Excavations have begun in the ‘Pente Mili’ area of Karavas ( Alsancak) in Kyrenia district, for locating the remains of the first victims of the 1974 war , approximately 40-70 people.
The Parliamentary Committee on Refugees-Enclaved-Missing-Adversely Affected Persons was briefed extensively on Tuesday about developments in the issue of missing persons in Cyprus.
During the meeting, the Head of Humanitarian Affairs for Missing Persons and the Enclaved, Anna Aristotelous, told MPs that more than 49% of the cases of missing persons were still pending to this day.
At the same time, she added, emphasis has been placed on invisible aspects of the issue such as women and children who went missing. According to Aristotelous, 118 of the 1619 missing persons were women, of whom 26 have been identified. The missing persons list includes 36 children, 20 of whom were identified. The youngest was six months old and the oldest 18 years old, she said.
Representatives of the CMP, Maria Achilleos and Andreas Christou, told MPs that excavations were currently being carried out by the CMP in Yeri, and in Karavas (Pente Mili), Templos, Agia, Marathovounos and Galatia.
According to the information provided by CMP, the excavation at Pente Mili has started in one of three sites for which they have been granted permission to excavate, as it is a military area.
The CMP representatives also briefed MPs about another area where it is believed that missing persons have been buried, in Dikomo, which is now a dumpster.
They said that two surveys have been carried out by experts and that, now, permission from the Turkish Cypriot authorities was pending to initially remove excess material to begin excavation at the 1974 street level.
( Source : CNA )
