In this picture, Greek Cypriot refugee Solomos Solomou is attempting to climb a flagpole in order to remove a Turkish flag from its mast in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus. He was then shot and killed by a Turkish officer (Deryneia, Cyprus 1996).
His cousin Tasos Isaak had just been murdered 3 days earlier by Grey Wolves in the demilitarised zone and this was right after the funeral. He was emotionally charged by both the unrecognised state of northern Cyprus and the murder of his cousin.
Also the flag masts were in the buffer zone, not inside the Turkish occupied zone where he was shot from. The officer who shot him is still wanted by Interpol but Turkey does not extradite.
