JUST over 100 Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been identified and removed from the sides’ respective lists of missing persons, bringing the new total on the Greek Cypriot side to 1,534 from 1,619.
In all, 85 of those exhumed and identified through DNA testing so far have been Greek Cypriot, while out of 19 Turkish Cypriots exhumed, 13 have been identified. The Turkish Cypriot side claims some 500 missing since the intercommunal troubles in the early sixties.
From the 85 Greek Cypriots whose relatives have been notified, 47 were identified through unilateral exhumations carried out by the government, and the remaining 38 through the tripartite Committee for Missing Persons (CMP).
The third member of the CMP, Christophe Girod, told the Cyprus News Agency (that the families of those exhumed and identified in the most recent spate of exhumations had all been notified about the fate of their loved ones. He also said that the return of all remains was expected to be completed within the next few days, as Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot scientists continue their work at the Anthropological Laboratory and the Institute of Neurology and Genetics. New identifications of remains are expected in October, Girod said.
Meanwhile the funerals of identified Greek Cypriots continue. Yesterday, two more of the 1974 victims were buried in Nicosia.
The funeral of Demetris Galaktiou was held at Ayios Panteleimonas in Engomi with the eulogy delivered by Defence Minister Christodoulos Pashiardis. The second funeral, that of Evgenios Theocharides, was held at the church of Ayios Constantinos and Eleni.
