Relatives of missing persons have called on Turkey to allow effective investigation into the fate of all the missing persons in Cyprus. In a press release, the missing persons’ relatives association marks the 65th anniversary since the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights on December 10 1948, noting that it was an event which gave people hope that justice and mutual respect and understanding would prevail. However, the association adds these hopes have been dashed. “We continue to expect that at last Turkey will realize that being honest on this matter is a fundamental obligation that it needs to fulfill by allowing for effective investigation into the fate of all the missing persons of Cyprus,” it adds.

Such a development, the press release continues, would constitute a concrete confidence building measure and would prove Turkey’s honest intention to overcome bitter and tragic past memories and to move on to a peaceful coexistence. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. As a result of the invasion, 1619 Greek-Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield. Among them, however, were many civilians, women and children, arrested by the Turkish invasion troops and Turkish-Cypriot paramilitary groups, within the area controlled by the Turkish army after the end of hostilities and far away from the battlefield.

Many of those missing were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military. A further 41 more cases of Greek Cypriot missing persons have been recently added. These cases concern the period between 1963-1964, when inter-communal fighting broke out but none of them has been identified yet. The number of Turkish Cypriot missing since 1974 and 1963/64 stands at 503. According to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) the total number of identifications has risen to 464 by November 2013 from 337 at the end of 2012, of which 77% or 359 were Greek Cypriots and 23% which corresponds to 107 identifications were Turkish Cypriots. Since the latest effort of the identification programme began in 2006, 1012 exhumations have been carried out throughout Cyprus.