Over 50% of cases before CMP still missing, Presidential Commissioner says
CNA – Cyprus/NICOSIA 20/07/2020 10:21

Over 50% of cases which are before the  in Cyprus ) are still missing and despite coordinated efforts in Cyprus and abroad, Turkish inhumane intransigence has not changed, Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou has said.

Photiou was addressing an event which commemorated missing persons in Cyprus on the occasion of the anniversaries of the 1974 coup instigated by the Greek military junta and the subsequent Turkish invasion of Cyprus which resulted in the occupation of the island’s northern third until today, at the military cemetery and a war memorial, known as Tymvos Makedonitissas.

As he pointed out, the fact that over 50% of cases before the CMP are still missing is indicative of the tragic state of affairs, adding that this is due to the negative stance of the Turkish occupying power for almost half a century.

“Turkish cruelty is unprecedented,” he said.

Photiou continued noting that the problems the CMP is faced with are many and serious. In recent years, he said, there has been a dramatic drop in locating remains in the Turkish occupying areas and as a result there has also been a drop in the number of DNA identifications.

Turkey refuses to cooperate as to the whereabouts of mass graves of people who perished in the battlefields, neither to indicate new graves of remains which were purposely relocated from the initial burial site, he said. The requests for access to the Turkish army’s archives as well as to be allowed to excavate in military zones are met with the same refusal, he added.

At the same time, the Turkish occupying power ignores and refuses to implement the European Court of Human Rights decisions and UN and EU resolutions, Photiou said.

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 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.