A report of the discovery of the bodies of two Turkish Cypriot men killed more than five decades ago during a period of turmoil on the divided island revives hopes for more findings at a time of likely reconciliation between Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

Turkish Cypriot media outlets have reported that the bodies of Şevket Kadir and İbrahim Nidai, who went missing and were reportedly killed by Greek Cypriots in 1963, were discovered in a charcoal pit in Girne (Kyrenia) last week. The bodies were found after an 85-year-old Greek Cypriot man who said he helped dump the two bodies came forward to locate the site. The discovery after five decades may fuel hopes for more findings of the missing who fell victim to a conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. It comes one week after a possible new location of a mass grave where several Greek Cypriots who went missing in the 1970s were discovered in Lefkoşa (Nicosia).

Work to identify the bodies is still underway. The two men, whose bodies were found in their buried car, were victims of a conflict between Turkish and Greek Cypriots in the 1960s that culminated in Turkey landing troops on the island a decade later to stop attacks on Turkish Cypriots. Though the Turkish military operation succeeded in stopping the killings, the island remains sharply divided between the two communities that recently decided to boost reunification talks.

Kadir and Nidai were stopped at a checkpoint set up by Greek Cypriots between Kyrenia and Lapithos (Lapta) and that was the last time they were heard from.

Turkish Cypriot media outlets said the discovery came after an unidentified Greek Cypriot man aged 85 called the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), a joint body of Turkish and Greek Cypriot officials tasked with finding people that went missing during the turmoil in the 1960s. The man said he helped bury Nidai and Kadir after others with him killed the two Turkish Cypriots and described the spot where the two men were buried. Last Thursday, the car and two decayed bodies were found in a charcoal pit by CMP crews who have excavated 999 sites and discovered 969 bodies in those sites since it was established in 1981.

The victims were reportedly members of the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT), a paramilitary group founded in response to the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a Greek Cypriot guerrilla group that targeted Turkish Cypriots in a campaign of violence in the late 1950s and 1960s. It is not known whether EOKA was responsible for the killings of Kadir and Nidai.

Salahi Uçkan, the son of Kadir, was three when his father went missing. Speaking to Turkish Cypriot media as he was watching the excavations, he said he felt like his father "had died today." Uçkan told Kıbrıs Postası the discovery put an end to rumors about the fate of his father and Nidai. "We knew they were shot dead, but there were rumors that they were thrown into the sea after the murders," he said. Uçkan said there have been anonymous tip-offs about the location of the burial site since the two men went missing, but the confession of the anonymous Greek Cypriot, "now a bed-ridden man," pointed to the exact location.

Nidai's daughter İmren Türk told Kıbrıs Postası that she long feared that the possible location of the two men's grave would disappear. "They could have erected a building there, and we would never found them. I am very happy now because at least I will have a grave of my father where I can pray and put flowers," she said.

According to the CMP, 1,508 Greek Cypriots and 493 Turkish Cypriots remain missing from the 1960s and 1970s. The bodies of 451 Greek Cypriots and 144 Turkish Cypriots identified after their discovery in burial sites have been returned to their families. Time remains the main obstacle to identifying the bodies as forensic teams' meticulous work to identify the victims are hindered by a lack of witnesses and relatives after all the time that has passed.

Cyprus is divided into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the north, an entity recognized only by Turkey, and the Republic of Cyprus in the south, an internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot dominated state. The Greek Cypriot government had unilaterally suspended reunification talks last October after Turkey, the guarantor state for the TRNC, sent an exploratory ship on behalf of Turkish Cyprus for seismic research off the coast of Greek Cyprus, which protested the move as a violation of the Greek Cypriot part of the island. On May 28, after the election of new TRNC President Mustafa Akıncı, the leaders of the two sides agreed on a five-step plan to resolve the issue. These steps include opening more crossing points between the two sides, interconnecting power grids and other technical issues.