Funeral for soldier missing since 1974 held in Nicosia

The funeral for Andreas Georgiou whose fate was unknown since the 1974 invasion, was held on Saturday after his remains were identified through DNA testing.

“His parents Stavros and Athena endured his absence for decades, never finding out the truth of their beloved son’s fate,” as they passed away before his remains were ever identified, head of the humanitarian affairs for missing persons Anna Aristotelous said during the funeral in Nicosia.

Born on February 4, 1952, Georgiou was serving his military service in the 251st infantry battalion in Glykiotissa, Kyrenia, manning Kyrenia castle together with other servicemen when on July 20, 1974 the Turkish invasion occurred.

“The situation was spiralling out of control, with the Turkish army landing armoured invaders, tanks and other military equipment on the shores of Pente Mili, while warplanes attacked the wider Kyrenia area.”

On July 22, Georgiou along with another soldier and officer left the castle to meet a small convoy of tanks that arrived at the site, where the first one in line was a tank with Greek insignia.

In fact, it was “one of our own tanks that had been captured by the Turks after a fierce fight with the National Guard,” Aristotelous said.

Effectively, the tank, now under Turkish control used the Greek disguise to meet Georgiou and his fellow fighters head on as a ruse guising under the mask of safety. After they approached, the Turkish soldiers arrested them immediately.

The officer was led to a prisoner holding area.

“Georgiou and the second soldier were taken outside Kyrenia at gunpoint towards the area of Bellapais. Since then, their fate was unknown,” she added.

The events were witnessed by three soldiers who were at the castle who escaped the next morning, arriving in Ayios Epiktitos in Kyrenia.

Georgiou’s bones were found decades later in Bellapais by the Investigative Committee for the Missing Persons and subsequently identified with DNA.

“His distraught parents, Stavros and Athena, are not alive to return the remains to. They ‘left’ with the pain of his absence and their sorrow in trying to find their child.”

Georgiou’s sister also passed away eight years ago. His father died in 2001 while his mother died in 2019, where she refused to leave Cyprus for years feeling “her hero was here waiting for her.”

The mother’s other son, George, lives in Greece and she only went to him shortly before the end of her life. “Look after Andrikkos,” were her last words to her other son before she passed.

Present at the funeral were George and his children, one of which was named after Andreas Georgiou.

Adonis Ioannides was also present, “the man whose information was decisive and contributed the most to the identification of Georgiou. It was this information that he gave us which helped end the ordeal and the untold drama of anticipation and uncertainty.”