THOUSANDS of mourners attended the emotionally charged funeral yesterday of Mr Solomos Solomou, the Greek Cypriot shot dead by security forces on the Turkish occupied side during a protest against Turkey's continuing occupation of the northern third of the island.
Massed ranks of Greek Cypriot police in riot gear blocked access to the nearby UN patrolled buffers zone to prevent a repeat of the violence that led to the death of Mr Solomou on Wednesday after the funeral of another Greek Cypriot killed by Turks in the same area of the zone last Sunday.
Witnesses said police turned back small groups of youths who tried to approach the area. Police helicopters circled overhead.
In his sermon, Archbishop Chrysostomos appealed to young Greek Cypriots to refrain from further demonstrations against Turkey's occupation, saying he was conveying a plea by mothers.
"Your demonstrations showed you have the Greek fighting spirit which leads you. You helped the political leadership promote the just demands of Cyprus for justice and restoration of human rights. Because the aim of the event was achieved you should avoid new demonstrations.
"Soon you will show again that you are Greeks, descendants of heroes and martyrs," the archbishop told the packed congregation in St George's Church, Paralimni.
Turkish Cypriots had accused the archbishop of inciting Greek Cypriots to violence in a fiery sermon, he gave at the first funeral on Wednesday.
The Mayor of Paralimni, Mr Nicos Vlittis, who paid tribute to Mr Solomou, said: "You wanted to give the message that we don't succumb to brutal threats. You revived our dignity and filled our soul with strength and pride. You were not scared, no barbed wire of shame could stop you."
A large banner hanging outside the church proclaimed the slogan of the Greek independence movement, "Freedom or Death."
President Glafkos Clerides of Cyprus, who attended Wednesday's funeral, was not to be seen in Paralimni yesterday. Neither was the Greek Prime Minister, Mr Costas Simitis, who had earlier said he would be there for Mr Solomou's burial. Both apparently stayed away in an attempt to cool nationalist passions.
Mr Simitis is to fly to the island today instead to boost morale and join a Cypriot national council meeting.
In Dublin, the Irish Presidency of the EU yesterday condemned Turkish Cypriot security forces for using excessive force against the demonstrators and expressed concern about injuries sustained by UN peacekeepers.
The US accused the Turkish Cypriot side of using disproportionate force against Wednesday's protest. Mr Solomou was shot dead as he tried to climb a flagpole to pull down a Turkish flag beside the buffer zone.
Police sources said a postmortem showed he had been hit by five bullets in the neck, leg, heart and abdomen. The bullets came from two guns.
As dusk fell, people threw roses on Mr Solomou's coffin during its last journey to the village cemetery. In nearby villages youths in black gathered at coffee houses. Some were on motorcycles bearing Greek flags but said they would not repeat their attempts to breach the buffer zone.
AFP adds:
Greek demonstrators attacked Turkish consulates in the towns of Komotini and Rhodes yesterday and burned the Turkish flag in protest at the Turkish Cypriot authorities' force against demonstrators, police said.
In the northern town of Komotini, four Muslims were hurt, two women seriously, a spokesman for the Muslim community said.