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By Jacqueline Agathocleous
Published on August 7, 2010
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EXCAVATIONS in Nicosia suburb Strovolos have unearthed three wells, believed to be the site where a number of Turkish Cypriots were buried following the 1963-64 inter-communal strife.
According to the Greek Cypriot spokesman of the tripartite Committee for Missing Persons (CMP), Elias Georgiades,
“the rough location of the three wells has been found”.
He added that the excavation team would continue to work throughout the weekend, in a bid to wrap up as soon as possible.
Georgiades explained that the three wells had been located on the map and one had already been spotted during the excavations. The entire procedure is expected to continue throughout the month. “We want to be done by the end of the month, but this cannot be said for sure,” said Georgiades.
Meanwhile, the relatives of Greek Cypriots who went missing during the 1963-64 troubles are accusing the Turkish Cypriot side of dragging its heels in offering more information on their missing loved ones.
According to Georgiades, the Greek Cypriot side last year officially submitted all data involving 42 missing Greek Cypriots from the 1963-64 period of intercommunal strife.
Yet the relatives are complaining that the Turkish Cypriot side’s delay in offering all the necessary information was hindering excavations, said Georgiades.
Two excavations - in Louroudjina and Varosha - had so far resulted in nothing, he said.
The Head of the Committee for Relatives of Greek Cypriot Missing Persons from the 1963-64 era, Haris Symeonides, said the files of the Cypriots in question had been submitted to the CMP in 2009, after the government decided to open the issue.
Symeonides said his Committee had repeatedly asked previous governments to look into the fate of those who went missing during that period, and not just those who are missing since 1974.
“While the Greek Cypriot side has done a lot to assist efforts to find Turkish Cypriot missing persons from that era, the other side hasn’t even given us one reliable piece of information that would help us locate our people,” he said.
“We have repeatedly expressed our disappointment because the other side refuses to show some good will on this issue, while our side has located almost half of the Turkish Cypriots who went missing during that period.”
Turkish Cypriot member of the CMP, Gulden Plumer Kucuk, said the Committee examined all information it was given. The CMP, she added, announced it would start excavations and identifying remains back in 2006 and technology was constantly evolving.