Athens and Nicosia have agreed to exert pressure on Turkey so that it gives the information it has in its possession, with a view to establish the fate of persons still missing in Cyprus since the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974.
They also agreed to conduct excavations at Makedonitissa area in Nicosia, where Greek Nord Noratlas military transport plane was brought down by friendly fire in 1974, while trying to land at Nicosia airport and all but one of the soldiers on board died. The 33 soldiers killed were buried at the Lakatamia military cemetery in Nicosia and in 1979 their remains were sent back to their families in Greece.
DNA testing in 2003 showed that many of the remains were misidentified and that some of the bodies were never accounted for. It is believed that some of the soldiers may be buried along with the plane.
Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Overseas Cypriots Fotis Fotiou had talks on Friday in Athens with the Deputy National Defence Minister of Greece Ioannis Lampropoulos and the Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, General Mikhail Kostarakos, mainly on the missing persons issue. He also had a meeting with members of the Committee on Missing Persons in Greece.
“Our main concern is to find ways to get the information we need and which, to our knowledge, the Turkish authorities have in their possession with a view to discover the remains of the people missing,” Fotiou said.
Referring to Nord Noratlas military transport plane, he noted that this is a delicate issue which both the Greek ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs handle, in cooperation with the Cypriot authorities, adding that they will proceed with the conduct of excavations in Makedonitissa area, where the remains of the killed soldiers are believed to be buried.
Furthermore he noted that Cypriot and Greek authorities are coordinating their efforts with a view to exert pressure on Turkey to hand over to the Commissions looking into the fate of missing persons its archives and the very important information it has.
“Unfortunately,” Fotiou told CNA, “the Turks have forbidden the conduct of excavations in areas described as military zones, in some of which the remains of missing persons are buried according to our information.”
Fotiou also had a meeting with the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Ieronymos, whom he informed on the issue of missing persons.
As a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, 1,619 Greek Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield. Many of those missing were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military.
A further 41 more cases of Greek Cypriot missing persons have been added. These cases concern the period between 1963-1964, when inter-communal fighting broke out. The number of Turkish Cypriot missing since 1974 and 1963/64 stood at 503.
A total of 1073 remains have been exhumed by the CMP, 491 of which have been identified with the DNA method (366 Greek Cypriots and 125 Turkish Cypriots), according to the latest information.