Greek officer’s remains to be handed over to family after 46 years

The remains of a Greek officer killed during the fighting in 1974 will be handed over on Thursday – allowing his relatives to bury him after 46 years.

George Katsanis’ remains were discovered last month by the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) in a mass grave in the north.

He was killed by a Turkish sniper on 21 July 1974 during a skirmish near St Hilarion castle, Kyrenia, state media reported.

The ceremony will be attended by Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou and Greek Deputy Defence Minister Alkiviadis Stefanis.

“The government and the people hand over the remains of a great hero who fought for Cyprus,” Photiou said on Wednesday.

According to Photiou, there are more cases of remains from 1974 belonging to Greeks which have been identified. In total, 47 Greeks who went missing in 1974 have not been found yet, Photiou added.

The ceremony to hand over his remains to his two daughters will take place on Thursday 10am, in Strovolos, Nicosia.

After Thursday’s ceremony Katsanis’ remains will be flown to Greece in a C-130 military aircraft. The funeral will be held on Saturday in Sidirokastro, in northern Greece.

 

 

 

 

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.