Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Saturday that despite the obstacles raised by the Turkish side, we continue and will continue to do everything possible to ascertain the fate of every missing person.

Addressing an event to mark the decoration of the Christmas Tree for the Missing Persons in central Nicosia, Photiou said the tree is adorned with pictures of those missing and symbolizes Turkey’s responsibilities, the continued drama that the relatives of the missing are going through and an unfulfilled duty to ascertain the fate of all missing since the 1974 Turkish invasion.

Photiou conveyed the greetings and support of the President of the Republic, as well as his pledge to continue working with all his strength to resolve “this humanitarian issue”.

The representative of the Pancyprian Committee for the missing persons, Marios Antoniades said we are lending a voice to our missing persons and assuring them that their rights will not be trampled over.

A similar tree was also set up in Limassol.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. Since then, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown.

A Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has been established, upon agreement between the leaders of the two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning the remains of missing persons to their relatives.

According to data published on the CMP website by October 31, 2017, the remains 9of 635 Greek Cypriots were identified and returned to their families while 875 are still missing.

As regards the Turkish Cypriots, the remains of 197 were identified and returned to their families by October 31, 2017, while 295 are still missing. The number of sites excavated is 1171.