Deputies urge faster resolution of Missing

THE remains of 209 Greek Cypriot and 54 Turkish Cypriot missing persons have been identified since the tripartite Committee for Missing Persons (CMP) started operating in 2007, Parliament heard yesterday.

The Committee still has a long way to go, with another 1,473 Greek Cypriots and 450 Turkish Cypriots still missing.

Presenting the data yesterday, the Chairman of the House Refugees Committee, AKEL’s Aristophanis Georgiou, underlined the need for Turkey and the Turkish army to present all the information it has.

“First and foremost, Turkey must give the information on where (the Greek Cypriots) were arrested, where they were held; if they exist they should hand them over, if they don’t and have been murdered – which is a crime of war – they should tell us the procedures so that the family can be informed on what happened to their relative, after the remains have been excavated and identified,” said Georgiou after his Committee had discussed the matter yesterday.

The head of the Greek Cypriots’ Committee of the Relatives of the Missing Persons, Nicos Theodosiou, called on the CMP to speed up its excavation and identification procedures, saying that if it continued in the same rhythms as today, it would take another 15 to 20 years before its work is complete.

Theodosiou also warned there was danger of around 600 Greek Cypriots remaining on the missing list forever, if the Turkish army refused to cooperate.

 

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