Cyprus-Forum.com

[humanist]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/164378.html

Nicosia - The divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus spent large parts of 2007 in grief as hundreds of people who vanished decades ago have now been confirmed dead. For some, the news came as a rude awakening to reality after so many years of hope, while for others it finally closed the circle of more than 30 years of agonizing uncertainty.

"Even if the only thing remaining of them is their bones, then this is enough so that I can at least kiss and see them buried in a proper grave now while I am still alive," said 85-year-old Panagiota Pavlou Solomi, whose husband and 17-year-old son were abducted by the Turkish Army in the north-eastern part of the island just days after it invaded.

Panagiota's neighbours in the settlement camp where she currently lives in Limmasol have reclaimed the remains of 38 identified relatives, while the vast majority like herself wait by the phone in agony.

Since the launch of the project in August 2006, Greek and Turkish Cypriot scientists working under the guidance of the Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Team have been exhuming remains from unmarked graves throughout the island.

The remains of some 352 people have so been exhumed so far, a fraction of the 1,468 Greek Cypriots and 502 Turkish Cypriots still unaccounted for since the inter-communal strife of 1963-64 and during the Turkish invasion of 1974.

Turkey invaded the island's northern third in response to an Athens-engineered coup in Nicosia which was aimed at union with Greece.

DNA tests conducted by the UN-led Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has confirmed the identity of 57 remains unearthed on both sides of the divide.

Describing the process that has been under way for much of the year of informing the families of those who have been identified through joint exhumation and DNA testing, CMP member Elias Giorgiadis said people's feelings were mixed.

"There is a mixture of emotions which range from shock of losing the last bit of hope that you have to extreme sorrow and anger," he said, adding that he was amazed by the strength displayed by the families.

"There have also been positive feelings which is realizing that the painful situation is over and people can actually perform the religious rites and visit the grave of their loved one. It's the same for the Turkish Cypriot families. The pain is common for them as well."

The development, although small, is considered a significant event in Cyprus' violent history, one which puts an end to decades of uncertainty and allows relatives from both the Christian and Muslim faiths to finally grieve for their dead.

Officials at the CMP say the bi-communal project could eventually lead to a solution to the decades-old division of the island.

"We also hope that this bi-communal project - the only bi-communal project currently underway on the island - will serve as a confidence-building measure and will hopefully set the example towards reunification," the CMP's Christophe Girod told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

While identifications of the missing moved forward, no progress was made over the past year, however, on a political level in bilateral talks which would pave the way for peace negotiations.

A rare face-to-face encounter between Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat on the island in September left the two sides miles apart on how to proceed on rekindling reunification talks.

Talat had accused the Greek Cypriot leader of trying to put off serious talks indefinitely, saying the Greek Cypriots had no incentive for real peace since they joined the European Union in May 2004 and the eurozone in January 2007.

The internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south joined the bloc a month after voting "no" to a last-ditch UN plan to reunify the island.

The Turkish Cypriots, who voted "yes" to the peace plan in a simultaneous referendum were left with promises by the European Union to ease the isolation of the northern-third of the island, which is recognized only by Turkey. Aid, however, has since been blocked by Cyprus.