There have been fresh developments in the case of Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomou, the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, has revealed, as he insisted his Government was doing “everything it must” in pursuit of those responsible for the pair’s murders.
Mr Christodoulides made the remarks at the Presidential Palace, where he received dozens of motorcyclists belonging to the Isaac-Solomos Memorial Initiative, who had just returned from a commemorative trip to Greece.
Addressing the group, the President said he had followed their journey closely, both in the press and on social media, likening it to a celebrated school trip once taken by the Cypriot poet Evagoras Pallikaridis — a journey his own father, a classmate of Pallikaridis, had often described to him.
He also praised the “very targeted” route the group had chosen, and commended them for having kept up the tradition since 2008. Honouring the memory of Isaac and Solomou, he said, was the “least” Cypriot society and the state owed them — though true tribute lay in following their example.
Isaac and Solomou were killed in August 1996 amid clashes along the UN-patrolled buffer zone dividing Cyprus. The President described their deaths as nothing other than murders, insisting the case remained open. “There are developments about which the right and proper thing is not to speak publicly,” he said, adding that he was able to keep the victims’ families informed privately, away from public attention.
He reiterated that the two men had sought nothing more than the right to move freely within their own country, “as every citizen moves in a European state”, and that their sacrifice continued to define the island’s ongoing struggle against occupation.
Mr Christodoulides confirmed he intended to join the group on 8th August to mark the anniversary of Solomou’s death, and pledged further government support for the Initiative’s efforts.
He closed his remarks by addressing family members present, telling them directly: “We will not stop for a moment until we meet the obligation we have towards you, towards the Cypriot people.”
