Turkish Cypriot is buried 48 years after his death

THE remains of a Turkish Cypriot who was killed in 1974 have been buried.

İbrahim Mehmet Goççino Gürsoy lost his life while defending the village of Piskobu (Yalova/Episkopi) in the south of the island on July 20, 1974. His body was hastily buried in an unmarked grave in the Turkish cemetery of Piskobu at the time.

Mr Gürsoy’s remains were excavated and identified using DNA analysis and then brought to the TRNC to be buried at the Martyrs Cemetery located within Lefkoşa Cemetery.

President Ersin Tatar, Parliamentary Speaker Zorlu Töre, Turkey’s ambassador to Lefkoşa Ali Murat Başçeri, military personnel and relatives of Mr Gürsoy attended the funeral service and burial, which was held with full military honours on Monday.

After a moment of silence and a gun salute, the flag that Mr Gürsoy’s coffin was draped in was handed over by President Tatar to Mr Gürsoy’s brother Mustafa Gürsoy, who gave a speech.

Mustafa Gürsoy said that his late brother was only 21 when he was killed and that he was the second of five brothers and sisters.

“After my brother finished school he wanted to go to university in London but when the British authorities refused to let him into the UK, he returned and started working in the British bases,” he said.

“He was still only engaged and had no children . . . when war took him away from us.

“As someone who has seen the suffering and deep depression of our mother and father, my wish is that no-one should experience a loss like this.”

Mustafa Gürsoy explained that only his father knew exactly where his brother had been buried, but that he died in 1995, eight years before the border between North and South Cyprus opened, meaning that his father never had the opportunity to show his family where the grave was located.

“All we knew was that it was located somewhere near the entrance to the Piskobu cemetery,” he said.

“Now my brother has a grave that his family and future generations can visit.”

Mustafa Gürsoy thanked investigative journalist Sevgül Uludağ for helping to locate his brother’s original burial place and Gürsel Benan, the head of the Martyrs’ Families and Disabled War Veterans Association, for helping to arrange the ceremony.

He also thanked Greek Cypriot officials and a team of archaeologists from the University of Liverpool for their help in Piskobu.