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Convicted spy for Turkey allowed free access to Cyprus naval base: report
AFP: 12/9/2004

NICOSIA, Dec 9 (AFP) - The Cypriot military is investigating a serious security breach following claims that a man convicted of spying for Turkey was allowed access to a sensitive military installation, a report said Thursday.

According to Politis newspaper, it was the spy himself who declared his past to a shocked naval officer who had spoken to him about confidential security matters.

George Josephides, 49, was allegedly employed as a technician by a company contracted to carry out work at the Evangelos Florakis naval base in Mari on the south coast.

He was party to conversations among senior officers who discussed security measures at the base, including the capability of new radar systems on patrol boats, said Politis.

The ex-spy claims he was allowed to come and ago anywhere on the base and had become such a fixture that he was invited to attend a ceremony there to celebrate the feast of the navy's patron, Saint Nicholas, on December 6.

It appears that Josephides went to Politis newspaper with his story to prove that he was wrongly convicted of spying as he could have easily sold on the secrets that he was told this time around.

In 1988, Josephides was arrested attempting to cross into the Turkish-held north of the island where Turkish troops remain since invading Cyprus 30 years ago in response to a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

He was convicted on four counts of spying and two counts of passing on information.

He was released in March 2003 after serving four-and-a-half years of a six-year prison term