By Charlie Charalambous
ATTORNEY-GENERAL Alecos Markides said yesterday that the Cypriot passport found on captured Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan was definitely forged, but could not rule out that it had originally belonged to journalist Lazaros Mavros.
And Markides conceded that he was still “in the dark” about what had really happened, because Mavros has failed to answer police questions.
“In the course of the investigation, police questioned Mr Mavros, but he refused to answer any questions, which is his right,” Markides told a news conference yesterday.
He added: “an extensive search by investigators did not lead to the discovery of the passport.”
Although Mavros failed to produce his passport, Markides said this was not an offence under the law.
“Failing to produce your ID is illegal, but not your passport. There is a vacuum in the law of which I was unaware.”
The Attorney-general said the passport was definitely a fake in the sense that Ocalan’s picture had been pasted where that of the holder, Mavros, should have been.
“On July 10, 1995, the Cyprus authorities legally issued a passport to Lazaros Mavros with the number C015918. There is no doubt that that passport was issued legally with the picture of Mr Mavros.”
The passport number is the same as that on the ‘Ocalan passport’.
Despite an exhaustive investigation by police, Markides said there was no admissible evidence to suggest that an offence had been committed by anyone in Cyprus.
“The criminal investigation in the free territories of Cyprus should be deemed exhausted, but the whole investigation is incomplete.”
Markides said Cypriot experts would need to travel to Turkey to examine the passport before the whole story was known.
“Clearly, in view of the political situation, it is not possible to go to Turkey and find out,” said Markides.
“I am in the dark about what really happened,” he admitted.
He was unhappy with the initial police report he received on Thursday and gave fresh orders for a further investigation.
CID investigators yesterday afternoon handed over the additional information on claims that Mavros’ Cypriot passport had come into the hands of captured Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
It was also confirmed yesterday that Mavros had not reported his passport stolen or missing to the police before Turkish television displayed it to the world on Tuesday.
Ankara’s political time-bomb has been met with a stoic response from the government.
“President Clerides is not concerned about the issue harming the credibility of the Republic,” government spokesman Christos Stylianides said yesterday.
The government has steadfastly rubbished any accusation that it might have issued Ocalan with a diplomatic passport, but said all legal procedures would be taken to find out exactly what had happened.
Claims by Kenyan officials that Ocalan had travelled with another Cypriot passport in the name of Aristos Aristidou, when he arrived in Nairobi on February 2, have been dismissed.
Mavros is a popular television and Radio presenter and is vice-president of the Cyprus-Kurdistan Solidarity Committee.
The father-of-three took up the pro-Kurdish mantle in Cyprus after fellow activist Theophilos Georgiades was shot down by masked gunmen outside his Nicosia home on March 20, 1994.
The Cyprus government blamed the killing on the Turkish secret service (MIT). The culprits were never found.
Cyprus intelligence fears Mavros could also be a target for MIT hit men because of his high-profile pro-Kurdish activities. He is understood to enjoy special protection.
