The Committee on Missing Persons which has been conducting excavation work behind the Central Prison in Lefkoşa has announced that the remains of 20 Greek Cypriots have been found in the first stage of excavations.
According to the information given by the Deputy Turkish Cypriot Member of the Committee on Missing Persons, the second stage of excavations will restart in the coming days.
It was also stated that works to determine the identities of the remains are expected to be completed within the next year.
The corpses of around 40-50 Greek Cypriots who died during the conflicts in 1974 were brought in vehicles to the Ledra Palace Gate and tried to be given to the Greek Cypriot authorities through the UN but when they refused to accept the corpses, they were buried behind the Central Prison in Lefkoşa.
According to the list of the missing persons, all the missing Turkish Cypriots were civilian and 25-28% of them were women and children, however 12% of the missing Greek Cypriots were women and children and 55% of them were Greek and Greek Cypriot soldiers.