Turkish actions on the humanitarian issue of the missing persons are criminal and inhuman, Minister of Transport, Communication and Works, Marios Demetriades has said.
The Minister, who delivered on Sunday the eulogy at the funeral service of the remains of missing person Loucas Adamou, said that the humanitarian issue of the missing persons is the most tragic and most painful of all the consequences of the Turkish invasion against Cyprus in 1974.
`43 years have passed and we are still looking for the two-thirds of our missing persons during the Turkish invasion`, he said, noting that 1,000 people are still missing.
The Minister referred to the pain of the relatives who are not informed about the fate of their beloved ones, saying that Turkey`s actions are `criminal and inhuman`.
Ankara, he said, continues to refuse to cooperate on this humanitarian issue which is affecting many human lives.
`Unfortunately, Turkey does not cooperate, despite the convictions of the European Court of Human Rights, where Ankara was found guilty for this crime, “he added.
The Minister said that “today, we renew our commitment to the relatives of all missing persons in Cyprus that we will continue the struggle until there is full investigation into the fate of each and every one of our missing persons`.
Demetriades added that the government will continue to support the work done by the Committee on Missing Persons.
`The message we have to send today is that we must remain focused on the goal to give an end to the occupation and to reunite our country` he concluded.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied its northern third. During and after the Turkish invasion, thousands of Greek Cypriots were arrested and detained in concentration camps in Cyprus by the Turkish army and by Turkish Cypriot paramilitary organizations acting under the instructions and responsibility of the Turkish army. Furthermore, over 2000 prisoners of war were illegally transferred to Turkey and detained in Turkish prisons. Some of them were not released and are still missing. Hundreds of other Greek Cypriots, both soldiers and civilians (including old people, women and children) disappeared in the areas under Turkish occupation and are still missing. In all these cases there exist well documented testimonies that the persons missing were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish army or in the hands of Turkish Cypriots acting under the Turkish occupation forces instruction and responsibility.
A Committee on Missing Persons has been 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.
