DIGGINGS COMPLETED IN PARALIMNI

Autonomous Missing Persons Committee’s Turkish Cypriot Vice-Member and the Director of the Political Affairs and Policy Planning Department of the Deputy Prime Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Erdengiz, in a press statement issued yesterday (6 June) stated that the diggings, which started on Thursday (1 June) in South Cyprus at Paralimni in a well completed on Sunday.

Erdengiz pointed out that bones belonging to at least four persons, who are thought to be a Turkish Cypriot family were found, but this will be come definite after the DNA tests. Erdengiz added that the bones could belong to a Turkish Cypriot family from Magusa who were lost in 1964.

Erdengiz indicated that if the bones found in the well were identified to belong to Turkish Cypriots, this place would be the first mass grave found in South Cyprus belonging to Turkish Cypriots since 1974.

Stressing that in order to identify to whom the bones belonged to, DNA tests should be made on the blood samples taken from the bones and the families of the missing persons, Ahmet Erdengiz said they were planning to complete the construction of the Anthropology Laboratory in the buffer zone within 1.5-2 months.

According to the official information given by the Autonomous Missing Persons Committee, there are 502 Turkish Cypriots and 1400 Greek Cypriots in the Missing Persons list.