‘He came up to me, swore, spat in my face and then attacked us’
By John Leonidou
A TURKISH Cypriot father and son claiming that they were attacked by Christodoulos Nicolaides in Troodos last March yesterday gave the Nicosia Assizes a detailed account of their ordeal.
Veysel Toksoy and his son Kemal are claiming that Nicolaides abused, spat and attacked them at a fountain in Troodos after the two men had stopped to eat their sandwiches on the way back to Nicosia after a day trip. Kemal’s wife, mother and two children were also in the car.
Veysel Toksoy had made a statement to police on the day of the attack in Astromeritis and then made a second statement to police in Agios Dometios, around a month later.
Nicolaides, a former policeman, is currently facing a total of eight charges, which include causing actual bodily harm, assault and acting with intent to incite hostility between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The 28-year-old is also charged with the attack of another Turkish Cypriot, Sadik Aktan, in a Nicosia café on July 25 this year.
Prosecution lawyer Marios Koutsoftas first called up Sergeant Giorgos Giorgiou of Astromeritis police. Giorgiou said Toksoy had come into the police station and told him that he and his family had been abused and attacked by a young man aged between 25 and 30.
“Did you see any marks on his body,” asked Koutsoftas.
“Yes,” replied Giorgiou. “He showed me his right ear and I saw that it was red.”
Koutsoftas then called up Sergeant Sotiris Charalambous, formerly of the Ayios Dometios police, who had also taken a statement from Veysel and Kemal in Turkish about a month after the incident, before Sergeant Marios Cleanthous of Troodos police took the stand.
Cleanthous read out what the defendant had told him, that he had left his father’s house in Troodos and was heading back to Nicosia.
“On the way back I stopped at a fountain because there was a rubbish skip and I needed to get rid of some rubbish from my father’s house. At the fountain were some people who were staring at me provocatively.
“At one point, one of them said to me ‘ti einai re yaour’ (what it is you infidel). I told them to get into their car and leave, and then one of them pushed me and told me to leave, just like my family was told to leave in 1974.
“Being a refugee, I was obviously very angry but I restrained myself and just left.”
Cleathous added: “The accused then told me that he didn’t admit the charges and that he didn’t do anything to them, after I had read him his rights and informed him of the charges.”
Veysel himself then took the stand, with the aid of a translator, and read his statement telling the court that on the day in question he was travelling back from Troodos with his family after a day trip and had stopped at a fountain on the side of the road.
“At one point a jeep that drove by stopped, turned around and came to where we were sitting. A young man took some garbage out of his car, dumped the garbage in a skip and then came up to me. He then came up to me and, understanding a little Greek, said to me ‘I f*** your mother’. After that he spat on my face and on my glasses. As I went to go and wash my glasses in the fountain, I suddenly heard shouting in Greek.
“I then saw the man walk towards the car and begin punching Kemal before dragging him out of his car and attacking him again. I rushed over to them and pulled Kemal away. As I pulled him away, the man hit me in the ear from behind. Then he told us to leave which we did. We drove straight to the police station in Astromeritis.”
“Do you see your attacker today in the courtroom,” asked Koutsoftas.
“Yes, it is the man sitting over there,” said Veysel referring to Nicolaides who was sitting in the dock.
Veysel said he was bleeding from his ear where the attacker had struck him and from nose because of the way his glasses had suddenly come off from being struck.
“How did you feel after the attack”, asked Koutsoftas
“It is hard to describe how I felt. I suppose we just bumped into the wrong person that day. Why did he attack us?” said Veysel, shaking his head, his arms outstretched.
Defence lawyer Soteris Charalambous then questioned Veysel and immediately asked him why he had initially not wanted to press charges but then changed his mind. Veysel replied that not once had he not wanted to press charges.
“The police in Astromeritis took my contact details and after visiting the hospital for my injuries went back home. But they never contacted me and after a month and a half I went to the police station in Ayios Dometios via the United Nations and gave the second statement. There, I pressed charges again.”
“How long did the attack in Troodos go on for and have you seen the attacker since that day?” asked Charalambous.
“The attack went on for about 15 to 20 minutes and I have only seen the attacker for the first time today since that incident,” replied Veysel.
“But how can you remember his face after so many months?” asked Charalambous.
“I’ll remember his face 30 years from now, not just months from now. Believe me, you do not forget an incident like that,” Veysel replied.
The prosecution then called up Veysel’s son Kemal who gave the same account of what had happened that day, adding that at present he would not allow his wife and children to return to the free areas. Kemal then pointed at the accused when asked who had attacked him and his father.
“My wife and children were crying after the incident and we were all deeply disturbed and shocked by what had happened. I have never experienced anything like that in my life. Only time will tell if we will one day come back to the south.”
Charalambous then questioned Kemal about his reaction to the attack.
“So if you were to be attacked in the occupied areas in the same way, would you pack up your stuff and move back to Turkey with your family?”
“No,” Kemal answered.
“Do you know what ‘yaour’ means and what kind of an insult it means to somebody who is Greek?” asked Charalambous.
“No,” replied Kemal. “I have never heard that word.”
Both Kemal and Veysel denied provoking Nicolaides in any way.
The trial resumes on Monday.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2005
This incident raises serious question as to whether the so-called "Republic of Cyprus" can protect its citizens of turkish origin. Of course such incidents might happen everywhere, there are extreme nationalists everywhere, but what raises most concern is the delayed reaction of the police. It took UN involvement in order for the police to take real actions to protect a citizen of turkish origin. Also it is shocking that the man who committed the assault was an ex-policeman.
Do you think Turkish Cypriots can trust the police in the south? What is the extent of anti-turkish racism in the south? Do turkish cypriots feel really free in the "free" areas?[/code]
