Turkey refuses to pay the relatives of the missing persons and the enclaved the 90 million which the European Court of Human Rights had ordered in 2014.

In May 2014, the ECHR ordered Turkey to pay 30 million euros to be distributed to the living relatives of the missing people, while it said 60 million euros in damages should be paid for “the enclaved Greek-Cypriot residents of the Karpas peninsula.”

So far, Turkey has not paid the sum, and has even claimed that Cyprus is not ready to distribute the sum to the interested parties.
The Missing Persons Committee of the House of Representatives was informed on Tuesday by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on issues concerning the missing persons as well as the strategic planning that will be prepared in February.

In remarks after the meeting, chairwoman of the committee, Skevi Koukouma said that members were informed on where the missing issues persons is being promoted at international fora, adding that unfortunately decisions taken are not applied due to Turkey’s stance.

She also said that the ECHR decision for Turkey to pay damages to the relatives of the missing, has not been applied since Turkey has no intention to pay up.

Koukouma further said the committee was informed on the reduced number of identifications, adding that the situation is dramatic and measures need to be taken.

The ECHR requested that the amount be distributed by the Cypriot government to the individual victims under the supervision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. The ruling calls for €30 million euros to be distributed to the relatives of missing persons and €60 million to the families of the enclaved. Turkey was required to comply within 18 months.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third.

A Committee on Missing Persons 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.