THE REMAINS of two Greek soldiers killed during the 1974 Turkish invasion were yesterday handed to Greek army representatives during a ceremony held at the Foreign Ministry.
The remains of Asimakis Burekas, a soldier who had served in the Greek Force in Cyprus and whose name was on the missing persons list, and of Alexis Christopoulos who was killed during the invasion, are due to be taken to Greece and be given to their families for burial today.
In an emotionally charged atmosphere, Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides spoke with tears in his eyes, explaining the remains had been covered with the flags of Greece and Cyprus, “something that indicates the common struggles of Greece and Cyprus.”
Since 1999, the Cypriot authorities have been conducting tests on remains in marked and unmarked graves at two cemeteries in Nicosia, and so far about 180 remains have been identified through DNA testing; 26 of those relate to cases of previously missing persons, 76 to military personnel known to have been killed and six to civilians dead.
Cassoulides on Tuesday admitted that remains belonging to Cypriots killed during the 1974 invasion could have been incorrectly identified during earlier exhumations as those of Greek war victims and sent for burial in Greece.
It appears Greek families may now be forced to dig up what they believed to be their loved ones’ remains so they can be returned to Cyprus for further tests.
The minister said the possible confusion concerned remains exhumed in a “non-scientific” manner from unmarked graves in Cyprus by Greek teams between 1979 and 1981.
“All necessary measures are being taken so that, if remains of Cypriots have been handed over to Greek families, these can be identified and returned to Cyprus,” Cassoulides added.
Nicos Theodosiou, the chairman of the Association of Relatives of the Missing, said yesterday he was aware of ” this chaos” and called on the Greek and Cypriot governments to address the problem.
“The authorities should do everything in their powers to return the remains in Cyprus, where they belong. They should handle this matter with respect to the relatives of the missing,” he stressed.
Theodosiou said that in general, exhumations and identification procedures had been carried out in a scientific manner.
The Association yesterday submitted a memorandum to embassies, calling on foreign governments to use the May 10 European Court verdict slamming Turkey over mass violations of human rights in Cyprus to restore the rights of the relatives of the missing.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
