Sevgul Uludag
caramel_cy@yahoo.com
Tel: 99 966518
Dimitrakis Dimitrios Xenophon, whose remains were found in a gamini in Boghazi together with four others was buried with a ceremony on the 28th of July 2018 Saturday in Dromolaxia… This gamini (kiln) was found with the help of a very dear reader of ours back in 2014… But the father of Dimitrakis, Xenophon Dimitriou could not see the burial of his son…
Xenophon Dimitriou had helped us to find the burial site of two "missing" Turkish Cypriots: Shefika Huseyin and Huseyin Ahmet Kamber had been "missing" since May 1964 from Trikomo and Xenophon from Trikomo had shown us the well where they had been buried in Trikomo. He had been a witness to the burial when one night he had heard some noise outside and had gone to see what was going on… The well was visible from where his house was – the well was behind the barley warehouses in Trikomo. When he tried to check what was going on, the killers would shout at him to go back inside… Next morning, he would see some blood outside the well and a woman's shoe… He had got suspicious… The killers, in order to cover their crime had put some sand over the bodies they had killed and thrown in the well…
I had met Xenophon through the help of a Turkish Cypriot reader and the son of a "missing" Turkish Cypriot. We had shown this well to the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee but there had been no excavations there. So, my reader had found a Greek Cypriot witness and this was Xenophon Dimitriou. We had gone to Dromolaxia to visit him so he could tell me the story, so I could write about it… There had been rumours that three "missing" Turkish Cypriots from Agios Andronikoudis (Topchukeuy) were buried in this well… Until the actual digging, we wouldn't know that it was in fact Shefika and Huseyin Ahmet Kamber had been buried there and not the Agios Andronikoudis "missing". Shefika and Huseyin Ahmet Kamber were from Trikomo Pervolia – Huseyin Ahmet Kamber was a milkman, collecting milk from producers and delivering it… He was married with Shefika and living in Pervolia, Trikomo and they had five kids: Oldest kid was 17 – Sevilay Berk and the youngest was barely 2 years old…
When they would go "missing" in May 1964, the kids would be devastated… Sevilay, as a young girl of 17 would go to the Trikomo police station to report her "missing" parents – according to the information we gathered, they had not been "killed" yet and were being kept at the police station. So when Sevilay had gone there, her parents were in fact alive at the police station but of course, she was not informed of this by the Greek Cypriot policemen serving at the station… Years later we would find out terrible details about the murder of this couple – they were kidnapped and taken to the police station and kept there and then they would be killed and buried in a well that many years later Xenophon Dimitriou and some other readers would show us…
With the help of my reader after I had visited the house of Xenophon, he would agree to come and show us the well in Trikomo – we would meet and I would call an archaeologist from the Cyprus Missing Persons' Committee to come and see the well… We would all meet, my reader, the archaeologist and Xenophon and he would show the well to the archaeologist from the CMP and tell her the story of what he had seen that night and the following morning. Finally, the CMP would start excavations and would find the remains of two "missing" Turkish Cypriots in the well: Shefika and Huseyin Ahmet Kamber… While the excavations continued, the archaeologist would want details and I would get the details of the only couple "missing" from the area from the daughter Sevilay. We would also visit the well together with Sevilay and her dear husband Mustafa Berk… The parents of Sevilay would be identified through DNA tests and we would have the funeral in Famagusta in 2010… Xenophon Demetriou would attend the funeral and pay his respects and express his sorrow for what had happened in the past… He too had a "missing" son: Dimitrakis Dimitrios Xenophon so he could understand the pain that Sevilay and her family had gone through and he was glad that he had helped to find their remains…
He would become good friends with Sevilay and Mustafa and Sevilay would hold a lunch where she would invite me as well and Xenophon would come and she would thank him for his humanitarian effort in finding the burial site of her father and mother…
At the Kontea Peace Park, we would hold an event with the initiative of the Bicommunal Association of Relatives of Missing Persons and Victims of War "TOGETHER WE CAN" on the 22nd of July 2010 and would honour those who helped us to find the burial sites of the "missing" Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots. In this peace festival that we had organised with the help of various NGOs, trade unions and political parties under the "United Cyprus Peace Initiative", we would also honour Xenophon Demetriou and he would take his plaquette honouring him from the hands of Sevilay Berk… We would also honour Hashmet Ozmusa, my Turkish Cypriot reader who had introduced him to me in order to ensure that he would show us the well in Trikomo… More than 300 Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots would attend this memorable event in Kontea that was supported by the Organisation of the Protection of Common Cultural Heritage of Kontea and the Kontea Cultural Association… We would honour around 20 Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots who had helped us to find the burial sites and who did not see any reason why they should remain anonymous, who in fact accepted to be visible in this humanitarian work: Mustafa Gursel, Ali Esendaglı, Hashmet Ozmusa, Ertan Namıkkemaloglu, Huseyin Latif Amerikali, Savash Kayasal, Ali Bayraktar, Gunay Devecioglu. Dimitris Hadjipetrou, Kyriakos Andreou, Maria Georgiadou, Andreas Sizinos, Artemis Poullos, Christina Pavlou Solomi Patsia, Xenophon Demetriou, Andreas Constantinos, Takis Hadjigeorgiou and two anonymous Turkish Cypriots…
When Xenophon Demetriou would pass away, Sevilay and Mustafa Berk would attend his funeral in Dromolaxia, laying flowers on his coffin.
He would not be able to see that the remains of his "missing" son Dimitrakis had been found…
Dimitrakis was born in 1956 as one of the six brothers and sisters: Niki, Georgia, Kika, Stelios, Vasiliki and Dimitrakis… They were four girls and two boys. Dimitrakis was doing his military service in Dikomo and he was barely 18 years old when the war would swallow him up just like so many others…
About ten years ago, we had started publishing information shared by our readers about possible burial sites, in particular about gaminis (kilns) in the St. Hilarion-Kyrenia Boghazi area… Back in 2010 we had introduced one of our readers to the former officials of CMP – Ughur Umar (who passed away), Xenophon Kallis and Okan Oktay. This reader had told them that there were some "missing" persons buried in some gaminis at the St. Hilarion and he would also draw a map and give it to them… He would point out the place of the gaminis, as well as the relocated burial sites at the St. Hilarion area… Previously he had helped the officials of the CMP to find two "missing" Greek Cypriots in the St. Hilarion area…
Three years would pass by and my reader would get frustrated because nothing had happened in the places he had given information about. We would find out that the places that our reader had been talking about were not on the list of the places to be dug – he was a staunch follower of the whole process and he would come and visit me often, writing open letters to the CMP to be published on my page in YENIDUZEN, saying he was ready to show these places if they took permission for him to enter the military areas in St. Hilarion…
I would ask the officials of CMP to visit him again: In 2012 and 2013, we would visit him again with the officials of CMP, Xenophon Kallis, Okan Oktay and Murat Soysal and he would again draw maps for them and tell them the story of how some remains of "missing" Greek Cypriots would become visible while cleaning a gamini from trash and how and where they would be relocated… He would be insistent: He was sure of what he saw because he had been doing his military service there around 1985…
The map that our reader had drawn would be given to some of the Turkish Cypriot investigators and following this map, they would discover the gamini in Boghazi… During the exhumations of the Gamini in January 2014, the remains of five "missing" Greek Cypriots would be found… Among them: Dimitrakis Dimitrios Xenophon…
When Mustafa Akinci came to power in 2015, the entry of CMP for investigations and for digging in the military zones would become easier due to his efforts and my reader would make an open call, writing an open letter to the CMP to take "permission" for him to enter the military zones in St. Hilarion in order to show the possible burial sites of some "missing" Greek Cypriots. Finally, CMP would take "permission" for him and he would go and show two possible burial sites to the officials of CMP in the military zones of St. Hilarion… The CMP would carry out excavations in the two spots that my reader showed and they would find the remains of four and two – a total of six "missing" persons in the places he showed.
This reader with a huge human heart so far has helped to find the remains of a total of 13 "missing" Greek Cypriots in Boghazi and St. Hilarion areas… While the exhumations were going on in St. Hilarion, he would give me the coordinates of two more possible burial sites and I would send these coordinates to the officials of CMP. But so far, there has been no excavations in these two possible and suspicious burial sites at the St. Hilarion… We continue, together with him, to push for the exploration of these two sites where my reader thinks some people might have been buried.
I want to thank for his humanity, this reader, from my heart… And I want to thank the officials of the CMP for carrying out exhumations in the places that this reader of ours had shown and pointed out… I thank them for ensuring the finding of the remains of 13 "missing" Greek Cypriots that our reader has given information about their burial sites…
Unfortunately, until very recently we would not be informed about whose remains had been found in the gamini in Boghazi despite the fact that throughout last year, we were asking every week… I would find out quite by accident that four "missing" Greek Cypriots had been buried last year whose remains were found in the gamini in Boghazi and the fifth one – Dimitrakis Xenophon – was buried in July 2018… Sevilay Berk, together with her husband Mustafa Berk attended his funeral and laid their flowers on his small coffin… I would immediately call my reader and tell him and write about it and try to find their photos to see who they were... They were: Demetrios Georgios Anamisi from Trikomo, born in 1944 and went "missing" in 1974 from Dikomo. He was buried in May 2017.
Neophitos Hambos Neophitou who was born in Gypsou in 1941, went "missing" in 1974 and was buried in Limassol in May 2017.
Antonios Christophis Apostolou, born in 1956 in Livadia, went "missing" in July 1974 and buried in Livadia after DNA identification in November 2017.
Simeon Michail Simeou, born in Lapathos in 1948 and went "missing" while serving in Aspri Moutti in 1974 as a reservist. Buried after DNA identification in Larnaca in June 2017.
And Dimitrakis Dimitrios Xenophon from Trikomo – born in 1956, serving as a young 18-year-old boy and would go "missing" on the 22nd of July 1974…
May all of them rest in peace… I am glad we could help at least to find their remains and bring closure to their families… I am very sad that our dear friend Xenophon Demetriou could not see the funeral of his son… May he also rest in peace – we are very grateful to him for helping us to bring closure to the family of Sevilay Berk…
Photo: Sevilay Berk, at the funeral of Dimitrakis...
(*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 2nd of September 2018, Sunday...
Similar article in Turkish was published on my pages called "Cyprus: The Untold Stories" in the YENİDÜZEN newspaper on the 1st of August 2018 and here is the link:
http://www.yeniduzen.com/bir-kayip-yakinindan-cicekler-12748yy.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment