Shocking reports that missing were used as guinea pigs by Turkey'
By Jean Christou
AN AMERICAN defence and strategic policy report saying some of the 1974 missing Greek Cypriots ended up as guinea pigs in Turkish biochemical experiments was described as "shocking" yesterday by Foreign Minister George Lillikas.
Commenting on the report in the subscriber bulletin "Defence and Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy", which hit the headlines at the weekend, Lillikas said the government is expecting a full report on the claims.
According to the American article, which examines "the growing confrontation" between Turkey and the Kurds, between 1984 and 1988 many missing Greek Cypriots and Greek soldiers captured during the invasion ended up in secret Turkish biochemical laboratories. Here there were used as guinea pigs, the article said. However it added that the allegations were unconfirmed.
It said that Theophilos Geogiades, the Greek Cypriot civil servant and chairman of the Cyprus Committee for Solidarity with Kurdistan, was murdered by the Turkish secret service MIT in March 1994 because of what he knew about the experiments.
Georgiades was gunned down outside his house only a week after he had attended an international conference held in Brussels where he had revealed data on Turkey's methods for the suppression of the Kurdish problem, according to the report.
It also suggested that he knew about the experiments on the captured Greek and Greek Cypriots.
"His accusations brought a substantial reaction in Turkey," said the report. "And after he returned to Cyprus he was killed in the yard of his house by gunshots fired by unknown people. It was rumoured he had information about missing Greek Cypriots and he was in contact with PKK Kurds who had managed to escape from a secret biochemical laboratory of the Turkish army outside of Ankara and which operated under the supervision of the Gulhane Military Medical Academy," said the article.
"These Kurds had witnessed the conducting of biochemical experiments on Greeks and Greek Cypriot captives."
Speaking at the House Finance Committee yesterday, Lillikas said the government is expecting to receive the report and will take steps to verify the content.
"It is a human tragedy with many families of the missing persons involved, who suffer a lot more when such reports are published. Therefore we have to be very careful before we announce our positions," he said.
Government spokesman Christodoulos Pashardis said the report was being taken seriously but it could not yet be verified.
He said government officials would be requesting a meeting with the report's author as soon as the full text was received.
"The government is taking very seriously into consideration the shocking content of the American report on our missing persons, but is not in a position to verify it," he said.
"The government will investigate the content of this report very seriously and responsibly, but has no evidence so far to confirm that it stands."
The Defence and Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy is a periodical that is exclusively circulated to senior government, defence, intelligence and industry officials in more than 170 countries worldwide. It is affiliated to the Washington-based International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA). ISSA took over publication of the Defense & Foreign Affairs publishing in 1998 and which provides strategic information and analysis to governments worldwide. It also incorporates the Global Information System (GIS), an encrypted on-line intelligence service for governments.
Cyprus Mail 24 October 2006
Cypriot Prisoners Used by Turkey as 'Guinea Pigs' Says US Think Tank Report
Nicosia O Filelevtheros, in Greek, 24 Oct 2006
Interview with Defense and Foreign Affairs Policy Chairman Gregory R. Copley by Lambros Papandoniou; place and date not given: "The Turks Had no Intention of Returning Prisoners" - first paragraph is O Filelevtheros introduction
The US strategic analysis group Defense and Foreign Affairs Policy has brought to the attention of the US Government and, more specifically, the Pentagon's intelligence service the information it has published concerning the use of Greek and Greek Cypriot missing persons as guinea pigs in Turkish chemical factories. Gregory R. Copley, the author of the report that was first published by O Filelevtheros, speaks for the first time about this shocking version of events.
[Papandoniou] Mr Copley, we have read very carefully your latest report, where you support the view that Greek and Greek Cypriot missing persons were used as guinea pigs in secret chemical weapons factories. Would you comment on this grave conclusion?
[Copley] We have received extensive information about the use, since 1974, of Cypriot prisoners as guinea pigs for the production of chemical and biological weapons by the Turkish armed forces. I am trying to gather even more information. This is a very hot issue for the Turkish military authorities and, for many years, they were actively spreading misinformation. We are daily receiving additional information about Turkey's program for the manufacture of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction and, to the best of our ability, we are following it very closely.
[Papandoniou] When was the first time you were informed that these kinds of activities were going on inside Turkey?
[Copley] We have been hearing rumors for sometime now. During the past months, however, we received the specific information that we have published. We are now looking for more specialized information.
[Papandoniou] From where did you secure the information about this grave issue that you have published in your report?
[Copley] They originate from human sources connected with intelligence services active inside Turkey.
[Papandoniou] Do you know how many persons have disappeared through this kind of experiments?
[Copley] No. At this stage I have no idea about numbers.
[Papandoniou] How did you reach the decision to publish this issue today, 32 years after the events?
[Copley] The information had been ignored. I believe that from the moment the Turks had captured those prisoners during the invasion of Cyprus, it was clear that they had no intention of returning them or of admitting that they had them. Therefore, they were free to use them as they wished. As I have already told you, we have not yet collected the specific additional information that we would have wished to have. Nevertheless, what we do have is a wide range of information from various sources inside Turkey.
[Papandoniou] What you mean to say is that you have today in your possession information originating from human sources close to intelligence services.
[Copley] This is exactly the case. With every passing week we obtain even further information about Turkey's chemical weapons program. The time has come for this information to be published. I believe that more specific information will become available on this issue.
[Papandoniou] Do you believe that the US Government is concerned about
Turkey's program for the production of chemical and biological weapons of mass
destruction to which you are referring?
[Copley] I believe that the United States is concerned because of the
program for the production of chemical and biological weapons by Turkey and
Iran. In fact, the United States has begun to be very concerned with Iran's
program for the production of nuclear weapons. Iran has already deployed
between 12 and 15 nuclear weapons, purchased from Kazakhstan, Ukraine and North
Korea. All the above weapons, whether they are chemical, biological and, to a
small extent, nuclear raise considerable interest, particularly if they are
used against US and Turkish troops in the near future.
[Papandoniou] Have you discussed the information in your possession with any official from the US Government or the Pentagon? Did you detect any interest on their behalf?
[Copley] Yes. The US Government is among the sources we are ourselves using to collect information and, specifically, persons close to the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency that has this information now and will do what it should do.
[Papandoniou] What was their reaction when you presented them with this information?
[Copley] They did not react immediately, nor did we expect them to. They simply received the information and they will use it as they deem fit. Nevertheless, they have given their attention to this information.
[Papandoniou] Do you know whether the Turks have used exactly the same method against the Kurds of the PKK [Kurdish People's Party] group?
[Copley] This is what I believe. Furthermore, as at this moment the Turkish armed forces are ready to undertake a major military operation against the Kurds of the PKK, as well as other Kurdish groups connected with the PKK, who are launching operations against Turkey from inside Northern Iraq.
[Papandoniou] To help us understand better, are you referring to the Kurdish bases inside Northern Iraq?
[Copley] Exactly!
Channel 4 is a public service broadcaster subsidised by the British tax payer. The above clip can therefore be considered to be public domain and fair use is permissible given the nature of the content in context to the issue of the Missing Persons.
