Olgac and opportunity for reconciliation

The Turkish Cypriot Human Rights Foundation (TCHRF) has been following with keen interest the developments over the past 2 weeks sparked off by the statement of the Turkish actor Atilla Olgaç. The allegations in Olgaç’s statement that he killed 10 people including a prisoner during the 1974 conflict has given rise to very widespread and strong reactions. Evidently, the instigation of an effective investigation into these allegations in response to the demands for such is not going to be sufficient. Just as the allegations were publicised through the media, similarly, the outcome of such investigation must be shared with the public in such a way as to eliminate all doubts.
 
For many years now, the Greek Cypriots have been exerting great efforts in  international fora against the Republic of Turkey whom they hold responsible for the harm (tragedy) they suffered during the 1974 events, demanding information on the fate of missing and dead Greek Cypriots. The strong humanitarian aspect of these efforts which have been intensified in both the political and legal spheres must not be disregarded.
At the same time, it must be remembered that the events in Cyprus have caused at least as much suffering to Turkish Cypriots as to Greek Cypriots. Between the years 1963 – 1974, many Turkish Cypriots in the territories under the effective control of the Greek Cypriot Admninstration (“The Republic of Cyprus”) were murdered or dissappeared.  It is tragic that the sensitivity being shown for the fate of the missing and dead Greek Cypriots has never been shown towards the Turkish Cypriots who died or disappeared whilst under the responsibility of the Greek Cypriot Administration.  The most striking example of this relates to the incident in 1974 where 84 civilian Turkish Cypriot men from Taşkent (Dohni) and Teraziköy (Zygy) were rounded up, shot and buried in a mass grave. A Greek Cypriot man has confessed to a newspaper about his role in this crime just as Olgaç has done. Unlike Olgaç however, he did not feel the need to retract or deny his initial statements. Unfortunately, despite the repeated calls and written applications by the relatives of the victims, the Greek Cypriot Administration has not felt the need to start (initiate) or finalise an investigation concerning this matter.

The most important element of the notion of Human Rights is its universality. If Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots deny providing others the human rights that they so strongly demand for themselves, they will be imlementing a double standard completely inconsistent with the notion of Human Rights. There is a need to reminded ourselves of this especially at a time when full fledged negotiations continue in order to find a lasting peace for Cyprus. If the parties adopt an approach that is inconsistent with the concept of universality of Human Rights, raising issues related only to their own dead and missing persons and remain insensitive to the rights of the other party, then it will be far more difficult to achieve peace on our island.

As the TCHRF, we believe that, even though not yet verified through judicial process, the discussion surrounding Olgaç’s allegations which have caused protest and digust (disgust) in us all may lead to a new positive development which may (might) contribute to finding (true) peace.  In order to reach a deep and lasting peace between the two communities in Cyprus, all sides have to confront not just their own suffering but also their contribution to the suffering of others irrespective of religion, language and ethnic origin. The time has come to discuss in greater depth effective and constructive processes or mechanisms which can help relieve the suffering of those who still have no information about the fate of their loved ones and which can also help all sides to come to terms with their contribution to the events that caused such suffering.

Emine Erk
Chairerson of the Board of Trustees of TCHRF