New British Minister of State for Europe calls for full cooperation on the work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus

New British Minister of State for Europe calls for full cooperation on the work of the CMP

The importance of full cooperation from all sides in order to assist the work of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), is highlighted in a letter by the new Minister of State for Europe, Chris Heaton-Harris MP.
The first reference of the new minister, to an aspect of the Cyprus issue, comes in response to communications with him by the pro-Cypriot Conservative MP for North London, Theresa Villiers, who had also forwarded a relevant letter from the organisation Board of British Cypriots.
Mr Heaton-Harris highlights the “important work” the CMP is doing and its contribution to bringing about a conclusion to the drama for the families affected.
He states that he is following this work “with interest”, and points to the meeting that his predecessor Wendy Morton had with Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues and Overseas Cypriots, Fotis Fotiou, in September.
It adds that the British government shares the concerns of the two communities in Cyprus regarding this sensitive issue, notes the decrease in recent years in the percentage of sites that have been confirmed to contain the remains of missing persons, and that the work of the CMP becomes more difficult over the years.
Hence, according to the British minister, the importance of full cooperation between all sides and, on this, he points to the call by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Turkey, to continue to provide assistance to the CJEU with a view to achieving tangible results. “This assistance should take the form of unhindered access to all possible burial sites, the provision of information from relevant records, and the achievement of progress in investigations,” says Mr. Heaton-Harris.
The British Minister for Europe also stresses that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has insisted that Turkey has an unconditional obligation to pay the fair compensation awarded by the ECtHR for the grief of the families of the missing persons.
“The United Kingdom actively contributes to the discussions of the Committee of Ministers and fully supports its decisions. We will continue to urge full cooperation in this context,” concludes Chris Chiton-Harris’ letter to Theresa Villiers.

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