Cyprus government calls on Turkey to cooperate in missing persons issue

The government of the Republic of Cyprus, on the occasion of the International Day of the Disappeared, “calls on Turkey once again to cooperate at last and take the political and humanitarian decisions necessary and expected on her behalf, to the benefit of the families” of missing persons, the Office of the Presidential Commissioner says.

In a press release, the Office of the Presidential Commissioner also calls on anyone who has any information about possible burial sites of missing persons, to notify the authorities.

Designating the 30th of August as the International Day of the Disappeared by the UN “must serve as a starting point for immediate actions on behalf of all those who are in a position to exert the necessary press on the occupation force to solve the tragedy of the missing persons,” the press release says.

The Office of the Presidential Commissioner assures that it will intensify efforts to determine the fate of each and every missing person.

According to an agreed list of missing persons, there are 2,000 missing persons in Cyprus, of which 492 are Turkish Cypriots and 1,508 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963 to 1964 and the Turkish invasion of 1974. Many remains have already been exhumed, identified and returned to the families.