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March 28
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Members of the Cypriot Armenian community have been asked to provide DNA samples on January 6, after a Christmas church service in Nicosia for research that aims to map the genetic background of the Cypriot population.

Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6 and the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics (Cing), which is carrying out the research, has chosen this date as the most suitable for the DNA collection since it the church was expected to see a bigger turnout than usual.

Members of the Armenian community over the age of 18 who were born in Cyprus participated in the project.

The aim of the study is to identify the genetic profile of Armenians living in Cyprus, Cyprus Mail reported.  

The team has already published the results of a similar study on Greek and Turkish Cypriots.

If the team is able to collect between 150 and 200 DNA samples from the Armenian community, they will be able to have the results by summer.

According to the Armenian MP in the Cypriot House of Representatives, Vartkes Mahdessian, there are around 4,000 Armenians living in Cyprus.

The Armenian community in Cyprus consists mostly of descendants of the Genocide survivors, Mahdessian said, although there were Armenians on the island as early as 578 AD.

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