Sevgul Uludag
caramel_cy@yahoo.com
Tel: 99 966518
With the invitation of the European Parliament AKEL MEP Takis Hadjigeorgiou, we go to Brussels to visit the European Parliament and to attend a photo exhibition of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee from their recent book called `Under the carob trees: The lost lives in Cyprus`…
Among the group of invited persons for this occasion are members of our association `Together We Can`, the only bicommunal group of relatives of missing persons and victims of war who have been working together in the last ten years… Christos Efthymiou whose brother is missing from 1974, Sevilay Berk whose mother and father were missing from 1964 and whose remains we helped to find in a well in Trikomo are in this group. Andreas Sizinos, whose father was taken from Gypsou and whose remains were found in a mass grave in Chatoz is also with us in this group… From our group Mehmet Ali Gocher whose brother Naim was taken away from his house in Arediou by some Greek Cypriots – among them a policeman from Deftera – and who went `missing` with others taken from the same village in 1963, is with us. With the great help of a Greek Cypriot reader from Tseri who showed us the location of the well, the remains of Naim and the two others from Arediou and a fourth Turkish Cypriot `missing` in another place in Tseri were found…
Christina Pavlou Solomi Patsia who works voluntarily and energetically in our group `Together We Can` is also with us – her father and brother are still `missing`, having been taken away from their village Komi Kepir and taken to Galatia and never returned…
Recently we have gone to Livadia in Karpaz with Christina to try to locate the exact place of a well where some `missing` Greek Cypriots had been buried. With the help of our readers and some witnesses we found and took to the area, we had managed to locate the well and one of our witnesses showed us and the officials of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee, the exact location of the well… It had been difficult to find this well since – as I wrote some time ago on this column a whole article about it – when they dug this well looking for water back in 1973, they did not find any and had left it open. Its mouth was not built with stones so when they killed and used this well as a burial place and closed it, it had been difficult for the excavation team to find it. But thanks so much to our readers who really helped out, we found witnesses who knew not only the story but also the location of the well… And as we were getting on the plane to go to Brussels with Christina and other relatives of missing persons, the CMP excavation team had already found the remains of three `missing persons` buried in that well… Christina's phone would not stop ringing since everyone who had a `missing person` from Karpaz area would call her to try to find out what was going on… We would sit for hours talking about Komi Kepir, Eftakomi and other places, comparing and matching what we knew and even making calls from Brussels to Cyprus to learn about the latest situation. All of this is purely humanitarian work that we carry out on a daily basis, not part of any `project`, simply helping out to ease the work of the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee, doing it out of our hearts… Our readers and our witnesses helping out voluntarily and out of their humanity… So this good news from Livadia makes us happy and I thank all my readers who have come forward and helped us for many years to try to figure out the unsolved puzzle of this well… Three more families will receive remains of their loved ones with the help of our readers with enough humanity to come forward… I thank them all for being patient and insistent and helping out all these years for this particular location…
In our group is also Beyit Direkci whose brother had been `missing` from 1963 between Tera and Arodes… With the help of our dear friend Artemis Poullos and AKEL MEP Takis Hadjigeorgiou, a Greek Cypriot from this area would help to locate the well in Polemi and we would go and show to the CMP officials and digging would take place… And they would find the remains… But we cannot be sure if these remains belong to the brother of Beyit or someone else – we simply have to wait for DNA results so that we can be sure… With us is also Leyla Kiralp who is a peace activist and who wrote the story of her life and her `missing` husband who had been taken away from Zygi and found on the first bus of `missing` Turkish Cypriots from Tochni… Reshat Kansoy whose uncle was `missing` and whose remains were found in Macheras is also with us… Nurten Halil, whose father was `missing` from 1964 from Pervolia is also with us. Apart from members of our group, there are many Greek Cypriot relatives of `missing persons` invited by AKEL MEP Takis Hadjigeorgiou. Skevi Koukouma, AKEL MP is also with us who deals with the issue of `missing persons` in the Cyprus Parliament… With us is also Elias Demetriou with whom we have organized so many workshops and seminars for EDON – he is one of the organizers and his grandfather too is "missing"…
We go to the European Parliament and have meetings with AKEL MEPs and then attend the ceremony for the exhibition of CMP… It is quite a surprise for me when Martin Schultz, the President of the European Parliament makes the opening speech of the photo exhibition of CMP and mentions my name and our group `Together We Can` in his speech… Of course, this is censored both by the Cyprus News Agency and by Turkish Cypriot news agency TAK through the Anatolian Agency news from Turkey… If Schultz had mentioned the name of a Greek Cypriot journalist, I am sure CNA would not "ignore" it and if Schultz had mentioned a journalist from Turkey, Anatolian Agency and TAK would not "ignore" it but alas, our name and our work is always being tried to be "ignored" by various circles in Cyprus in both sides… They try to make our work on "missing" invisible but even here at the European Parliament, it seems they can't since his words is like a cold shower to them. That is why they try to "ignore"… But our good friend Christos Efthymiou has videoed his speech and we can put it down on paper for everyone to see what he has said…
Present were the three members of CMP and archaeologists whose daily work in the fields and in the wells continue to help heal the wounds… Present also are other officials of the European Union and the families of missing persons holding white roses… Perhaps the most important thing is the presence of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot relatives of missing persons being together here, talking to each other, communicating, sharing what they went through… The writer of the book, Rory MacLean is also present and at the exhibition we see the photos of Nick Danziger…
Martin Schultz, the President of the European Parliament, in his opening speech says:
`When I visited the laboratory of the CMP a few months ago, I witnessed with my own eyes the dedication of these young scientists, anthropologists, archaeologists, psychologists, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot alike, working in full harmony for a noble cause. Let me reveal that I was personally very moved and deeply impressed by the work of your organisation.
Allow me to reassure you here that the remarkable contribution of the committee is recognized by the European Union and especially by the European Parliament and European Commission and that it is my strong belief that the European Union will continue to support your work.
Because ladies and gentlemen, behind this scientific endeavour, there is a very deep and personal dimension. Your work allows the families that have lost their beloved to grieve, close long periods of anguish and uncertainty… To make peace with their personal tragedies the division of Cyprus has brought. And as such, your work, dear friends, is an example of how together both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots can overcome the pain of the past and find energy and faith to build a better future together.
This is why I am also very moved today and I repeat, welcome to the families of missing persons to this important event here in the European Parliament… Your presence, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot families together is a strong symbol of reconciliation.
Let me seize the opportunity to also greet among you Ms. Sevgul Uludag, an investigative journalist who played a key role in breaking the taboo of the missing persons in Cyprus by writing about the story and the families, by continually encouraging people to come forward and to help identify burial places, by being next to the families but also by helping to build mutual trust and cooperation between the relatives from the two communities through the group `Together We Can`. It was this dedication that earned Ms. Uludag `The European Citizen Prize` here, two years ago. We are honoured to have you here with us today.
Ladies and gentlemen, the European Parliament has long been supporting the reunification of Cyprus and the Cypriot people who have always been able to count on our support because we think that a reunification of Cyprus is bringing together what belongs together and we stand ready to welcome a unified Cypriot country to our family. Europe is not complete as long as Cyprus is not united. The prospective of Cyprus may be brighter than ever. Please allow me to greet the efforts of the leaders of the two Cyprus communities, Mr. Anastasiades and Mr. Akinci, for the courage and determination to achieve a viable, federal solution that will serve the interests of all Cypriot people. I am sure that if these talks are balanced with empathy and reconciliation, both present in the work of the CMP and in the eyes of this audience, then, soon a united Cyprus that flourishes in peaceful coexistence will no longer be a wish but a wonderful reality.
Cyprus today has the chance to send a strong signal of hope to the world, hope that long lasting conflicts can one day be overcome, hope that the desire for peace is stronger than the thirst for revenge. And I personally hope that Cyprus can also become the certainty that Europe is still a continent where such miracles are possible…
And as a German President of the European Parliament I want to add, I was born in 1955 in a divided country. I never could imagine during a very long period of my life that I today would stand here as a representative of a reunited Germany. The borders between Western and Eastern Germany were more dangerous than they are today between the two parts of the island. What was possible in Germany should be possible in Cyprus as well. Therefore, my hope is for reconciliation and unification and my thanks is to those people who contribute with what CMP is doing to pave the way for that reconciliation that we all need… And even in turmoil we are living today in European Union, the reunification of Cyprus is possible, then it would be a strong signal that in a deep crisis always solutions are possible if there is a will for a solution.
My feeling is, the will is there…`
A group of young violinists – both Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot who are students of Professor Matheos Kariolou give a concert after the exhibition, making a great impression on everyone…
We come back with more connections, more ideas, more determination to work voluntarily on this humanitarian issue, trying to heal the wounds of our country…
16.10.2016
Photo: Our group "Together We Can" made up of Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot relatives of "missing persons" and victims of war, at the European Parliament…
(*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 30th of October 2016, Sunday.
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