The Cyprus file with the publication of the 9th volume, which is expected to be published early in the autumn, comes out of the fridge. This follows from the statements made to “F” by the Speaker of the Parliament, Annita Dimitriou.
The project of the parliamentary body of Cyprus and the Parliament of Hellenes, to shed light on the aspects of modern history and the tragic events of 1974, has been put on hold since 2019. In September of that year, the 8th volume was published and since then the effort stalled. In fact, “F” became the recipient of relevant concerns.
However, Mrs. Dimitriou, when we brought the above to her attention, assured that this worthy effort will continue, based on what was agreed between the two parliamentary bodies of Cyprus and Greece. He attributed the observed stagnation to a differentiation of the methodology regarding the processing of the minutes of the Hellenic Parliament.
She added that she also spoke about the issue with the President of the Hellenic Parliament, Konstantinos Tassoulas, and the issue has been settled. He informed us, in fact, that “currently the 9th volume is at the printer and that its publication is expected within September”.
Although Ms. Dimitriou did not expand, however according to our information, the 9th volume will cover files 24-28 of the minutes of the Investigative Committee of the Hellenic Parliament. It will have as its object statements given to the parliamentary body by witnesses to the tragic events of 1974, between the dates 30/10/1986 and 13/11/1986.
Among other things, it will include what was testified in the Greek Parliament by well-known persons for those who deal in depth with the events of the specific period. The reason for Angelos Vlachos, Papadakis, Tavlaridis, Panagiotopoulos, Palaini and Ziotopoulos.
However, it is estimated that a total of 30 volumes are expected to be published, which will cover the entire investigative work of the Hellenic Parliament.
Testimony of Simioforidis
The previous volume covered the meetings of the inquiry committee of the Hellenic Parliament on October 22 and 23, 1986 (folders 22-23). One of the statements that caused a sensation was that of Alexandros Simioforidis. When the Turkish invasion took place he had the rank of lieutenant. He was head of the echelon of the Central Intelligence Service in Kyrenia from February 1968 until July 1974.
Based on his testimony to the commission of inquiry in October 1986, the information our side had regarding the intentions of the Turks and the movements of their troops was accurate and revealing. It gave the impression that long before the events that led to the tragedy, Turkish units were preparing for the invasion.
In fact, at some point in his testimony before the members of the investigative committee, he spoke of “the disembarkation of the Turks” and not “disembarkation”. This is because, as he explained, from our side there was no utilization of the information, nor was there any organized effort to overthrow the invasion plans. Although – according to his estimation – such a thing could be done very easily.
This testimony is also indicative of the elements and the value of the whole project to crystallize the landscape in relation to the modern history of Hellenism in Cyprus.
How the road opened
In 2015, the then Speaker of the Parliament, Giannakis Omirou, brought back the standing request for access to the Cyprus File to the then Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, Zoe Konstantopoulou.
The following year, the new President Nikos Voutsis responded positively. On January 21, 2016, Voutsis and Omirou signed the Cooperation Protocol for access to the material of the Cyprus File.
At the same time, by order of Mr. Voutsis, all the documents that constituted the results of the work of the Commission of Inquiry for the period 1986-1988 were located.
All the minutes of the meetings of the Inquiry Committee (1986-1988) were delivered to the President of the House of Representatives D. Syllouris on 7/14/2017.
Source: Philenews.com
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