The Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons in Cyprus has appealed to Turkey once more to provide all the necessary information about the fate of people, who went missing during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the summer of 1974.
Speaking at a press conference for the 29th Marathon of Love for Missing Persons, Committee President, Nicos Sergides, said that it is certain that the Turkish army has information about missing persons, but it refuses to cooperate with the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP), whose task is to find, identify and return to the families the remains of loved ones who were listed as missing.
“There is no doubt that the Turkish army has information concerning our missing persons, including where they were arrested, where they were found dead, where they were buried etc. Unfortunately, 40 years have passed but Turkey has still not given any information to the CMP or even to the International Red Cross, so that we can ascertain the fate of these people”, he underlined.
He also said that during the ten years after the resumption of the work of the CMP, its work is limited to exhumations of remains.
Sergides urged all parties to cooperate with the CMP and give all information they have about the missing persons and allow, without further delay, free access to those areas where further search is needed.
According to Sergides, to date, a total of 1073 remains have been exhumed, 491 of which have been identified with the DNA method (366 Greek Cypriots and 125 Turkish Cypriots).
Executive Secretary of the Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons Nicos Theodosiou expressed his support for the work of the CMP, but pointed out that the procedures must be speeded up. He also called on Turkey to give persuasive explanations as to the fate of missing persons, saying that unfortunately Turkey does not cooperate at all.
Theodosiou said that in the framework of the Marathon week, they will deliver a series of petitions to various bodies, including the Embassies of the US, China, Russia, the British High Commission, and the EU Representation in Cyprus.
He added that they will make representations abroad to the Council of Europe, the European Union, the UN.
Archbishop of the Church of Cyprus, Chysostomos II, who was present at the press conference, said that the issue of the missing persons is a humanitarian one, not a political or military issue, and urged Turkey to demonstrate good will and realise that the families of the missing have been suffering for 40 years now.
“Turkey has to finally give an end to this tragedy”, he said.
Meanwhile, in a message on the occasion of the 29th Marathon of Love for Missing Persons,
Minister of Education and Culture Kostas Kadis, said that the government stands by the families of the missing persons and supports their struggle.
“We hope that we will soon achieve a sustainable and lasting solution to the Cyprus problem, which will reunite our country and give the opportunity to all residents to coexist in peace, security, freedom, justice, tolerance and mutual understanding”, he said.
The Republic of Cyprus, a full EU member country since 2004, is occupied since 1974 by Turkish troops. Turkey occupies 37% of this EU member- state. As a result of the Turkish invasion, 1,619 Greek Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield.
Among them, however, were many civilians, women and children, arrested by the Turkish invasion troops and Turkish Cypriot paramilitary groups, within the area controlled by the Turkish army after the end of hostilities and far from the battlefield. Many of those missing were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military. A further 41 more cases of Greek Cypriot missing persons have been recently added. These cases concern the period between 1963-1964, when inter-communal fighting broke out but none of them has been identified yet.