Cyprus marks Missing Persons Day with pledge to continue efforts to resolve issue

Those responsible for the disappearance of missing persons are also guilty of perpetuating the anguish of their families, President Nicos Anastasiades said on Friday on the Missing Persons Day marked on October 29.

Parliament has set October 29 as Missing Persons Day since this was the month the last prisoners of war were released by the Turkish army in 1974, following the invasion.

According to the latest data by the Committee on Missing Persons, there are still 781 Greek Cypriots and 201 Turkish Cypriots missing.

“Those who committed this crime are not only guilty of the disappearance of the missing, but also of perpetuating the anguish of their families,” Anastasiades tweeted in the morning.

He said the state would not cease its efforts until the fate of everyone is verified based on tangible evidence.

Εκείνοι που διέπραξαν αυτό το έγκλημα δεν είναι ένοχοι μόνο για την εξαφάνιση των αγνοουμένων, αλλά και για τη διαιώνιση της δυστυχίας των οικογενειών τους.
Δεν θα πάψουμε ούτε στιγμή την προσπάθεια μέχρι να διακριβωθεί η τύχη του καθενός στη βάση τεκμαρτών αποδείξεων. pic.twitter.com/Xfr7mqV365

— Nicos Anastasiades (@AnastasiadesCY) October 29, 2021

Presidency Commissioner Photis Photiou who also deals with humanitarian issues, said in a statement that resolving the missing persons issue was “a sacred duty and debt of honour” and not just empty words to mark an anniversary.

He was speaking at a ceremony to mark the day, held at the Makedonitissa Tombs, in Nicosia.

He said that this anniversary is a reminder that 47 years have passed since the disappearance of the missing during the Turkish invasion and more than half a century since the disappearance of missing persons during the 1963-64 events.

Photiou said that despite the intense efforts of the state, and missing persons’ families in Cyprus and Greece, many are still missing.

“The pain of the families, despite the years that have passed, remains unbearable,” he added.

He also said that Turkey and its representatives in Cyprus “continue to provocatively and arrogantly show contempt for the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and other international organisations.”

“Turkey has so far refused to provide information from the occupying army archives on mass graves of our missing from the collection of the dead on the battlefields,” Photiou said. It also refuses to provide information on the burial sites of the remains of missing persons “who were deliberately removed from the primary burial sites,” he added.

According to Photiou, Turkey continues to pose obstacles and difficulties for research and exhumations in military zones. “The list of responsibilities and obligations of the occupying power in the creation and continuation of this human tragedy is long,” he added.

Photiou said Cyprus expects from the UN, the EU “but also from the powerful of the earth to take humanitarian initiatives and to contribute substantially and effectively to ending the ongoing tragedy for the benefit of the afflicted families.”

He also said that the government, despite the difficulties, problems, and the refusal of the occupying power to cooperate, is intensifying its efforts with consistency and determination, to determine the fate of the last missing person, “whether he is a Greek Cypriot, a Greek or a Turkish Cypriot.”

On behalf of the families of missing persons, Nicos Sergides said that they will not rest until all the questions they have on their loved ones are answered.

Sergides, who is the head of the organisation of families of undeclared war prisoners and missing persons, said though they do not overlook the work done so far, they will continue to demand that the state fulfils its obligations and officially inform each family of the fate of their loved ones.