The remains of recently identified Greek soldiers who fought in Cyprus against invading Turkish troops nearly a half-century ago were returned to their families on Thursday.
According to The Associated Press, eight of the 15 soldiers will be reinterred back in Greece, while the families of another six opted to have their remains reinterred at a mass grave in Cyprus’ capital Nicosia.
The grave is the country’s prime monument for the war.
The state broadcaster also report that no family members have been located for one of the soldiers.
A funeral service was held at the Ayios Panteleimonas Orthodox Church in Nicosia.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides attended the funeral service for the 15 Greek soldiers before their remains were put in Greek flag-draped coffins.
Christodoulides took to Facebook to share his comments from the ceremony.
“Today, here in this sacred place, paying due honours to our hero Greek brothers, honouring themselves and their families for their contribution to our homeland, for their sacrifice, for the blood they donated to our ancestral land, reviving again the battle fronts and of conflicts, the conditions of war, looting, bombings, the past becomes present again and magnifies memory,” he said.
“At the same time, it magnifies much more the will to continue our struggle until the blessed day of liberation and reunification of our homeland.
“We are all here today to recognise and pay our respect for those who sacrificed for this place.
“Furthermore, the repatriation of the remains to the land that gave birth to them, but also the burial of others on the land that received their bodies and blood, is a matter of national pride for all Greeks.”
Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, a week after supporters of union with Greece mounted a coup backed by the Greek junta then ruling the country.
2,002 people reportedly disappeared in 1974 and the following decade of ethnic violence.
Since 2006, when the UN search efforts began, the remains of 1,033 have been identified and returned to their families.
According to UN officials a total of 769 Greek Cypriots and 200 Turkish Cypriots are still listed as missing and as time goes on, it will become much harder to locate them.
