Enclaved murder ‘was not political’

By Charlie Charalambous

THE CYPRUS government yesterday ruled out the possibility that last week’s murder of a Greek Cypriot enclaved man in the occupied north might have been politically motivated.

Government spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said the Greek Cypriot side had received information which made clear the murder of 69-year-old Stelios Charpas had no political connotations.

“Based on the findings we possess, we have reached the conclusion the murder wasn’t political,” Papapetrou said yesterday.

The only political aspect, he said, “stemmed from the failure of the occupation authorities to secure conditions of safety for the enclaved.”

Fears had been expressed that last week’s murder might have been a tit-for- tat attack following the attempted arson on a Turkish Cypriot holy shrine, the Hala Sultan Tekke, in Larnaca on August 29.

An unknown Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation claimed responsibility for the Tekke arson.

The number of enclaved Greek Cypriots in the occupied areas is dwindling, with only 440 mainly elderly villagers still living in the Karpass peninsula.

“We support the heroic efforts of the enclaved to remain in the Karpass,” said Papapetrou at his press briefing.

The government has yet to receive the UN report on Charpas’ murder.

“After taking certain steps towards this direction, we hope to receive it very soon,” the spokesman said.

On August 31, the charred remains of the Greek Cypriot were found in his burnt-out car.

Autopsies carried out by Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot pathologists concluded Charpas was shot twice in the head before his body was set alight.

According to the Turkish Cypriot press, seven of the eight suspects arrested have since been release without charge. One Turkish Cypriot man remains in police custody as a murder suspect.