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Pauline Read on Who took Papadopolous’ body and killed the Sigma TV Managing Director?
First it was graffiti found scrawled on walls all the way from the Ledra Street crossing to the Presidential Palace and then the theft of President Papadopolous’ body from his grave and finally the assassination of Andis Hadjicostis, the managing director of Sigma TV.
In every case, Turkish or Turkish Cypriot criminals quickly became suspects and the disruption of the Cyprus Talks the motive. In Cyprus Today (5/12/2009) the GC police were certain that the graffiti was the work of people “almost definitely from the north.” Then when it came to the theft of Papadopolous’ body, former GC foreign minister, Giorgos Lillikas, was quick to announce:
“The people who did this, on the anniversary of his death and the eve of the memorial service, wanted to send a message to Cypriot Hellenism – that they had eliminated the symbol which embodied the resistance of Cypriot Hellenism to catastrophic plans.”
Then we have a London Daily News editorial [1] pointing to Turkey as the source of the Sigma TV’s assassins and saying that “summary intelligence sources contacted by the London Daily News indicate that there has been a sustained and co-coordinated attempt by Turkey in Cyprus to mix things up.” Well, mixed up is certainly the right term to describe their conclusions.
The only problems is that the links between these events are confusing. The graffiti and the theft of the ex-President’s body might make sense as an attempt to scupper the talks but the assassination of the anti-settlement [1] MD of Sigma TV does not. Why kill someone who is going to use the media to persuade GCs to vote NO if there was a referendum?
If these events were linked then there may be an explanation much closer to home. In the case of the theft of the body, Cyprus Mail [2] is quoted as saying that in the initial investigation, “three young men serving in the National Guard were taken in for questioning by the cops but were subsequently released as they all had alibis.” Why on earth would the National Guard become involved? The Guardian’s coverage of the assassination added one small piece of information, missing in other accounts: “no shell casings were found at the scene.” A sign of professional assassins who knew that these casings would easily identify the weapon used and who had plenty of time to collect them. The plot thickens.
Sources
[1] The London Daily News
[2] Cyprus Mail
[3] Guardian
Indeed, the plot thickens.
Incidently, I beieve that the reason no shell casings were found at the scene of the shooting may have been more to do with the fact that Mr. Hadjicostis was probably shot with a double-barreled shotgun, which doesn’t eject its casings until the gun is “broken”.
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How can these three separate incidents be linked? Seems rather far fetched to me.
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There are many scenarios and people cannot even agree on the motives, let alone on who is behind it. I personally believe that all incidents are interconnected, nevertheless it is not clear what whoever is behind it is trying to achieve.
It could be GC supporters of “NO” in an effort to shock people, convince them that “outside powers are trying to bend our resistance” and in general convince more people to go with them.
It could be GC supporters of “YES” who might believe that actions like this will help their cause, especially by getting rid of a media tycoon who would most likely support “NO” in a future referendum.
Turkey, or in fact any of the “usual suspects”, could be behind these incidents as well in an effort to destabilize RoC or to help the “YES” or the “NO” camps and in general to further their own agendas.
The fact is that nobody knows even the “expected result” of these actions as they could result in anything depending on how they are perceived by people.
The only thing that cannot be disputed is that it is a very sad situation for which I, as a Cypriot, I am not proud of.
PS. Vaughan is right, they used a double-barreled shotgun, a sign of amatuer assasins, which explains why shells were not found.
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A very reasonable and restrained analysis, Kyri.
I’m not sure as a Cypriot you need to feel ashamed, for it could in my opinion just as easily have been the work of a Greek or a Turk, or even, although less likely, a totally personal and non-political attack.
In any event, it was an obscene act, as are all such cowardly and abhorrent slayings, and I have no hesitation in declaring myself completely pro-capital punishment for the perpetrators, whoever in hell they may be.
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Hector, the only link seems to be that some newspapers allege, without evidence, that TCs or Turks are behind all the incidents. In the first case it was the reported words of a police officer, the second case the reported words of a former GC foreign minister and in the most recent case it was the editor of The London Daily News.
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Vaughan’s explanation makes more sense, I’m only familiar with shotguns which eject the shell casing – dolt!
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Ooouuuppsss, what had happened to source number ’1′,London Daily News. What I see is, it is not there anymore. How about an appology for that unfair, missinformed, rubbish article.
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How about an apology for accusing NCFP of misinformation? You’ll find a reference to the full article at http://www.news.yasmos.com/archive/doc.php?id=22534. The point of the NCFP article was to expose a set of rubbish articles including The London Daily News article (the reason it was removed was that it was proved wrong) which pointed to Turkey and TCs for “Cyprus is Turkish” grafitti, stealing the President’s body and then the assassination.
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Malcolm, my words were only for ‘The London Daily News ‘. I have no reason at all to critisize NCFP for this article. Articles on NCFP have always been good balanced by providing information with more then one directions. This article here is well written and I do see the point of the article very well. Thanks to NCFP and to Dominic.
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Sorry OOOPPSS, or should I write, oooppss OOOPPSS, for accusing you of accusing us… It is something when an EDITORIAL is removed from a newspaper because it exposes the unfounded bias of The London Daily News.
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