‘Cyprus File’ to be studied for missing persons data, says House President

The ‘’Cyprus File’’, the archives of the Greek parliament’s inquiry into the 1974 coup, will be studied for facts about the missing persons, House President Demetris Syllouris said on Sunday.

Speaking to the press on Sunday, Syllouris said that after the archives of the Greek parliament’s inquiry were handed over to the Cypriot parliament almost two weeks ago, the priority is to study them thoroughly and to digitize them. He also said that they would examine whether there is evidence concerning missing persons.

Syllouris said that he does not have any knowledge that such information is included in the archives but the aim is to exhaust all the chances and exploit all the information available.

The committee which carried out the inquiry was put together in 1986 following the unanimous decision of the Greek parliament. The inquiry heard testimony from 86 witnesses and the minutes of its sessions span close to 21,000 pages.

Turkish troops invaded Cyprus on  July 20, 1974, following a military coup that toppled the legal government of the Republic which was engineered with the Greek military junta.

In a two-phase invasion and despite repeated calls by the UN Security Council, Turkey occupied 37 per cent of the sovereign territory of the Cyprus.

A round of UN-backed talks in Crans Montana, Switzerland that took place between June 28 and July 6, failed to produce any results. The peace talks under the auspices of the UN aim at reuniting the island under a federal roof.

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.