Witness says bodies of missing are buried near St Hilarion castle

THE BODIES of 17 missing Greek Cypriot men executed by the Turkish army in 1974 are buried in a well near the St Hilarion Castle in the north. The claim was made over the weekend by a Turkish Cypriot man who said he witnessed the events.

“The Turkish army left the area a long time ago, as it is one of the most promoted tourist attractions in the north.

“Imagine that tourists come and take photographs of the castle and below their feet lie the bones of Greek Cypriot missing people. It is more than tragic,” the Turkish Cypriot, who preferred to stay anonymous, was quoted as saying in Politis newspaper.

According to the report, the abduction and execution of the 17 Greek Cypriots, all of whom are male, took place a few days after the first invasion in 1974. Ten people, including four Turkish Cypriots, headed by a Turkish army officer abducted 17 Greek Cypriots from their houses in Nicosia, executed them and then buried them near the grounds of the castle, which sits on the Pentadaktylos range.

Sixteen of the 17 victims were reportedly civilians, while one of the men wore an army uniform. The Greek Cypriot men had fled from Kyrenia to Nicosia because of the invasion, but were tracked down by the Turkish army in the Nicosia houses where they had found refuge.

The eyewitness also claims to have information on the identity of the four Turkish Cypriots who participated in the killings.

“Two of the four Turkish Cypriots now live in Kyrenia and a third man lives in Nicosia. They live among us, we know them and what is worse, today they frequently visit the south,” the man was quoted as saying.

Responding to the report, state spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said that the information will be evaluated and the case investigated.

“Such information is always investigated. There is the procedure followed by the Committee on Missing People (CMP). It is with such information and through these procedures followed by the CMP that we have traced several burial sites and mass graves, to continue with the retrieval and identification process,” Stefanou said.

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.