Given the severity of confirmed relocation cases in the Turkish-occupied part of Cyprus and the interference with burial sites of missing persons for construction purposes, Turkey is under the obligation to ensure that no interference with burial sites takes place in the future, by employing practical and effective means, says the government of Cyprus.

According to Nicosia, it has been established that the intentional relocation of remains belonging to missing persons has occurred in four sites in the northern, occupied part of Cyprus.

In a memorandum submitted on Monday to the Committee of Ministers, ahead of a meeting in Strasbourg to discuss, inter alia, the issue of missing persons, Nicosia stresses that “the respondent state is under an obligation to urgently take positive measures for the protection of such sites”.