A MASS rally to demand the release of Greek Cypriot contractor Panikos Tsiakourmas — abducted by the occupation regime on December 13 — is to be held in Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square this afternoon.
The 4pm rally, organised by Tsiakourmas’ family, is planned for a few hours after the 39-year-old Greek Cypriot is due to appear before a ‘court’ in the north on cannabis smuggling charges.
The abducted man’s wife, Niki, yesterday secured the support of all political parties for the rally. “I must thank the parties for the support they are showing. This is an issue that concerns all Cypriots and not just my family – if it was not Panicos it would be someone else (being held by the Turks),” Niki said after a morning meeting with party leaders.
“At tomorrow’s pan-Cyprian rally, we will demand the immediate release of my husband as, at this moment, an innocent man is rotting in the dungeons of (Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf) Denktash,” Niki added.
The government has rejected an occupation regime offer to release Tsiakourmas in a “swap” deal for a Turkish Cypriot heroin smuggling suspect currently on trial before a Larnaca court. Tsiakourmas was abducted from within the British base of Dhekelia a few days after Cyprus police arrested Turkish Cypriot suspect Omer Tekogul near Pyla.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
