Identities of 15 Greek commandos have been determined

Cyprus Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues Fotis Fotiou announced on Monday that the remains of 15 persons have been identified during excavations at the site where Greek warplane `Noratlas`, carrying commandos from Crete, was downed by the Greek friendly fire in July 1974 on the outskirts of Nicosia.

He also said that the remains of two persons who were wrongly given to relatives of the Noratlas warplane have been returned.

Noratlas was carrying 28 Greek commandos and four pilots. One soldier, Thanasis Zafiriou, survived the crash. The remains of sixteen of these people had already been found in the past and were buried in a military cemetery in Nicosia.

Fotiou referred to the repatriation of two cases of remains that were wrongly given to relatives in Greece from Cyprus, noting in the past the remains of one person were returned and a further 13 cases are still pending.

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.