‘Ludicrous’ claims made in diplomatic battle

Presidential Commissioner Fotis Fotiou said he has received information concerning additional cases of the relocation of missing persons’ remains in the north but he was not able to confirm the story.

The information relates to the relocation of remains in the 1990s. “From the information we have gathered, it seems that more relocations have taken place. I hope this is not true,” Fotiou told the Cyprus News Agency, without naming his source.

Asked by CNA to comment on a Turkish document sent recently to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers ahead of the body’s session in March to discuss the issue of missing persons, Fotiou said the claims contained in it were “ludicrous” and a “provocation”.

The document, distributed at the request of the Turkish government, asks the Greek Cypriot side to demonstrate a “proactive approach” and grant permission to the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) for exhumations in military areas in the ‘South’.

Ankara has recently granted access to 30 “military areas” in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus for excavations by the CMP over the next three years.

According to Fotiou, Turkey aims to take advantage of this move, while its reference in the document, for access in military areas in the government-controlled areas, aims to whitewash the Turkish occupation army from its responsibilities.

He said that unlike Turkey, “we do whatever is possible to determine the fate of Turkish Cypriot missing persons”.

Never in the past 40 years has Turkey circulated a single document, nor has it ever presented the slightest piece of information regarding missing persons in military areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus, Fotiou said. He also questioned the purpose of bringing up this issue, ahead of the Strasbourg meeting in March.

Fotiou said finally the foreign ministry was ready for this “diplomatic battle” in Strasbourg and appeared confident that “we shall win, because right is on our side”.

He said a vast number of missing persons remains were still unaccounted for with Turkey still barring access to its military archives. (CNA)

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.