Possible Burial Sites of Missing from Limassol and Zodia

Recently, I was contacted by one of my Greek Cypriot readers who had read my article about the Limassol Tsiftlikouthkia (Chiftlikler) area in POLITIS and he wrote to me the following in summary:

“Dear Sevgul, good morning. I’m deeply moved by today’s article. My family has origins from Chiflikler, Tsiflikouthkia. Many of the names you mention are familiar. Paraskevoulla still lives there, probably the last of that great era of peace. They were living in peace and they still have relations. There are many stories. But there is also a case of missing Turkish Cypriots killed by EOKA B extremists… I had a discussion with my parents recently, I will talk to them later.

I am not sure how valid is the information or if it is just an assumption. The information on the names of the two murderers at Tsiflikouthkia is probably valid. Two names (both had bad deaths), one name was mentioned by a late Turkish Cypriot who was a key person in the area. Police made some questions to people in the area many years ago.

Now the assumption.

The place they buried them, a well near the Mall at Zakaki next to the golf.

I asked my father if he would show me the well, but he hasn’t been there for 60 years. I will ask somebody else.

The name is “Lakkos Peglitikos”. It is at the south part of the Limassol casino. The assumption is based on the fact that in this well it was usual to throw bodies. The name of the well is “Peglikitos Lakko” / “Lakkos o Peglitikos”. It is the name of the area. It is within a private estate now and there are plots there and they are building houses.

Probably some old men from Zakaki or Asomatos can still find the place. One of the two criminals was local, that’s why is it is assumed that this might be a possibility.”

I immediately sit down to inform the CMP so they can investigate this new possible burial site.

Remains of only two found

Apparently, on the 14th of August 1974, some Greek Cypriots had gone to the Chiftlikler area and had beaten up some Turkish Cypriot men. The following day, they would go with a Land Rover and a green bus and would collect some Turkish Cypriot men from the Chiftlikler and take them to an “unknown” place. The remains of only two of those taken from the area, Erdoghan Enver and Unal Adil had been found with the effort of Xenophon Kallis (may he rest in peace). Kallis had found their burial site at a cave in Agios Georgios Alamanos where a huge fig tree grew out of the cave.

I had written the story of “The Fig Tree” years ago in POLITIS. The EOKA-B had also kidnapped Ahmet Djemal from Episkopi and together with Erdoghan Enver and Unal Adil killed all three in the cave. They had gone to the cave with a boat – that had been the only way of entry to the cave. And after killing the three Turkish Cypriots, they had exploded some dynamite so that the cave would be closed. But the dynamite had opened a hole at the top of the cave where sunshine started coming in and there grew a huge fig tree from where the three Turkish Cypriots had been killed. It was this fig tree that attracted the attention of Kallis who was the Assistant to the Greek Cypriot Member of the Cyprus Missing Persons’ Committee. He was constantly going to this beach to swim and it attracted his attention.

 

The tree was the “Anadoliga” type of fig tree and Kallis realized that this tree did not grow in this particular area so he started investigating, finally finding out that Ahmet Djemal from Episkopi had an Anadoliga type of fig tree in his garden and the last thing he had eaten were the figs from that tree… Kallis also found out that there was a record of the sound of explosion – the dynamite - in some files (recorded by the UN). Finally he would find out that three Turkish Cypriots, two of them from Tsiflikouthkia were killed in the cave at Agios Georgios Alamanos. When CMP dug there, they found the remains of the three and identified them and they were returned for burial to their families.

But other than the two whose remains were found from the Chiftlikler area, on the same day Hasan Nahit, Nahit Salih, Kemal Ahmet, Faruk Shukru and Musa Selim were also taken away by the Greek Cypriots and are still missing.

Connection with Zakaki

Some names of Greek Cypriots from Zakaki, as well as one or two from Chiftlikler area had been mentioned to the CMP by the relatives of those missing persons. According to the relatives those who took their loved ones came from Zakaki and two Greek Cypriots from the Chiftlikler helped to point out the houses of Turkish Cypriots so that they would be taken away to be killed.

Two boys from Vretcha still missing

On the same day, two other Turkish Cypriots were taken from Limassol and they disappeared: They were two boys from Vretcha who had been working in constructions in Limassol for the past 2 years. Mulayim Kamil and Huseyin Cemal had got stuck in Limassol because of the war and could not return to their village. When they went out to the bakery to buy bread on the 15th of August 1974, they would be taken by some Greek Cypriot policemen or EOKA-B or both in a land rover and till now, no news about them.

 

16 years ago, I had got a call from a Greek Cypriot reader who told me that he knew of the burial site of two young boys taken from around Limassol. On the 2nd of November 2010, we had gone to Limassol together with Kallis and his Turkish Cypriot counterparts from the CMP and picked up my reader from his office and we would go outside Limassol so he could show us the possible burial site. Exactly 16 years ago. But no further work was done about this possible burial site by CMP. A few days ago, after calling on the CMP to refresh its investigations on this possible burial site, I would find out that “16 years ago, those responsible at the time had given ‘low points’ to this possible burial site to be explored, therefore there was never any further investigations about it”.

These two young boys were only 17 and 19 years old. So exactly 16 years later, CMP investigators would go again to the possible burial site that my Greek Cypriot reader had shown to us. My Greek Cypriot reader had been a witness to when they were taken to this area and kept in a place there, to be executed afterwards. He had shown me, Kallis and the others from CMP the area just outside Limassol where houses were being built and some rare patches of land without any buildings… Let’s hope that this time, the CMP investigations would yield results in finding their burial site.

A possible burial site in Zodia

And quite recently, another reader would tell me of a possible burial site of some Greek Cypriot missing persons in Zodia. He had seen the excavations of CMP in Kato Zodia recently and he would tell me of another possible burial site.

The CMP had been digging in Kato Zodia, searching for some Greek Cypriot missing persons, supposedly buried in a trench (information provided by one of my readers, four years ago). When he saw the excavations of CMP in his village Zodia, he remembered something so when he saw me walking in the street, he wanted to tell me this.

 This Turkish Cypriot reader of mine would tell me what he heard: That they had buried some Greek Cypriots in the toilet area of the Elementary School of Zodia in 1974. He told me that the CMP should investigate whether the toilet of the school was there or whether it was built after 1974.

 

He told me that the CMP should check this out and also see if there is any information about some “missing” Greek Cypriots being taken to this elementary school. I immediately informed the coordinators of investigations of the two offices of the CMP (The TC office and GC office) as well as writing to CMP and also giving information to the three members and their assistants. Let’s see if this information would be confirmed.

 If you know of anything about the possible burial sites I am mentioning in this article, you can call me on my mobile at 99 966518 or text me or send me a message on social media or you can contact CMP directly.

Any clues could lead to findings of the burial sites of both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot missing persons whose loved ones are still waiting after decades to learn of their fate. Let us be generous and compassionate and share what we know. This is the only way we can move forward to a better future.

*Information about possible burial sites provided by our Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot readers are being investigated by CMP.