The Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons in Cyprus has appealed to the international community to apply pressure on Turkey to cooperate in investigations for the fate of missing persons.

Their position is set out in a memorandum handed to the embassies of the United States and Russia in Nicosia as part of various events to mark the 29th Marathon of Love for Missing Persons.

A delegation of the Committee visited Tuesday the embassies, accompanied by members of women organizations and relatives holding pictures of their beloved, still waiting to learn about their fate 40 years after Turkey’s invasion and occupation of Cyprus’ northern part.

“There are more than 200 locations, which we known of and must be explored and there are large mass graves in areas which Turkey calls military zones,” said the Executive Secretary of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons Nikos Theodosiou.

He protested the Turkish military refusal to allow excavations and exhumations in areas it describes as “military zones”.

“Time passes, families continue to suffer and something should be done as soon as possible,” said Theodosiou.

He added that the CMP should investigate the conditions of death of missing persons because families have the right to information and truth.

“We do not want to receive only bones, we want to know what had happened at the day our relatives were lost,” he said.

The memorandum says inter alia: “We ask you to work towards securing the necessary cooperation, so that an effective investigation should be pursued for all missing persons in Cyprus. This can be achieved by persuading all parties concerned to move in the direction of providing access to all places where missing persons were last seen, including military zones, and also access to the sources of relevant information in their possession”.

As a result of the Turkish invasion, 1,619 Greek Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in 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 stood at 503.

A total of 1073 remains have been exhumed by the CMP, 491 of which have been identified with the DNA method (366 Greek Cypriots and 125 Turkish Cypriots).