Presidential Commissioner for Humanitarian Issues and Overseas Cypriots Photis Photiou has asked the EU to exert pressure on Turkey to reveal where missing persons are buried in the occupied areas, as progress by the Commission on Missing Persons (CMP) in recent months has dwindled due to lack of information.
In statements to the press after a meeting with head of the European Commission Representation in Nicosia Georgios Markopouliotis, Photiou said that “recent months statistics have been disappointing.”
We have found 10 missing persons and have identified 12 in the last five months, he noted.
He expressed his concern over the low success rate of excavations. Remains are not found because there is no information, he added.
If Turkey does not cooperate, if no pressure is exerted by the international community and in particular by the EU to provide information from the Turkish army`s archives on mass graves which were created during the battles that took place at the1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus “then we will not be able to make the progress we wish.”
Photiou pointed out that the EU has a significant role to play because apart from the fact that Cyprus is an EU member state, in the last 10 years it has funded the CMP with €17 million.”
Replying to a question he said that “the EU has always stood by the Republic of Cyprus on this matter” and expressed his conviction that all the concerns he shared with Markopouliotis will be conveyed where they should.
He added that it is likely he will pay Brussels a visit soon in order to brief all EU decision making centres on this matter.
On the 15 Greek soldiers, whose remains were found at the site where Greek warplane “Noratlas” downed by friendly fire in July 1974, have been identified and that in cooperation with the Greek authorities their remains will be repatriated in the coming weeks.
Replying to a question about two more Greek `Noratlas` aircraft, found in the UN-controlled buffer zone near the now defunct Nicosia Airport, he said it will soon be decided whether to excavate them or not, pointing out that if that is the case it will only be done for “historic reasons” only.
Photiou was also asked to comment on a decision by the so called authorities of the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus to limit the amount of Christian services allowed to take place.
He said the matter was also discussed during the meeting, adding that “it is a very negative development.”
He said that his office has received many complaints by communities and other local actors and pointed out that one should not forget that “freedom of religion constitutes a basic human right.”
There are still 1.025 Greek Cypriots missing out of the registered 1.508.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. As a result of the invasion, many Greek Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield.
A Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) was 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.