Book on work of CMP launched

The three members of the Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) on Tuesday officially launched the book Beneath the Carob Trees-The Lost Lives of Cyprus at the Goethe Institute, in Nicosia.

The book, which is available in Greek, Turkish and English, is authored by Rory Maclean with photographs by internationally renowned photographer Nick Danziger.

It chronicles the efforts and pays tribute to all those who labour to end the suffering of the bereaved and to support reconciliation between the communities in Cyprus.

Since 1981 the Committee on Missing Persons has worked to tackle an enduring humanitarian tragedy in Cyprus.

Over the last decade, it has undertaken more than 1,000 excavations and exhumations across the island, recovering and identifying the men, women, and children who went missing 40 or 50 years ago, and returning their remains to their families.

This extraordinary bi-communal work has been carried out by a new generation of Cypriots determined to heal the wounds left open by their fathers and grandfathers.

The CMP was established in April 1981 by agreement between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities under the auspices of the United Nations.

There were 1,508 Greek Cypriots reported as missing and 493 Turkish Cypriots.

So far the remains of 499 Greek Cypriots and 181 Turkish Cypriots have been identified and returned to their families.

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.