Defence ministry rejects claims Cypriot is unable to return home due to ‘desertion’

Defence ministry rejects claims Cypriot is unable to return home due to ‘desertion’

Questions over the military status of a 24-year-old Cypriot living in South Africa prompted a response from the defence ministry on Thursday after the hunter’s movement claimed the man was unable to return to Cyprus to visit his seriously ill mother. In a letter addressed to Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas, the movement alleged that the republic had classified the young man as a ‘deserter’, preventing him from travelling to Cyprus without risk o…