THE TURKISH actor who confessed to murdering a 19-year-old Greek Cypriot prisoner of war in 1974 will be investigated by Turkish authorities in accordance with the Geneva Convention of Prisoners of War.
Attila Olgac became a diplomatic embarrassment to his country and created a political scandal after his admission on live television last week will be investigated by the Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul’s Bakirkoy district, according to yesterday’s Turkish press reports.
The Istanbul prosecutor, Ali Cakir, told Reuters he launched the investigation under the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, to which Turkey is party.
If evidence of wrongdoing emerges, the dossier will be sent to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, he said.
Such a move would make him the first Turkish citizen to be tried in this court.
In the meantime, simultaneous statements made by Turkish Prime Minister Tayipp Erdogan contradicted reports regarding such a probe.
Speaking to reporters at Ankara airport before flying to Davos to participate in the World Economic Summit, Erdogan said: “Turkey is not going to take any action regarding the issue of the Turkish actor Attila Olgac.”
Asked whether the Turkish government was going to do anything, he said: “Since the actor has retracted his statement and said it was a script, we cannot do anything.”
But as far as Cyprus is concerned “it is an issue”, said President Demetris Christofias, after he was asked to comment on Erdogan’s statement.
In fact the government plans to exploit the issue by filing an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights over Olgac’s claims to clarify the fate of the missing. It also plans to raise the issue with the Council of Europe’s Permanent Members in the framework of the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus against Turkey.
Olgac’s confession had no place during yesterday’s direct talks between Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehemet Ali Talat and was never brought up, Christofias said.
“We didn’t discuss such a matter and nor do I want to involve Mr Talat in these discussions. It is not part of the whole issue. This is about invasion, occupation and crimes that were committed during the invasion… Is this an issue that concerns both communities or an issue between the Cyprus Republic and Turkey?” the president said.
Last Thursday Olgac shocked Cyprus, Greece and Turkey when he claimed in a television breakfast show to have killed an unarmed Greek Cypriot POW and nine others during the 1974 invasion. Twenty-four hours later he retracted his confession and said he had confused reality with a war film script he was working on.
Refugee committee to meet over Olgac claims
THE HOUSE Refugee Committee Chairman will today meet with the House speaker to discuss proposals regarding what steps parliament will undertake, in co-operation with the government, on the issue of the missing.
The decision was made during yesterday’s committee meeting and follows Turkish actor Attila Olgac’s recent confession that he killed 10 Greek Cypriots in 1974.
Aristophanes Georgiou said the committee would act decisively and demand that Turkey and the orchestrators or executors of war crimes be held accountable.
“One of which was Attila Olgac,” he said.
“Whatever is possible will be done to secure a statement or evidence or testimony.”
Georgiou did not want to go into further detail about how it planned to go about achieving something like that so as not to allow Turkey to make a move before Cyprus did or to block any steps it might take.
The AKEL deputy was speaking to reporters following yesterday’s committee meeting. The two-hour meeting was held behind closed doors and included the participation of Attorney-general Petros Clerides.
Georgiou said determining the fate of the missing was and always had been the committee’s priority.
Olgac’s confession regarding “the cold blooded murder of prisoners of war on the instructions of officers of the Turkish army” had not only devastated the relatives of the missing but had also horrified Europe at large, he said.
As chairman of the Refugee Committee, Georgiou said he had already prepared a series of measures that parliament must take with respect to this case. These proposals were added to by other committee members and would be put to Marios Garoyian during the pair’s meeting today, he said.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou said yesterday that Olgac’s confession had to be investigated. He questioned whether the actor had retracted his statement because it was untrue or because he was frightened, pressured or realised its severity.
“Either way it must be investigated,” he said.
Kyprianou also said Turkey had to comply with the decision of the Fourth Interstate Application of Cyprus against Turkey and co-operate to determine the fate of the missing and the circumstances under which they disappeared or were killed.
“This is a humanitarian and not a political issue, but the efforts cannot be limited to the role of the Committee of Missing Persons which is the recognition and identification of remains,” he said.
