Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues and Overseas Cypriots, Fotis Fotiou, has told CNA that exhumations will take place at a cemetery in Nicosia, aiming at the scientific identification of the remains of six Greeks killed in August 1964, when Turkish Air Force jets bombed Phaethon patrol boat which was sailing close to Xeros Harbour at Morphou Bay, during the Tylliria battle. Twenty-three men were aboard the ship and one Cypriot was also killed.

The six Greeks were buried at Saints Constantinos and Eleni cemetery in Nicosia. When exhumations took place several years later, the wrong remains were given to some of the relatives. Fotiou noted that in two cases the remains were sent back to Cyprus, as DNA tests showed that the wrong remains had been given to one of the two families.

The Commissioner said that the aim of the exhumations is to return the right remains to the relatives of the six Greek nationals, namely Nikolaos Niafas from Lamia, Nikolaos Kappadoukas from Skopelos, Panagis Theodoratos from Kefallinia, Nikolaos Panagou from Arkadia, Spyridon Agathou from Corfu and Panagiotis Chrysoulis from Athens. The Cypriot man who was killed is Antis Filitas from Morphou.

Meanwhile, Fotiou noted that a campaign is about to begin with the participation of overseas Cypriots organisations, with a view to raise awareness abroad, mainly in Europe, the USA, Australia and Canada, as regards to the issue of missing persons.

He noted that in this framework, he had earlier this week a meeting with a Greek Cypriots` London-based Committee dealing with the issue of missing persons.

Fotiou said that some material to raise awareness on this issue, including testimonies by relatives of missing persons, photos of missing persons and a short film in Greek and English, will be sent to the overseas Cypriots organisations to be used.

We want to inform the public opinion and make the people and decision-making centres understand the need to solve this humanitarian issue the soonest possible, he noted, stressing the need for foreign countries to exert pressure on Turkey to hand over information from its archives regarding the removal of remains and the mass graves where remains were buried after being collected in July and August 1974.

Fotiou said that the material that will be sent to the overseas Cypriots organisations will also be presented during events that will be organised abroad.

“Time is our worst enemy. Only a few remains are currently being discovered, Turkey does not cooperate as it should, while people who have information about the fate of missing persons are getting old and at some point will not be among us any more,” he added.

If nothing is done now, then we will have a serious problem as regards the settlement of this humanitarian issue, he added.

Fotiou noted that the members of the London-based Committee of overseas Cypriots told him that they will intensify their efforts to locate people who may have information as regards missing person cases.

Furthermore, the Commissioner stressed that the Cyprus government is doing its utmost in order to determine the fate of Turkish Cypriot missing persons as well, making use of the information which Greek Cypriots have given.

As regards the excavations that are taking place in Turkish military zones in Cyprus` occupied areas, Fotiou said that so far excavations have been carried out in 6-8 military zones, however “very few remains have been discovered.” The Turkish military authorities have given permission to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) to conduct excavations in 30 military zones.

However, Fotiou warned that this will not solve the issue of missing persons as the maximum number of persons whose remains may be discovered there is estimated at 70.

July 2007 marked a turning point of historical significance: the CMP began returning the first remains of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot individuals to their families. These individuals had been missing since the tragic events of 1963-64 and 1974.

The primary objective of the CMP is to enable relatives of missing persons to recover the remains of their loved ones, arrange for a proper burial and close a long period of anguish and uncertainty.

According to the figures currently posted on the CMP site, out of 1,508 Greek Cypriots who went missing, the remains of 499 have been identified and returned to their families, while out of 493 Turkish Cypriots who went missing, the remains of 181 were identified and returned to their families.