NICOSIA, Jan 14 (AFP) - A search by foreign experts in the north of divided Cyprus has failed to find possible mass graves of Greek Cypriots missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, an official said Friday.
Experts with the Britain-based International Forensic Centre of Excellence for the Investigation of Genocide (INFORCE) began digging in the north Nicosia suburb of Trachonas last week but discovered no evidence of mass graves.
Pierre Guberan, Swiss member of the UN-sponsored tripartite Committee of Missing Persons (CMP) confirmed to AFP that nothing was found during the exploratory digs.
"INFORCE has left the island and I will start a new round of discussions next week and see how to proceed," said Guberan.
The highly charged "missing" issue has been a major obstacle to solving the decades-long Cyprus problem, and the Greek Cypriots blame the latest failure on the unwillingness of the Turkish side to reveal what really happened in 1974.
"The largest responsibility to resolve this issue after so many years lies with the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side who do not allow proper investigation of the fate of the missing or refuse to present evidence they have at their disposal," Cypriot government spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides told reporters.
Relatives of the missing have expressed "bitter disappointment" at having their hopes raised after so long, only to see them dashed so quickly.
Trachonas was one of three locations Turkish Cypriot authorities identified in 1998 as possible mass burial sites.
Nicosia says Turkey has yet to comply with a May 2001 European Court of Human Rights ruling ordering it to investigate some 1,479 cases of Greek Cypriots who disappeared after last being seen alive in Turkish custody.
The CMP, comprising one representative from each side and a UN envoy, has the files of those 1,479 Cypriots listed as missing.
01/14/2005 16:03 GMT - AFP