Presidential Commissioner Photis Photiou assured on Monday that, “despite Turkish intransigence and provocativeness, which are being strengthened by the passing of time too, our side will continue to struggle with an aim to reach a solution plan, which will achieve the reunification of our homeland, satisfying the expectations our people.”
Addressing the annual anti-occupation event of Assia, Photiou said that “a total of 105 persons have been recorded in the list of missing persons, stated as gone missing in Assia, 75 of which are residents of Assia and 30 other villages, while 84 missing persons have Assia as their place of origin.”
According to a Press and Information Office press release, Photiou referred to the suffering of the families of missing persons, noting that “this tragic situation, which causes so much pain and anxiety to thousands of our compatriots, is not only unacceptable, but is inhumane and a provocation to civilisation.”
Referring to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) and the identification of remains of missing persons with the DNA method, Photiou said that “after 12 years of the CMP programme, almost two thirds of the registered Greek Cypriot and Greek missing persons are still missing.”
He also said that handing over the remains to the families did not constitute closure, as it did not clarify the conditions that led to the fate of the missing persons.
Photiou referred to Turkey’s stance on the issue of missing persons, noting that not only did Turkey not cooperate in determining the fate of missing persons, but the Turkish army also destroyed or moved the remains of missing persons.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third.
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.