The Association for Commemorating the Muratağa-Atlılar-Sandallar Martyrs on Monday issued a written statement demanding that the martyrs buried in a mass grave be exhumed and given the proper burial they deserve following an identification process.

The association, reminded that a decision had been taken by members of the Committee on Missing Persons in January 2023 to open the mass grave of the Atlılar martyrs and identify the martyrs,  and that this decision was also communicated to the association.

It also reminded that the martyrs in Muratağa and Sandallar had been given the proper burial they deserved but that the mass grave of the Atlılar martyrs had been left in limbo due to political considerations.

“It is unacceptable for the mass grave of the Atlılar martyrs to be kept waiting since 2015. Our pains are always kept fresh,” the statement read.

Accusing the Greek Cypriot administration of political exploitation, the association called on the committee to give the go ahead and not to play with the feelings of the grieving relatives.

“We urgently demand that the martyrs buried in the mass grave be identified and buried in the way they deserve,” the statement concluded.