9 9A proposal to exhume the remains of 31 persons, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, who were buried following air raids by the Turkish air force during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus at the Athalassa Psychiatric Hospital, on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia, will be submitted for approval by the Cabinet as soon as possible, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou has told CNA.
Photiou tweeted yesterday that the first remains of the 31 missing persons had been located and thanked the research team for their work and today he told CNA that the excavation work will focus on finding and identifying the remains of all those who were buried at this location.
“The government believes that we have a legal and moral obligation to hand over the identified remains to their families so that they can then have a dignified funeral in accordance with their traditions,” Photiou said.