The issue of the fate of the missing persons is a priority and it is imperative that all necessary steps be taken and pressure be exerted on Turkey to allow access to military records and provide valid information, President of the Parliament Annita Demetriou has said. Demetriou met Thursday with the President of the Panhellenic Committee of Relatives of Missing Persons, Maria Kalbourtzi to whom she said that within the framework of parliamentary diplomacy, the House of Representatives has taken an active role in highlighting the issue of missing persons in Cyprus at a European and international level. Demetriou also referred to the intention of the Hellenic Parliament to establish October 29 as the “National Day of Missing Persons of Cyprus”. Kalbourtzi expressed gratitude to Demetriou for her timeless support to the relatives of the missing and emphasized the urgent need to determine the fate of the missing and to promote this humanitarian issue internationally. They also agreed to strengthen cooperation through joint coordinated actions. The President of the Parliament also informed Kalbourtzi about the upcoming visit to Cyprus of the new Permanent Rapporteur of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament on the issues of the Missing Persons of Cyprus, Isabel Santos. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. Since the invasion, the fate of hundreds of people remains unknown. 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 to their relatives the remains of 492 Turkish Cypriots and 1,510 Greek Cypriots, who went missing during the inter-communal fighting of 1963-1964 and in 1974. According to statistical data published on the CMP website, by 30 June 2023, of the 1,510 Greek Cypriot missing persons 741 were identified and 769 are still missing. Out of 492 Turkish Cypriot missing persons 292 were identified and 200 are still missing. This year, only five missing persons were identified, according to the same data.

Source: Cyprus News Agency