but was shot by Turkish soldiers three times; in the mouth, in the neck and in the stomach. The whole scene was taped by bystanding journalists and was seen on live television. Solomou's funeral was held on the 16 August in Paralimni, among thousands of people and an official Cypriot day of mourning.

A few days after the killings of Isaac and Solomou, the then Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Simitis

Costas Simitis

Konstantinos Simitis , usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis, was Prime Minister of Greece and leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement from 1996 to 2004.- Biography :...

 visited Cyprus and together with the then President of Cyprus, Glafcos Clerides, visited the homes of the families of the two cousins.

For her part, the then Turkish foreign minister Tansu Çiller

Tansu Çiller

Tansu Penbe Çiller is a Turkish economist and politician. She was Turkey's first and only female Prime Minister.- Early career :She is the daughter of a Turkish governor of Bilecik province during the 1950s. She graduated from the School of Economics at Robert College after finishing the American...

, who also visited Cyprus a few days after Isaac and Solomou were killed, addressed a rally saying that Turks would "break the hands" of anyone who insulted their flag.

Identification of perpetrators

According to Cyprus Police, Solomou's killers were identified using photographic evidence as Kenan Akin and Erdal Haciali Emanet, respectively the first Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the second Chief of Special Forces in Northern Cyprus. Warrants were issued by the Republic of Cyprus for their arrest and that of three others: Attila Sav, Chief of Police of Northern Cyprus, Hasan Kundakci, Lt. Gen. of the Turkish Cypriot Security Force

Military of Northern Cyprus

The Turkish Cypriot Security Force is the military and security force of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, whose independence is recognized only by Turkey and the United Nations considers to be a Turkish-Occupied territory....

 and Mehmet Karli, Maj. Gen. of the Turkish Army

Turkish Army

The Turkish Army or Turkish Land Forces is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The modern history of the army began with its formation after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire...

. In October 2004, Kenan Akin, wanted by Interpol

Interpol

Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

 for the murder of Solomou, admitted he had pulled the trigger, but accused the former Turkish Military Commander Halil Sadrazam as the person who gave the order. Sadrazam denied the accusation. Akin was later arrested in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

 on unrelated smuggling charges. He was later released by the Turkish authorities despite being wanted for murder by Interpol, prompting a question on Turkey's judicial cooperation by Dimitrios Papadimoulis

Dimitrios Papadimoulis

Dimitrios Papadimoulis is a Greek politician and former Member of the European Parliament for Synaspismos as a member of the European United Left-Nordic Green Left. Since 2009 he serves as a MP for the Greek parliament....

, a left-wing

Left-wing politics

In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...

 Greek member of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

.

British Soldiers Wounded

During this demonstration, two British soldiers on UN duties, Bombardier

Bombardier (rank)

Bombardier is a rank used in artillery units in the armies of Commonwealth countries instead of corporal. Lance-bombardier is used instead of lance-corporal....

 Neil Emery and Gunner

Gunner (rank)

Gunner is a rank equivalent to Private in the British Army Royal Artillery and the artillery corps of other Commonwealth armies. The next highest rank is usually Lance-Bombardier, although in the Royal Canadian Artillery it is Bombardier....

 Jeff Hudson (39 Regiment Royal Artillery), were wounded.

Aftermath

The photo of Solomou climbing the Turkish flagpole has often been used as symbol of protest against Turkey's military occupation of northern Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

. Solomou's courage was praised by a number of Greek politicians, and several prominent Greek composers and singers dedicated their songs to him. Dionysis Savvopoulos

Dionysis Savvopoulos

Dionysis Savvopoulos is a Greek music composer, lyricist and singer.He was born in Thessaloniki. In 1963 he moved to Athens, terminating his law studies in favour of his career in music...

 dedicated Odi sto Georgio Karaiskaki

Georgios Karaiskakis

Georgios Karaiskakis born Georgios Iskos was a famous Greek klepht, armatolos, military commander, and a hero of the Greek War of Independence.- Early life :...

, Dimitris Mitropanos

Dimitris Mitropanos

Dimitris Mitropanos is a Greek singer. He is renowned for his mastery of Laïkó, a Greek music style.-Biography:Mitropanos lived in his native city of Trikala in northwest Thessaly until the age of 16, beginning his musical career in 1964....

 and Thanos Mikroutsikos

Thanos Mikroutsikos

Athanasios Mikroutsikos was born in Patras, Greece and is one of the leading composers of popular and classical music in his home country. He studied music theory and piano at the Patras Philharmonic Society and at the Greek Conservatory and continued under Yiannis A. Papaioannou...

 dedicated Panta gelastoi and Stelios Rokkos dedicated Gia to Solomo Solomou. Two sources also cited the Turkish singer-composer Zülfü Livaneli

Zülfü Livaneli

Ömer Zülfü Livanelioğlu is a popular Turkish folk musician , a novelist, newspaper columnist and a film director who has been highly popular for decades...

 as having sung in an on-the-spot concert in Solomou's memory, particularly his famous song Yiğidim aslanım burda yatıyor, but the singer issued a polite denial, stating "he was yet to go to Deryneia". The 2009 Notis Sfakianakis song Itan Trellos from the album Matomeno Dakry directly deals with Solomou's death and the ongoing Turkish occupation of Cyprus.

He is considered a national hero in Greece and Cyprus, where he is often referred to as a "hero-martyr" .
On 24 June 2008, the European Court of Human Rights

European Court of Human Rights

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...

ruled in favour of Solomou's family in the case of "Solomou and others v. Turkey".

External links

• CNN report
• HRI Report with video of the killing
• United Nations Press Briefing