Turkey stubbornly refuses to open its archives to the Committee for Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP) and give information, particularly as regards the relocation of remains, Cyprus Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou said on Tuesday, noting that “for 46 years we have been searching for 800 persons who went missing.”

Photiou, who attended a meeting of the parliamentary committee on refugees, enclaved, missing and adversely affected persons said that apart from Ashia, where the Committee is looking for the remains of 80 missing persons that have been relocated, there is information that there is also a large number of remains that have been intentionally relocated in Dikomo, Stroggylos, Kontemenos, Lapithos, Kornokipos, Agastina and Agios Ilarionas.

Moreover, he expressed concern about what is going on as regards the fenced off city of Famagusta. He noted that there is reliable information there there are mass graves in the Turkish occupied city of Famagusta.

We want to give the message that this humanitarian issue is negatively affected by the Turkish President`s and the Turkish Cypriot leader`s plans for Famagusta, he added.

He noted that there is the danger that sites where the remains of missing persons are buried will be destroyed due to developments as regards Famagusta.

Photiou said that the Greek Cypriot member of CMP has put forward these issues before the Committee. Moreover, he noted due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Committee`s work is now more difficult.
 
Photiou said that in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry contacts are being held at all levels with the EU and the UN, so that the issue of missing persons remains one of the important matters which these institutions are dealing with.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. 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.

The Turkish side illegally opened on October 8 part of the beach of the abandoned town of Famagusta, in violation to numerous UN resolutions.
 
Varosha, the fenced off section of the Turkish occupied town of Famagusta, is often described as a ‘ghost town’. UN Security Council resolution 550 (1984) considers any attempts to settle any part of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants as inadmissible and calls for the transfer of this area to the administration of the UN. UN Security Council resolution 789 (1992) also urges that with a view to the implementation of resolution 550 (1984), the area at present under the control of the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus be extended to include Varosha.