Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kifeas]

The overall said report relates to the possible conflict between Kurds and Turkey over Northern Iraq, and the potential that Turkey may use biochemical weapons, and whether Turkey has developed such a capacity. The report examines and presents various information regarding the possibility for the development and the actual use by Turkey of such biochemical weapons, and claims that in fact such biochemical weapons have in the past but also fairly recently been used by Turkey in its fights against PKK members. The report presents various information examples that its authors have received, among which is the following one paragraph relating to Greek Cypriot missing people.

“There is information from both Kurds and Turks, asserting to have been observers themselves, that between the years 1984-1988 several Greek Cypriots and Greeks, hostages from the 1974 Turkish invasion, have been used for experiments in these biochemical laboratories as guinea-pigs. This information has also been conveyed in the past to a Greek Cypriot pro-Kurdish activist, Theofilos Georgiades, who is now dead –alleged to have been murdered by Turkish agents, outsides his home in Nicosia. However, such information has not been verified.”

That is all it says in relation to Cyprus, and nothing else.

[Kifeas]

The above quoted paragraph is a translation from Greek, as it was supposedly translated from the original English text. Therefore the actual wording and syntax of the original may vary from the above, since it is a translation from English to Greek and then back to english.

[andri_cy]

Let me get this straight. Turks captured 1,500 Greek Cypriots in 1974, and it was 10 years later in 1984-88, that they were used for "experiments". So the missing were not found out as to where they have been from '74 until 2006, and when something was "supposedly" found, it goes back to 1984-88. Surely, those who found all this out, must also know what kind of experiments they were used for, and what has become of them since.

Just curious, why hasn't the ROC been able to find out where the missing 500 Turkish Cypriots are. They are in control most of Cyprus, so I would take a guess and say, most of the missing 500 TC's have to be in the ROC areas, since most of the TC's lived in those areas, until 1974.

I think the answers for all missing are, that they are all buried all over Cyprus, in unmarked mass graves.

What nice Human Beings we all are.!

Kikapu most people if you ask them will say they believe that the missing people, were taken to Turkey. I remember when I was younger, a British friend of my grandfather's said he had gone to Turkey on vacation and he saw this guy he knew from before 1974(a missing person) and he talked to him and the guy "told" him they brought them here and they made them get married to Turkish women and blah blah blah and not to say anything cause they will kill his new family if he did and blah blah. That story sounds kind of weird and unreal but stories like that is what makes everyone believe there has to be something to it and they were shipped to Turkey. Now what they did with them for ten years, if the story were to be found true, they were probably prisoners of war and then they became useful I presume. Who knows...

[souroul]

OMG WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

INVAAAAAAAAAAAAADEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Sotos]

Another article:

ATHENS is also evaluating reports that Greek and Greek Cypriot missing from 1974 ended up as guinea pigs in Turkish biochemical experiments, Greece’s Government Spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said yesterday.

"The government is not in a position to confirm the validity of the contents of the specific report. However, Athens is evaluating all relevant information in co-operation with the government of the Republic of Cyprus," Roussopoulos said.

Earlier this week, newspapers quoted the American 'Defence and Foreign Affairs Strategic Policy report saying that some of the 1974 missing ended up as guinea pigs in secret Turkish biochemical experiments between 1984 and 1988.

The experiments had been witnessed by Kurds who had themselves managed to escape.

Yesterday Phileleftheros, which was first to publish the contents of the article, spoke Gregory Copley, president of the Washington-based International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), which produces the defence bulletin exclusively for governments.

Copley said the association had a lot of information relating to Greek Cypriots captured in 1974 and used as guinea pigs. He said he was still gathering more information.

“It’s a very hot question for the Turkish military authorities,” he said, adding that day by day more information was emerging about Turkish biological and chemical weapons’ programmes, something they were watching closely.

Copley said he and his associates had been hearing about the programmes for a long time, but had only managed to secure concrete information over the past few months, “which we have published already”.

“Now we are looking for more detailed information,” Copley said.

He said his sources were various people in Turkey, including in the intelligence services.

Copley said he believed that from the moment Turkey captured Greek and Greek Cypriot prisoners in 1974, there was no intention of letting them go, or admit they still had them.

“So they were free to use them as they wished,” he said. Copley said he did not know how many prisoners were involved in the experiments.

He also said the US was keeping a close eye on Turkey’s manufacture of chemical and biological weapons. The Pentagon was one of the subscribers to the ISSA defence bulletin, he said.

Asked if how Washington had reacted to the report, Copley said they simply took the information offered. He also said Turkey was using similar methods against the Kurds.

“This is my opinion,” he said. “At this moment, the Turkish armed forces are ready to undertake a big military enterprise against Kurds from the PKK as well as against other Kurdish groups that have a connection with the PKK in northern Iraq.”

[Swashbuckler]

Further developments regarding this story:

ISSA head admits ‘no concrete evidence’ that missing used in chemical weapons tests
By Simon Bahceli

THE Head of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), the body that reported allegations that Turkey had used Greek Cypriot prisoners captured in the 1974 invasion of Cyprus as guinea pigs for chemical weapons experiments, conceded yesterday he had “no concrete evidence” that the allegations were true.

“I never used the word concrete,” ISSA head Gregory Copley told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. He refused, however, to withdraw claims that there existed numerous allegations, “not only from Kurdish sources”, that Turkey had used Greek Cypriots in its programme to develop chemical weapons. None of the allegations, he conceded however, had been confirmed.

Alarming stories of how Greek Cypriots, captured by the invading Turkish army in 1974, could have been used in experiments aimed at helping Ankara develop chemical and biological weapons have flooded the Greek Cypriot press over the past few days. They are apparently being treated seriously by Nicosia and Athens, and prompted Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas to announce on Monday he would be launching of an enquiry into their validity.

Copely, who is a visiting lecturer at Nicosia’s Intercollege, and whose books feature largely on the Cyprus Embassy website in Washington, insisted his report was “not based on hearsay”, but on “a variety human sources within Turkey”. He refused, however, to give any further or more specific information on the sources.

Asked why Turkey, a country of over 70 million, would need to use Greek Cypriot detainees as human guinea pigs, Copley responded rhetorically by asking, “If you’ve got a whole load of prisoners you can’t return, then what can you do with them?”

Copley expressed regret that the ISSA report had been “leaked” to the press, saying, “I blame the Greek and Greek Cypriot press,” He added that he was aware the report could be the source of distress for relatives of missing Greek Cypriots.

Copley confirmed yesterday that the government had contacted him in a search for confirmation of the guinea pig reports, and told the Mail that if the government was now keeping quiet on the issue, it was “because of concern for the relatives [of the missing]”.
“What can they [the government] do at this stage?” he added.

Copley, who on his website describes himself as an historian, author and strategic analyst, has written extensively on virtually every region of the globe. During the wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, he criticised the international media for carrying out a “propaganda hoax” that portrayed Serbia as the aggressor. He denied the existence of concentration camps housing Croats and Bosnian Muslims, saying they existed only to protect those populations, and that those housed there were free to come and go.

The ISSA, whose offices are located “within minutes of the Pentagon”, has in recent years awarded its “Gold Star Medals” for good leadership to Dragan Cadic, leader of the Republica Srpska (the Serbian entity in Bosnia), the Kyrgyzstan president Askar Akaev and Gambian president Yahya Jammeh – all of whom have courted controversy. Akaev stands accused by Europe and the US of rigging the election that brought him back to power in 2000, while Jammeh, who came to rule in a military coup in 1994, is said to have ended decades of relative stability and democracy. ISSA’s favouring of Cadic clearly fits ISSA’s pro-Serbian view of the Yugoslavian conflict.


Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

(my italics)

These are serious allegaions indeed and must be investigated but only if the report is properly valid.

So,

Is the ISSA an independent lobby group as opposed to a branch of the US Government?

What is it's agenda?

Why wont it adduce evidence in support of its allegations?

[Strahd]

Further developments regarding this story:

ISSA head admits ‘no concrete evidence’ that missing used in chemical weapons tests
By Simon Bahceli

THE Head of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), the body that reported allegations that Turkey had used Greek Cypriot prisoners captured in the 1974 invasion of Cyprus as guinea pigs for chemical weapons experiments, conceded yesterday he had “no concrete evidence” that the allegations were true.

“I never used the word concrete,” ISSA head Gregory Copley told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. He refused, however, to withdraw claims that there existed numerous allegations, “not only from Kurdish sources”, that Turkey had used Greek Cypriots in its programme to develop chemical weapons. None of the allegations, he conceded however, had been confirmed.

Alarming stories of how Greek Cypriots, captured by the invading Turkish army in 1974, could have been used in experiments aimed at helping Ankara develop chemical and biological weapons have flooded the Greek Cypriot press over the past few days. They are apparently being treated seriously by Nicosia and Athens, and prompted Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas to announce on Monday he would be launching of an enquiry into their validity.

Copely, who is a visiting lecturer at Nicosia’s Intercollege, and whose books feature largely on the Cyprus Embassy website in Washington, insisted his report was “not based on hearsay”, but on “a variety human sources within Turkey”. He refused, however, to give any further or more specific information on the sources.

Asked why Turkey, a country of over 70 million, would need to use Greek Cypriot detainees as human guinea pigs, Copley responded rhetorically by asking, “If you’ve got a whole load of prisoners you can’t return, then what can you do with them?”

Copley expressed regret that the ISSA report had been “leaked” to the press, saying, “I blame the Greek and Greek Cypriot press,” He added that he was aware the report could be the source of distress for relatives of missing Greek Cypriots.

Copley confirmed yesterday that the government had contacted him in a search for confirmation of the guinea pig reports, and told the Mail that if the government was now keeping quiet on the issue, it was “because of concern for the relatives [of the missing]”.
“What can they [the government] do at this stage?” he added.

Copley, who on his website describes himself as an historian, author and strategic analyst, has written extensively on virtually every region of the globe. During the wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, he criticised the international media for carrying out a “propaganda hoax” that portrayed Serbia as the aggressor. He denied the existence of concentration camps housing Croats and Bosnian Muslims, saying they existed only to protect those populations, and that those housed there were free to come and go.

The ISSA, whose offices are located “within minutes of the Pentagon”, has in recent years awarded its “Gold Star Medals” for good leadership to Dragan Cadic, leader of the Republica Srpska (the Serbian entity in Bosnia), the Kyrgyzstan president Askar Akaev and Gambian president Yahya Jammeh – all of whom have courted controversy. Akaev stands accused by Europe and the US of rigging the election that brought him back to power in 2000, while Jammeh, who came to rule in a military coup in 1994, is said to have ended decades of relative stability and democracy. ISSA’s favouring of Cadic clearly fits ISSA’s pro-Serbian view of the Yugoslavian conflict.


Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

(my italics)

These are serious allegaions indeed and must be investigated but only if the report is properly valid.

So,

Is the ISSA an independent lobby group as opposed to a branch of the US Government?

What is it's agenda?

Why wont it adduce evidence in support of its allegations?

ISSA is an american Strategic Analyst and is not a government oraqnisation. It is independent. However it acts as a consultant to startegic matters in the US.

[cypezokyli]

remember how we reacted after the report of the ICG ?

[andri_cy]

Further developments regarding this story:

ISSA head admits ‘no concrete evidence’ that missing used in chemical weapons tests
By Simon Bahceli

THE Head of the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), the body that reported allegations that Turkey had used Greek Cypriot prisoners captured in the 1974 invasion of Cyprus as guinea pigs for chemical weapons experiments, conceded yesterday he had “no concrete evidence” that the allegations were true.

“I never used the word concrete,” ISSA head Gregory Copley told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. He refused, however, to withdraw claims that there existed numerous allegations, “not only from Kurdish sources”, that Turkey had used Greek Cypriots in its programme to develop chemical weapons. None of the allegations, he conceded however, had been confirmed.

Alarming stories of how Greek Cypriots, captured by the invading Turkish army in 1974, could have been used in experiments aimed at helping Ankara develop chemical and biological weapons have flooded the Greek Cypriot press over the past few days. They are apparently being treated seriously by Nicosia and Athens, and prompted Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas to announce on Monday he would be launching of an enquiry into their validity.

Copely, who is a visiting lecturer at Nicosia’s Intercollege, and whose books feature largely on the Cyprus Embassy website in Washington, insisted his report was “not based on hearsay”, but on “a variety human sources within Turkey”. He refused, however, to give any further or more specific information on the sources.

Asked why Turkey, a country of over 70 million, would need to use Greek Cypriot detainees as human guinea pigs, Copley responded rhetorically by asking, “If you’ve got a whole load of prisoners you can’t return, then what can you do with them?”

Copley expressed regret that the ISSA report had been “leaked” to the press, saying, “I blame the Greek and Greek Cypriot press,” He added that he was aware the report could be the source of distress for relatives of missing Greek Cypriots.

Copley confirmed yesterday that the government had contacted him in a search for confirmation of the guinea pig reports, and told the Mail that if the government was now keeping quiet on the issue, it was “because of concern for the relatives [of the missing]”.
“What can they [the government] do at this stage?” he added.

Copley, who on his website describes himself as an historian, author and strategic analyst, has written extensively on virtually every region of the globe. During the wars that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, he criticised the international media for carrying out a “propaganda hoax” that portrayed Serbia as the aggressor. He denied the existence of concentration camps housing Croats and Bosnian Muslims, saying they existed only to protect those populations, and that those housed there were free to come and go.

The ISSA, whose offices are located “within minutes of the Pentagon”, has in recent years awarded its “Gold Star Medals” for good leadership to Dragan Cadic, leader of the Republica Srpska (the Serbian entity in Bosnia), the Kyrgyzstan president Askar Akaev and Gambian president Yahya Jammeh – all of whom have courted controversy. Akaev stands accused by Europe and the US of rigging the election that brought him back to power in 2000, while Jammeh, who came to rule in a military coup in 1994, is said to have ended decades of relative stability and democracy. ISSA’s favouring of Cadic clearly fits ISSA’s pro-Serbian view of the Yugoslavian conflict.


Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

(my italics)

These are serious allegaions indeed and must be investigated but only if the report is properly valid.

So,

Is the ISSA an independent lobby group as opposed to a branch of the US Government?

What is it's agenda?

Why wont it adduce evidence in support of its allegations?

Can you please try using green or blue? It is a bit more frendlier to the eye.

[Swashbuckler]

It says it's a strategic analyst sure but then I can call myself anything I want as well. Too, professors for hire these days are two-a-penny if you need some "qualifications" to back up your "analysis".

Looks like a lobby group to me - probably funded by Orthodox based groups given its support of Serbia.

Apologies for the red - was the first colour I picked.