They are the sailors of the “Phaethon” torpedo boat that was sunk by Turkish aircrafts in 1964 and the commandos of the “Noratlas” transport aircraft that was shot down in 1974 in Nicosia. There are also the remains of other soldiers that lost their lives defending Cyprus in the various battles against the Turkish invading forces.

They are Colonel Vasilos Papalambros and warrant officers Nikolaos Kritikos and Nikolaos Athanassiou, serving in 1974 at ELDYK, Lieutenant Vasilios Panagopoulos, who was the Governor of “Noratlas” and the warrant officers Sotirios Kourounis and Stefanos Tzilivakis.

Together with them, the remains of the soldiers of ELDYK, Eleftherios Antis, Georgios Zervomanolis, Athanasios Karageorgou, Ioannis Konstantakopoulos, Konstantinos Brodimas, Ioannis Papadopoulos, Argyrios Sinnis, Manousos Triantafyllidis, Vasilios Triantis and Georgios Chamouriotakis return to Greece. Also returning to Greece is the naval officer Nikolas Niafas, who was serving at the torpedo boat “Phaethon”, which sunk in 1964.

The fallen soldiers were handed over today by the Republic of Cyprus to their relatives, in the presence of President Anastasiades and the Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos, accompanied by the Greek General Chief of Staff Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis and the Chief of the Hellenic Army Lieutenant General Alkiviadis Stefanis.

President Anastasiades expressed his deep gratitude and the undying love of Cyprus to the heroes and their relatives, stressing that their sacrifice gives us the right today to continue the struggle for the end of the Turkish occupation of the island.