Important information on the development of international actions concerning those wanted for the murders of Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomos in 1996, comes through an answer by the Minister of Justice Marios Hartsiotis, following a question by Limassol MP Stavros Papadouris.
The MP had asked for information on the validity of arrest warrants, the issuance of Red Notices by Interpol, as well as whether European Arrest Warrants were issued and registered in the Schengen system (SIS II).
Murder of Tassos Isaac
According to the answer, a total of eight people are wanted internationally for the murder of Tasos Isaac.
Initially, in 1996, Red Notices were issued, but in 2013 the old national warrants were cancelled and new ones were issued. Due to a lack of personal information about all the wanted persons, Interpol proceeded:
in Wanted Person Diffusions for five people (2013)
in new Red Ads for three people (2015)
Thus, for three of the eight wanted persons there is an active Red Notice and for the remaining five diffuse messages remain valid.
Murder of Solomos Solomos
For the murder of Solomos Solomos, five people were initially wanted with Red Notices in 1996. However, in 1997 Interpol cancelled three of them on the grounds that their role was insufficiently substantiated.
Turkey reacted and asked for the cancellation of all ads. In 2000, a pervasive message was sent for an international search, but Interpol did not record it in the database
In 2021, a new national arrest warrant was issued for one of the persons who had publicly admitted involvement. Despite submitting a request for a new Red Notice, Interpol did not issue it and the request was withdrawn in 2023, after the person's death. This is Hasan Kontaksi.
Today, only two of the five persons for the murder of Solomos remain in the Interpol database as internationally wanted with Red Notices.
In addition, the Minister confirmed that no European Arrest Warrants have been issued, and therefore no data have been entered in the Schengen Information System (SIS II).
The names of the wanted persons who saw the light of day
It is worth noting that in an earlier publication of Filenews, the names of those wanted for the murder of Tassos Isaac were mentioned, according to an announcement dated November 22, 1996.
Hashim Yilmaz: Turkish settler and former member of the Turkish secret service (MIT), who owned a café in the city of Kyrenia in 1996.
Neifel Mustafa Ergun: Turkish settler, 26 years old at the time and member of the illegal Turkish Cypriot police, who arrived in the occupied areas when he was a child.
Polat Fikret Koreli: A Turkish Cypriot, 17 years old at the time and a resident of occupied Famagusta.
Mehmet Mustafa Arslan: A 41-year-old Turkish settler and leader of the Grey Wolves in the occupied territories. He was a resident of the occupied side of Nicosia at the time.
Erhan Arikli : 40 years old at the time, originally from the former Soviet Union and a permanent resident of occupied territories since 1986.
For the murder of Solomos, the Attorney General's Office had requested on October 30, 1996 the arrest of a total of five persons.
Kenan Akin: He was then the "minister" of agriculture and forests of the occupied territories.
Ertal Hadjiali Emanet: He served as commander of the so-called "Special Forces" of the occupied territories.
Hasan Kontaksi: Former commander of the occupation army (died 2023).
Attila Sav: At that time she served as the "chief" of the so-called police of the occupied territories.
Mehmet Karli: At the time, he was a general of the occupying army.
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With the "testimony of a prosecution witness", the "trial" against two Greek Cypriots continued today in the provincial "court" of occupied Trikomo, which will continue on November 12.
The two Greek Cypriots are accused of violating the "law" on personal data protection and privacy protection.
The "prosecutor" introduced the "witness" Vasfi Sinal, who is the "complainant" in the case and who, answering questions, stated that he is a lawyer and owns 51% of the company HJK Development Ltd.
He added that the "police" informed him that some people have information about his company and his name as a director.
He also stated that he went to the "police" station where he was presented with an email sent by Andreas Eleftheriadis , who had filed a lawsuit (164/2024) against him and against 12 other people in courts in the free area of the Republic of Cyprus regarding a property (file number 220), seeking compensation of 2 million euros for loss of use.
Sinal claimed that Eleftheriadis noted his name and the name of his company, asking two suspects to find more information.
He also said that he filed a "lawsuit" because he believes that the two Greek Cypriots obtained information about his company and him in an illegal way and added that the job of the suspects is to collect some documents and information and sell them.
The lawyers of the two Greek Cypriots said that the companies have no private life and their directors are not secret information and added that Sinal filed a "lawsuit" because a lawsuit has been filed against him in southern Cyprus.
In response to a question, Sinal said that he owns a real estate company called "Mackenzie Properties" and that he sells everything he buys.
He added that the "real estate committee" in the occupied territories has been set up for reparations so that Greek Cypriots can apply for their property.
Asked if he has a company in the UK, Sinal answered in the negative, but lawyers said he owns a company called buysellauctionnorthcyprus.
Sinal then said he tried to set it up but is not active, with lawyers reporting that the company appears to be active on a website for companies in the UK.
The next "hearing" will take place on November 12.
Update - Cy Mail - The five Greek Cypriots who were arrested in the north in July were on Friday found not guilty of the charges they faced at a military court in northern Nicosia.
One of the five had been charged with illegally entering the north when the five crossed into the north via the Strovilia crossing point, near Famagusta, on July 19, while the other four stood accused of aiding and abetting the illegal entry.
Three of the five are now free , while the other two remain on bail, subject to a civilian court case in Trikomo, where they stand accused of privacy violations.
That court case will continue next Wednesday.
The military court case had centred around the question of whether four or five identity cards were handed over to the Turkish Cypriot police for inspection at the Strovilia crossing point, with the police and the prosecution having alleged that only four identity cards had been presented.
In its decision, the court said it had taken into account the “physical condition” of the five Greek Cypriots, all of whom are elderly, while also describing prosecution witnesses’ testimony as “uncertain” and the testimonies given by the five Greek Cypriots as “completely unwavering”.
According to newspaper Ozgur Gazete ’s editor-in-chief Pinar Barut, who was present in court on Friday, this “gave the impression [that they were being] honest and truthful” .
The court also said that it “found no reason” why the Greek Cypriots would purposefully conceal one of their identities, especially in light of the fact that all five frequently used the crossing points to travel between the island’s two sides.
It also dismissed the idea that any intent on the part of the five Greek Cypriots to file a lawsuit regarding property they owned before 1974 may have led them to illegally enter the north.
On the matter of the testimony offered by Hakan Ozkanturk , the police officer who was working at the Strovilia crossing point when the five Greek Cypriots entered the north on July 19, the court said that “the responsibility for the security of the crossing points and the smooth operation of entry and exit procedures lies with the state ”.
“The state should handle these matters with a good mechanism and organisation … otherwise, the state’s security will be at risk,” it stated.
It also stated that given the fact that thousands of people and cars use the island’s crossing points per day, it would be normal and understandable for the police on duty not to remember each car but criticised the fact that Ozkanturk had “made a point” of declaring that he had remembered the Greek Cypriots’ car.
Additionally, the court highlighted the fact that the five identity cards were not checked for fingerprint data , given that if they had been, the question of whether all five identity cards had been given to the police would have been resolved by the fingerprint evidence or lack thereof.
To this end, the court said there had been a “lack of investigation” on the part of the police and the prosecution.
Then, the court made reference to the infamous “blue folder”, which allegedly contained information related to property near Trikomo, and which was found in the possession of the five Greek Cypriots when they were arrested, saying that claims it could have been used for criminal activity are “baseless”.
Finally, the court returned to the fact that all five Greek Cypriots frequently cross between the island’s two sides, and stated that the defendant who had been accused of not showing the police his identity card had crossed between the island’s two sides 86 times between 2022 and 2025 .
The other four Greek Cypriots, the court said, had crossed between the island’s two sides 325 times, 90 times, 55 times, and 407 times respectively.
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The 41-year-old suspect from Bulgaria, who was arrested for the death of 51-year-old motorcyclist Giorgos Georgiou, was driving the van without a driver's license and without insurance, after the fierce collision that took place last night on the old Limassol - Nicosia road, near the Moni flyover.
The 41-year-old was brought before the Limassol District Court, which approved the request of the Limassol Traffic Police and ordered the detention of the suspect for a period of five days. As he said, if the investigations are completed earlier, then a 41-year-old suspect will be released.
In the fierce collision, the 51-year-old motorcyclist was seriously injured, while the driver of the van was slightly injured. The motorcyclist was taken to a private hospital, where he succumbed about two hours later.
In statements from the scene of the fatality, the head of the Limassol Traffic Police, Marios Charalambous, stated that the driver of the vehicle involved underwent an alcohol test, with a final reading of 48mg% instead of the allowed 22mg%. As he said, the offenses of causing death by negligence, driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as driving without a license and without safety are being investigated against him. It seems, as he said, that he does not hold a Cypriot driver's license.
The suspect also underwent a drug test , which was negative.
He was then arrested on a court warrant and taken into custody. So far he has not been questioned, which is expected to be done today with the assistance of an interpreter.
According to information from Filenews, the vehicle involved will be examined by members of the Electromechanical Service, while the Police are investigating where the 41-year-old was before the accident and where he consumed alcohol. At the same time, testimonies will be taken from people close to him.
The ownership status of the vehicle, which was found in the possession of the suspect, even though it is registered to another person, is also examined.
The autopsy on the victim's body will be performed today at noon by the medical examiner Angeliki Papetta, at the Nicosia General Hospital.
In addition, a reconstruction of the circumstances of the accident is expected to be carried out by the special team of the Traffic Headquarters.
It is recalled that the fatal incident happened around 8:30 in the evening, when the 41-year-old Bulgarian was driving a van on the old Limassol - Nicosia road in the direction of Limassol. Arriving at the Moni flyover, he entered the opposite direction, where he collided head-on with a large motorcycle driven by the 51-year-old Greek Cypriot, who was wearing a protective helmet.
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A Turkish Cypriot, who was wanted for the well-known case of the Serbian executors, was arrested yesterday at the roadblock of Agios Dometios by members of the Cyprus Police.
However, the information received by philenews earlier in the day is that the Authorities of the Republic were oriented to release him.
Around the spring of 2016, the Cyprus Police had received information that the person in question would transport the two Serbian executors from the illegal airport of Tymbou to the Agios Dometios roadblock. The information that had been put before the Police stated that the two persons from the Balkans had come to Cyprus with the aim of murdering Alexis Mavromichalis (Alexoui), Iosif Iosif (Sifi), Christos Demetriou (Tsiakka) as well as Fanos Kalopsidiotis.
On the basis of this information, an arrest warrant had been issued against the Turkish Cypriot. This warrant was executed yesterday and after nine years, when the latter attempted to cross into the free areas through a barricade.
As we are informed, however, no instruction was given for the Police to submit a court request for the issuance of a detention order. This is because, according to what we are able to know, no legal issues arise, nor is there any testimony to support any felony. After all, years passed and the case for the Serbian executors was judged in court.
The file with the details of the Turkish Cypriot had been sent to the Legal Service in the morning.
