The representatives of the two communities in Cyprus to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), Greek Cypriot Nestoras Nestoros and Turkish Cypriot Gulden Kucuk, are among the 76 winning teams who were awarded the Stelios Bi-Communal Awards 2017.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou awarded on Friday 76 bi-communal teams with cash prizes of €10.000 each at an award ceremony that took place in Nicosia. The aim of Sir Stelios’ philanthropic act for the past nine years is to encourage cooperation between the citizens of the two communities in Cyprus and to establish lasting peace on the island.
Speaking to CNA, the Greek Cypriot member to the CMP, Nestoras Nestoros said that this award sends the message that there is a strong interest on behalf of the two members who represent the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot communities at CMP to solve the humanitarian issue of the missing persons despite the difficulties in various levels.
He added that all issues concerning the humanitarian issue of the missing persons cannot be solved only by the CMP, noting that ‘there are other parameters as well’.
Since 2009, the total value of the awards granted to Bi-Communal collaborations adds up to €2.760.000. This year, the number of applications exceeded each precedent, as 850 Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots collaborated and submitted their applications at the Bi-Communal Awards.
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.
As a result of the Turkish invasion, hundreds of Greek Cypriots went missing. The CMP was established upon agreement between the leaders of the island’s two communities, with the scope of exhuming, identifying and returning the remains of missing persons to their relatives.
According to the CMP, July 2007 marked a turning point of historical significance: the CMP began returning the first remains of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot individuals to their families.
CMP figures state that the remains of 1,192 people were exhumed by the end of 2016. Seven hundred forty missing persons were identified by December 31st, 2016.
The CMP is a tripartite intercommunal investigatory committee comprising a representative of the Greek Cypriot community, a representative of the Turkish Cypriot community, and a Third Member nominated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and appointed by the UN Secretary General.