Population genetics of Turkish Cypriots from Cyprus: Forensic and anthropological implications

Abstract

Turkish Cypriot DNA Laboratory (TCDL) operates under the Turkish Cypriot Member Office of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP). TCDL contributes to the UN-led CMP Project on Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons and also plays a leading role in the establishment of forensic genetic services in North Cyprus. A family reference sample (FRS) bank comprising the relatives of the Turkish Cypriot missing persons (MiPs) from the 1963/64 and 1974 era was established first. Since 2012, TCDL assumed full responsibility for DNA typing of all Turkish Cypriot FRSs, which are then used for familial DNA matching with those for the skeletal remains exhumed from all over Cyprus and analyzed at international laboratories such as ICMP and Bode Technology. Using a second sample bank comprising Turkish Cypriot volunteer samples, TCDL also conducts population studies for requisite statistical evaluations of MiP identifications.