Greek Cypriot side`s demand is for all missing persons` remains to be identified and returned to their families for a proper burial, Defence Minister Christophoros Fokaides has said.
Speaking on behalf of President Anastasiades at a memorial service for a missing person whose remains were identified via a DNA process and his funeral took place Sunday, the Minister said that although the process of exhumation and identification has been speed up the last years, there are still cases that are pending and problems arise, because the information that is provided is not accurate.The Minister also called on the Turkish government to cooperate in the issue of missing persons and to provide information.
He also referred to the recent decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which urged Turkey to pay Cyprus 30,000,000 euros in respect of the non-pecuniary damages suffered by the relatives of missing persons, and 60,000,000 euros in respect of the non-pecuniary damages suffered by the enclaved Greek-Cypriot residents of the Karpas peninsula.
Fokaides also pointed out that the President of the Republic has shown political will and genuine determination to solve the Cyprus problem, adding that the Turkish side has to show the same will.
As a result of the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, 1,619 Greek Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in 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. The number of Turkish Cypriot missing since 1974 and 1963/64 stood at 503.
A total of 1073 remains have been exhumed by the CMP, 491 of which have been identified with the DNA method (366 Greek Cypriots and 125 Turkish Cypriots).
The latest round of UN backed talks is underway with the aim to solve the Cyprus problem and reunite the island under a federal roof.
