Cyprus urges Turkey to account for 1,500 missing for 35 years

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Cyprus urged Turkey on Friday to account for some 1,500 people missing since its invasion of the island 35 years ago. The call came after a former Turkish army conscript described how he had executed a prisoner of war. Actor Attila Olgac reportedly told a Turkish television program this week that while serving in the Turkish army during the 1974 invasion he shot at least one prisoner dead on orders from a superior. "The first person that I killed was a 19-year-old soldier who was taken prisoner," Olgac was quoted as saying on the program, according to the Hurriyet newspaper's web site. "When I aimed my gun at his face, he spat on my face. I shot him in the forehead. He died. Later on, I killed nine more people during clashes," Olgac was quoted as saying. Turkey invaded and ethnically split Cyprus in response to a coup by Athens-backed supporters of union with Greece.