Former MEP Niyazi Kizilyurek apologizes for 1996 killings of Tasos Isaac and Solomos Solomou

In August 2026, Niyazi Kizilyurek, a former Turkish Cypriot Member of the European Parliament, publicly apologized to Anastasia Isaac, the daughter of Tasos Isaac, for the 1996 killings of her father and Solomos Solomou. In a social media post, Kizilyurek expressed profound shame, describing the events as a state-organized "ritual of death" and noting that journalists were threatened by occupation authorities at the time. He stated that the perpetrators acted in the name of the Turkish Cypriot community, necessitating his apology.

Tasos Isaac, 24, was beaten to death on August 11, 1996, during a motorcycle protest in the Deryneia buffer zone. Three days later, on August 14, his cousin Solomos Solomou, 26, was shot dead while climbing a flagpole. In 2008, the European Court of Human Rights held Turkey responsible for violating the right to life in the death of Solomou.

Responding to the apology, Anastasia Isaac rejected the gesture, stating that a simple apology is insufficient. She demanded that those responsible for the violence—some of whom she alleges later attained political office—be held accountable through the judicial system. She emphasized that justice for all families affected by the 1996 violence remains the primary obligation of those in power.