Cyprus returns remains of Greek soldiers killed in accident
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Cyprus has returned remains of Greek commandos and air force crew killed in a military accident in 1974 when Turkey invaded the Mediterranean island.
At a ceremony Tuesday, President Nicos Anastasiades issued an apology for the incident — known as the Noratlas air crash — when a military transport plane was shot down by Cypriot fire and 31 officers were killed.
The remains were located and identified after DNA analysis that lasted several years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The aircraft was one of around a dozen carrying 318 Greek commandos sent to the island following the invasion that was triggered when supporters of Cyprus' union with Greece mounted a short-lived coup.
The island remains divided along ethnic lines, with Turkish-held north and the Greek Cypriot south, where the internationally recognized government is based.